A joyful, diverse, socially aware, original, interactive musical experience!

“Unfailingly high-spirited.” - London Times

“…an amazing group which a lot of us dreamed would happen some day where the different genres of music all get together…” - David Amram

A Collaboration with The Scooches, Garden Players Kids, & You

New York City’s The Scooches invite you to sing along, participate in a group video creation, and experience music infused with elements of Gullah-Geechee culture with global folk traditions, New Orleans influences, and music from the 1920s. 

Garden Players Kids sing songs from We Are Monsters and join the Scooches on: Stop This Climate and Change and Let’s Grow Our Roots Deep and True.

“This band is a melting pot of many different cultures, genres, instruments, and sounds,” says Russo. "My dream is that people of all races and origins live, play, and share all our different world musics and cultures together as one united race, without fear.” The result—in The Scooches’ last album Get Us Out Of Fearland (#2 on the International Folk DJ Charts) —is a revival of what makes us all come alive.

The musicians, from New York, Suriname, and everywhere in between, have played with Wynton Marsalis, Paul McCartney, Willie Nelson, Max Roach, Paul Simon, Cecil Taylor, and Reggie Workman. They’ve performed on Good Morning America and at Club Passim, the Kansas City Folk Festival, and venues around the world.

Garden Players is a small, local, musical theater program led by professional performers who love kids.

Every September-May we put on a small in-class Sharing Day in December, a concert in January with a professional band, and an original, fully staged musical in May.

Mission

Our mission is to cultivate children’s social emotional learning through community centered, socially aware, high quality theater education and performance opportunities. The results of our work are children who have learned to be brave, creative, internally motivated, and express their inner voice.

Vision

We envision a nurturing space for students, alumni, and community members to come together to make an artistic impact on each other and the world. 

We envision a world where original works with current and socially conscious themes bring laughter and fun along with deep thinking to both children and adults.

We envision a world where the development of original works is supported locally and brings joy to our community.

We envision a world where all children have access to theater. We aim to seek the participation of students who have a gift to give the art of theater and would not otherwise have theater or performance opportunities, due to economic or cultural barriers or lack of resources in their schools and communities.