Segerstrom Center for the Arts announced details Monday of the 13th season of its Disney Musicals in Schools program, which will provide free musical theater residencies to four Orange County elementary schools.
The 2026-27 program will provide 17-week residencies at Hansen Elementary in the Savanna School District, Taft Elementary in the Orange Unified School District, Parkview Elementary in the Garden Grove Unified School District and Paul Revere Elementary in the Anaheim Elementary School District, according to the Segerstrom Center.
The program, which the center began offering in 2014, partners Segerstrom Center teaching artists with Title I elementary schools to help students, teachers and school staff produce 30-minute Disney KIDS musicals.
Teaching artists work with school teams each week, providing professional development and hands-on instruction in directing, choreography, music direction and stage management, officials said. The program is intended to give schools the tools to continue offering musical theater after the residency ends.
“Disney Musicals in Schools reflects the transformative power of the arts in a student’s life,” said Lisa Petersen, vice president of education and engagement at Segerstrom Center for the Arts.
“Beyond introducing students to the excitement of musical theater, the program helps them develop confidence, creativity, communication and teamwork — skills that extend far beyond the stage. We are proud to partner with schools to create these meaningful experiences and bring students, families, educators and communities together through the shared joy of the arts.”
The 2026-27 season began Sept. 9 with an orientation featuring hands-on theater-making activities with teaching artists, the announcement of each school’s selected musical and an overview of the program.
School residencies will begin in October and conclude with a Student Share Celebration at 5 p.m. March 10, 2027.
Segerstrom Center said the program has served 45 elementary schools across 16 school districts during its 13 years, reaching more than 200 new students and 22 new teachers annually. Alumni schools are also invited to continuing professional development sessions.
The center said most Orange County schools that have participated since the program began in 2014 have continued musical theater programs on their campuses.
Segerstrom Center is one of 25 organizations in the United States and United Kingdom offering the Disney Musicals in Schools program.