The Power of a Song

The Power of a Song

The Power of a Song 1072 900 Cribs for Kids

 

What would this life be without music? Our daily lives are shaped by the sounds of music around us. The comfort of a lullaby, the adrenaline rush of a teen anthem, the song that makes you put your inhibitions on a shelf and get up to dance. A song has the power to motivate us, relax our soul, and acknowledge our heartbreak. Music has long been an agent for social change as well. It has helped to unite people around a cause and has been responsible for delivering messages that could never be as motivational and widespread through the written or spoken word.

 

 

Diane Beckstead believes that music can be both inspiring entertainment and a powerful catalyst for change. A composer and music educator, Diane founded Musicals for Change in 2008. While we all enjoy watching our children perform with their school or church, Diane saw an opportunity to bring new meaning to these performances by using them to raise awareness and support for worthy causes. She is empowering children to not only use music to entertain but to spread a positive message that will actually facilitate change in their community.

While listening to the radio one day, Dianne heard Cribs for Kids’ founder Judy Bannon being interviewed by NPR. Judy was discussing the importance of safe sleep in reducing infant related deaths. She mentioned that, in her mind, the first reference to safe sleep occurred with baby Jesus lying in the manger. The baby had no crib for a bed but is depicted in a makeshift crib, always alone, swaddled, and lying on his back. Dianne was inspired by the mission of Cribs for Kids and was moved to help. She contacted Judy right away with her plan to compose the musical No Crib for a Bed, to be performed by her students as a Christmas pageant.

 

 

No Crib for a Bed is the story of Kendra, a young girl that is chosen to play the role of Mary in the Christmas play. Kendra’s family has suffered the tragic loss of her brother to infant sleep-related death. In preparing for the Mary role, Kendra comes face to face with her unresolved feelings of grief. The story is delicately told from the child’s point of view and uses both uplifting and, at times, poignant songs and dialogue to convey her journey. The inaugural performance of No Crib for a Bed raised over $2,000 for Cribs for Kids and Charlie’s Kids Foundation. We were overjoyed to also present the musical to the attendees of our 2015 Annual Safe Sleep Conference at the Omni William Penn hotel. Our audience was so moved by the production that there was not a dry eye in the house.

 

 

Diane is busy promoting the musical to other schools, churches, and youth groups that would be interested in performing it as their Christmas pageant this year. She is now running a contest to offer the musical to one lucky group free of charge. The winning entry will receive the full production package, including the director’s guide, scripts, scores, and full MP3 downloads. The package will also include messaging on safe sleep, to be used to educate the children and community on our Safe Sleep message. This is a wonderful opportunity to not only give our children the experience of entertaining but to encourage them to use their voices to facilitate real change in the world.

 

 

APPLY TODAY to enter your group for a chance to receive the No Crib for a Bed complete musical production package, a $250 value. The contest deadline is August 15th, 2018.

Video clips and photos of the winning group’s performance will also be featured on the Musicals for Change website for all to enjoy!

Enjoy a preview of the performance by clicking HERE.

1 Comment
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