Schooled the Musical @ SXSW EDU
Austin, Texas | Theatre
Musical
Schooled has been accepted to SXSW EDU! I’m raising $15,000 to make it happen, directed by a Broadway alum and cast with extraordinary performers.
Schooled the Musical @ SXSW EDU
Austin, Texas | Theatre
Musical
1 Campaigns | Indiana, United States
44 supporters | followers
Enter the amount you would like to pledge
$12,000
Goal: $15,000 for development
Schooled has been accepted to SXSW EDU! I’m raising $15,000 to make it happen, directed by a Broadway alum and cast with extraordinary performers.
About The Project
- The Story
- Wishlist
- Updates
- The Team
- Community
Mission Statement
The Story
The story of Schooled the Musical, in 12 parts:
1/"A Giant Happiness Bomb"
Seven years ago, I wrote a one act musical for my colleagues and me to perform at a school meeting as a surprise to the student body. It was a completely original, 35-minute, Hamilton-style, hip-hop/pop/latin/classical celebration and satire of boarding school. It was a hit. One student called it a giant happiness bomb dropped right in the middle of the school day. (It wouldn’t have been possible without the help of my colleague Sam Watson.)
2/Changed Lives
But it also had a much farther reach than I expected. It was recorded and shared over email and social media. Alumni wrote letters to me and to the school. An unhappy alum from the 1960s wrote to say “I hereby give up my old beefs… May the school prosper.” A parent I didn’t know came up to me in a coffee shop and told me she felt comfortable sending her son to boarding school because of it.
3/A Farewell
It was a coda to 15 years at the school, and it helped me realize that people’s lives change when you share what you have to say in a way that is meaningful to you.
4/New York City
Four years later in 2023, out of the blue, I was asked about putting the musical up at an education conference in New York City at the New York Times Center. In five weeks of furious work, I shortened it to 15 minutes to be about school more generally, and worked with a director and casting director to recruit a Broadway cast. We performed it as a staged reading. (It wouldn’t have been possible without the vision of the conference organizer Ash Kaluarachchi and the musical and production support of my friend Rian Alfiero, who continues to be an extraordinary sounding board and support for the current work.)
5/A Broadway Cast
The actors in NYC were amazing. They came from Hamilton, Moulin Rouge, Six, Wicked, Aladdin, Little Shop, and more. Some afterwards went on to Sunset Blvd, the Lion King, and others. I felt extraordinarily blessed to work with such professionals.
6/Feedback
And the audience in NYC was hungry for more. They said: we haven’t seen education presented so authentically and engagingly in entertainment media. (“…And it’s even good pedagogy!” one said.)
7/A Self-directed MFA
I decided that this was something worth pursuing further, and so began — two years ago — studying what it would take to expand it to a full length musical. I read craft books and artists’ memoirs, dove into the history of musical theater, devoured recordings and film adaptations, studied lyrics, researched how shows were produced, and more.
8/San Diego
In the spring of 2024, we tested the 15 minute version again with audiences. This time at an education conference San Diego, performed by the Musical Theater MFA program from San Diego State University. Again, the audience, bigger this time, wanted more.
9/Developing the Craft
Since then, I have continued writing and studying: story, lyrics, songs, and more. It has felt like an incredible homecoming to be so immersed in music again.
10/SXSW EDU
Just this past November, the show was officially accepted at SXSW EDU this coming March. I have a 90 minute time slot for a developmental performance and audience Q&A. Former Broadway performer (Disney’s Aladdin) and now professor at Texas State University Deonté Warren is directing. We have a tentative cast of extraordinarily talented performers. PS. "SXSW EDU" = "South-by-Southwest E-D-U"
11/The Event
Creating a musical is a multi-year, iterative process. It usually starts with readings, then moves to workshops, then to a regional or off-broadway theater, and then, if the trajectory is right, to a Broadway theater. This event at SXSW EDU is a developmental reading, and it’s the first time the new storyline will have an audience: 60 minutes of music from Act I for an audience likely in the hundreds. It’s a research opportunity to see how well the story works, to gather audience feedback, and to figure out what might need to evolve to move to the next step.
12/Fundraising & Purpose
The funds I’m raising are to make the reading at SXSW EDU possible: to hire the director and cast, to rehearse, to capture the performance in audio and video, and to defray my own expenses for putting on the show.
This is a story about people in schools: students, teachers, and administrators. It surfaces both the joys and challenges of our work. In a time when education is almost literally in the crosshairs of culture, we need more stories that authentically celebrate and uplift students, educators, and education. I would be honored if you would consider supporting this show.
BONUS: Beyond!
Funds raised from this campaign will support the production in Austin. And if we surpass our goal, funds will help bring the show to its next destination. I would be thrilled to continue the journey of this production with you!
Wishlist
Use the WishList to Pledge cash and Loan items - or - Make a pledge by selecting an Incentive directly.
