A wonderful thing happened on the way to staging this summer's two NewArts musicals - the actors and other Newtown youths involved in the program received some important social emotional coaching that will not only help them in their work on stage, but on life's stage as well.Seussical, The Musical, A Rockin' Midsummer Night's Dream, a special localized version of 101 Dalmatians - The Musical, Liberty Smith and Disney's The Lion King, Jr. Mr Unger is also planning to stage his long-running production of A Christmas Carol in December, following its close last month in Princeton, N.J., where he directed the show since 1999.Rock And OzSchool of Rock, and a week later, the beloved classic, The Wizard of Oz.School of Rock performances are scheduled for August 5-7, and The Wizard of Oz will be staged August 11-14.Wizard of Oz cast members in the Great Room, while Mr Unger worked intensively with several of the lead actors, including his lovable pooch, Cosmo, who seemed perfectly content in his role as Toto.Aspire, Reach, ConnectThe Director's PerspectiveHamilton," he said, referring to the multiple Tony-winning musical on Broadway. "But it's high quality entertainment, you get to support the community, and you get to see these kids - your neighbors - on stage having a great time and delivering great messages," Mr Unger said. "All this learning going on - sometimes surreptitiously - is to further their success in life and their confidence as human beings.A Christmas Carol, click here.

According to New Arts Director Michael Unger and the organization's Operations Manager Katina Wall, over the course of the past three summers, the ambitious musical theater program has continued to refine its foundational mission.

The group has changed its name from The 12.14 Foundation, found an ideal temporary home at Walnut Hill Community Church in neighboring Bethel while renovations continue at Newtown High School, launched a year-round season that will also include an ambitious holiday season production, and seems to have arrived at an ideal place for its 100-plus summer cast and crew members.

Rebranded as NewArts Center for Creativity, Character Development and Social Action, the organization under founder and local physician Michael Baroody, is gaining even more traction supporting community resiliency this year, with the strongest component yet of life skills and self-awareness training that is woven into the fabric of rehearsals for the summer's two musicals.

In years past, the organization has produced successful productions of

In early August, audiences will witness one of the first presentations of a brand-new youth version of

Ms Wall said that NewArts continues to explore and diversify the programming it offers to participating youths, and has adopted a pay-to-participate model that has not appeared to hamper the quantity or quality of its many energetic participants.

During a recent visit to rehearsals in supplied space at Newtown Congregational Church, dance instruction was happening with about three dozen

"This is so much more than community theater," Ms Wall explained. "I think under Dr Baroody, we've tried to break away from the idea that this is a theater program; it's more of an all encompassing arts program with a strong element of leadership development, which has always been the long-term goal."

On June 30, all participants peeled away from production work to take part in a three-hour ARC orientation.

"ARC stands for 'Aspire, Reach, and Connect,' and it allows for our kids to internalize and operationalize things that are happening to them in the theater environment - and then translating those skills to their everyday lives outside of theater," Ms Wall said.

The first ARC module helped participants identify their own character strengths, and to identify them in others.

"That way they can dial up those character strengths when called for," she said. "Next we did emotions, and I think for these kids it was the most important module, and one that will carry through their lives."

The youths received instruction on how to manage their emotions, and how to use the nervous emotions they may be feeling in a positive, beneficial way - almost social intelligence.

The next exercise found the NewArts participants discovering and learning how to utilize self-confidence by using large circles placed on the floor to represent either a comfort zone, a "stretch zone," or a panic zone.

Ms Wall said it was interesting to see how some peers were very comfortable in certain situations, standing in their comfort zones, while others facing the same situations opted for the panic circle.

The stretch zone was then employed to help transition those in the panic zone to become more comfortable, while helping youngsters in the comfort zone see beyond their momentary confidence and strive to explore a new level of thinking or action.

"The ideal place is the stretch zone," she said, "because when you pull yourself out of your comfort zone it's the place you want to go instead of going into a panic. We also taught them a few rituals like mantras they could say to themselves to help divert their thinking away from the panic zone and dial down your nerves - to feel calm and empowered."

The final part of the process is journaling their experiences as they are retooling refining during four weekly check-in sessions.

"Once they start practicing this, it starts to stick," Ms Wall said.

Taking a quick break from his many duties, Mr Unger said it appears the 2016 season will be the best ever from many perspectives.

"We had the largest turnout for auditions than we ever had before. We spread out the calendar by holding auditions in February and March, so we had a much greater lead-in. We retained all of the actors we cast in the leading roles, and we are seeing a lot of new talent as well," Mr Unger said.

Between new partnerships with Walnut Hill and the Congregational Church, NewArts and Mr Unger are celebrating nothing short of two "dream partnerships."

As the productions grow closer, Mr Unger said NewArts is working toward a breakthrough, not only being an organization for the community members who choose to participate in the musical productions, but to be a viable alternative for theatergoers in the region who might otherwise travel to New York or New Haven for their entertainment.

"I'm not saying this is

"That was Dr Baroody's mission from day one," he added, "to give kids strength, however you can do it. We just happened to choose the performing arts."

For program and ticket information about the summer musicals, how to volunteer or donate to support NewArts, or to keep tabs on the ramp up to

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