People (Cast, Director, Stage Manager)
Costs $8,500
You can't have a performance without people!
Transportation and Food
Costs $2,000
Flights to Austin, food for two weeks of rehearsals, transportation while in the city
Contingency and Crowdfunding Fee
Costs $2,000
Inevitably, there will be surprise costs, and Seed & Spark has a 5% fee (the lowest of the major crowdfunding sites)
Direct link:
Share this update!
About This Team
Creator, Peter Nilsson
Peter Nilsson's professional work spans both music and educational leadership. After teaching English at Deerfield Academy for five years while writing and performing music on the side, he spent 2005–2009 in New York City as a musician. During this time, he performed at venues like The Bitter End and the Rockwood Music Hall, and he composed in a variety of settings and styles. He then returned to Deerfield Academy, serving in a series of administrative roles. This period of school leadership led most recently to his tenure as Head of School at King’s Academy in Jordan.
Currently, Nilsson splits his time between music and working with schools to engage with artificial intelligence in education. He co-authored the recently-released book Irreplaceable: How AI Changes Everything (and Nothing) in Teaching & Learning. He is a recipient of the Wolfram Innovator Award for his work integrating mathematical software into literature courses. He is also the editor of The Educator's Notebook, a newsletter that promotes innovation in education. He is the creator of Schooled the Musical, which most fully draws together his interests in both education and music.
Director, Deonté Warren
Deonte Warren has an extensive international performing career. Following his time at Belmont University, he performed at theme parks in Orlando and Germany and traveled across the Mediterranean and Caribbean with renowned cruise lines. His touring credits include the hit musicals Dreamgirls and Sister Act, which took him across the United States, Canada, and to Tokyo and Osaka, Japan. He concluded his full-time performing career after a lengthy run on Broadway in Aladdin, where he served as the standby for the Genie, Babkak, and the Sultan.
Transitioning into pedagogy and leadership, Deonté now serves as an Assistant Professor of Practice at Texas State University, where he teaches private and class voice for musical theatre. He has maintained a private voice studio since 2014, specializing in working with voice users across the gender spectrum. As a director, he has helmed a diverse range of productions, from intimate black box shows like Falsettos and Lizard Boy to large-scale blockbusters such as Hairspray, The Color Purple, and Mary Poppins.
Consultant for Music and Production, Rian Alfiero
Rian Alfiero is a producer, engineer, and multi-instrumentalist whose roots at the piano eventually led him to a joint Music and Italian degree from Middlebury College, capped by a fully staged opera performance. Co-founder of the Vermont band The Grift and a longtime producer at Hearst Studios, he has also studied improv at New York City's PIT. He now releases music under his own name on all major platforms -- and most enjoys tweaking the knobs on his embarrassingly formidable synthesizer collection.
Current Team
Incentives
- The Story
- Wishlist
- Updates
- The Team
- Community
Mission Statement
The Story
The story of Schooled the Musical, in 12 parts:
1/"A Giant Happiness Bomb"
Seven years ago, I wrote a one act musical for my colleagues and me to perform at a school meeting as a surprise to the student body. It was a completely original, 35-minute, Hamilton-style, hip-hop/pop/latin/classical celebration and satire of boarding school. It was a hit. One student called it a giant happiness bomb dropped right in the middle of the school day. (It wouldn’t have been possible without the help of my colleague Sam Watson.)
2/Changed Lives
But it also had a much farther reach than I expected. It was recorded and shared over email and social media. Alumni wrote letters to me and to the school. An unhappy alum from the 1960s wrote to say “I hereby give up my old beefs… May the school prosper.” A parent I didn’t know came up to me in a coffee shop and told me she felt comfortable sending her son to boarding school because of it.
3/A Farewell
It was a coda to 15 years at the school, and it helped me realize that people’s lives change when you share what you have to say in a way that is meaningful to you.
4/New York City
Four years later in 2023, out of the blue, I was asked about putting the musical up at an education conference in New York City at the New York Times Center. In five weeks of furious work, I shortened it to 15 minutes to be about school more generally, and worked with a director and casting director to recruit a Broadway cast. We performed it as a staged reading. (It wouldn’t have been possible without the vision of the conference organizer Ash Kaluarachchi and the musical and production support of my friend Rian Alfiero, who continues to be an extraordinary sounding board and support for the current work.)
5/A Broadway Cast
The actors in NYC were amazing. They came from Hamilton, Moulin Rouge, Six, Wicked, Aladdin, Little Shop, and more. Some afterwards went on to Sunset Blvd, the Lion King, and others. I felt extraordinarily blessed to work with such professionals.
6/Feedback
And the audience in NYC was hungry for more. They said: we haven’t seen education presented so authentically and engagingly in entertainment media. (“…And it’s even good pedagogy!” one said.)
7/A Self-directed MFA
I decided that this was something worth pursuing further, and so began — two years ago — studying what it would take to expand it to a full length musical. I read craft books and artists’ memoirs, dove into the history of musical theater, devoured recordings and film adaptations, studied lyrics, researched how shows were produced, and more.
8/San Diego
In the spring of 2024, we tested the 15 minute version again with audiences. This time at an education conference San Diego, performed by the Musical Theater MFA program from San Diego State University. Again, the audience, bigger this time, wanted more.
9/Developing the Craft
Since then, I have continued writing and studying: story, lyrics, songs, and more. It has felt like an incredible homecoming to be so immersed in music again.
10/SXSW EDU
Just this past November, the show was officially accepted at SXSW EDU this coming March. I have a 90 minute time slot for a developmental performance and audience Q&A. Former Broadway performer (Disney’s Aladdin) and now professor at Texas State University Deonté Warren is directing. We have a tentative cast of extraordinarily talented performers. PS. "SXSW EDU" = "South-by-Southwest E-D-U"
11/The Event
Creating a musical is a multi-year, iterative process. It usually starts with readings, then moves to workshops, then to a regional or off-broadway theater, and then, if the trajectory is right, to a Broadway theater. This event at SXSW EDU is a developmental reading, and it’s the first time the new storyline will have an audience: 60 minutes of music from Act I for an audience likely in the hundreds. It’s a research opportunity to see how well the story works, to gather audience feedback, and to figure out what might need to evolve to move to the next step.
12/Fundraising & Purpose
The funds I’m raising are to make the reading at SXSW EDU possible: to hire the director and cast, to rehearse, to capture the performance in audio and video, and to defray my own expenses for putting on the show.
This is a story about people in schools: students, teachers, and administrators. It surfaces both the joys and challenges of our work. In a time when education is almost literally in the crosshairs of culture, we need more stories that authentically celebrate and uplift students, educators, and education. I would be honored if you would consider supporting this show.
BONUS: Beyond!
Funds raised from this campaign will support the production in Austin. And if we surpass our goal, funds will help bring the show to its next destination. I would be thrilled to continue the journey of this production with you!
Wishlist
Use the WishList to Pledge cash and Loan items - or - Make a pledge by selecting an Incentive directly.
People (Cast, Director, Stage Manager)
Costs $8,500
You can't have a performance without people!
Transportation and Food
Costs $2,000
Flights to Austin, food for two weeks of rehearsals, transportation while in the city
Contingency and Crowdfunding Fee
Costs $2,000
Inevitably, there will be surprise costs, and Seed & Spark has a 5% fee (the lowest of the major crowdfunding sites)
Direct link:
Share this update!
About This Team
Creator, Peter Nilsson
Peter Nilsson's professional work spans both music and educational leadership. After teaching English at Deerfield Academy for five years while writing and performing music on the side, he spent 2005–2009 in New York City as a musician. During this time, he performed at venues like The Bitter End and the Rockwood Music Hall, and he composed in a variety of settings and styles. He then returned to Deerfield Academy, serving in a series of administrative roles. This period of school leadership led most recently to his tenure as Head of School at King’s Academy in Jordan.
Currently, Nilsson splits his time between music and working with schools to engage with artificial intelligence in education. He co-authored the recently-released book Irreplaceable: How AI Changes Everything (and Nothing) in Teaching & Learning. He is a recipient of the Wolfram Innovator Award for his work integrating mathematical software into literature courses. He is also the editor of The Educator's Notebook, a newsletter that promotes innovation in education. He is the creator of Schooled the Musical, which most fully draws together his interests in both education and music.
Director, Deonté Warren
Deonte Warren has an extensive international performing career. Following his time at Belmont University, he performed at theme parks in Orlando and Germany and traveled across the Mediterranean and Caribbean with renowned cruise lines. His touring credits include the hit musicals Dreamgirls and Sister Act, which took him across the United States, Canada, and to Tokyo and Osaka, Japan. He concluded his full-time performing career after a lengthy run on Broadway in Aladdin, where he served as the standby for the Genie, Babkak, and the Sultan.
Transitioning into pedagogy and leadership, Deonté now serves as an Assistant Professor of Practice at Texas State University, where he teaches private and class voice for musical theatre. He has maintained a private voice studio since 2014, specializing in working with voice users across the gender spectrum. As a director, he has helmed a diverse range of productions, from intimate black box shows like Falsettos and Lizard Boy to large-scale blockbusters such as Hairspray, The Color Purple, and Mary Poppins.
Consultant for Music and Production, Rian Alfiero
Rian Alfiero is a producer, engineer, and multi-instrumentalist whose roots at the piano eventually led him to a joint Music and Italian degree from Middlebury College, capped by a fully staged opera performance. Co-founder of the Vermont band The Grift and a longtime producer at Hearst Studios, he has also studied improv at New York City's PIT. He now releases music under his own name on all major platforms -- and most enjoys tweaking the knobs on his embarrassingly formidable synthesizer collection.