[Congressional Record Volume 164, Number 19 (Monday, January 29, 2018)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E104-E105]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




  HONORING THE 50TH ANNIVERSARY OF CHILDREN'S MUSICAL THEATER SAN JOSE

                                 ______
                                 

                            HON. ZOE LOFGREN

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                        Monday, January 29, 2018

  Ms. LOFGREN. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to acknowledge Children's 
Musical Theater San Jose (CMT) and commemorate its 50th Anniversary 
Season. Founded as an afterschool

[[Page E105]]

program in 1968 by John P. Healey at Saint Frances Cabrini School in 
San Jose, CMT is the oldest performing arts institution in San Jose.
  Since its foundation, CMT has followed its mission of using musical 
theater to educate and nurture the young people in our community to get 
involved with art and theater at a young age. Indeed, CMT has grown 
from a grassroots volunteer organization to one of the largest 
theatrical training and performing organizations of its kind in the 
nation. CMT's 50 seasons have engaged around 50,000 performers and so 
far staged 364 productions.
  As the leading youth theater in our community, CMT offers classes and 
camps to children as young as four years old and performance 
opportunities to children as young as six. Indeed, CMT offers 
invaluable experiences through theater to children between four and 20 
years old, casting all who audition for its youth theater productions 
and awarding scholarships to some participants in their fee-based 
programs.
  CMT has thrived as an invaluable artistic organization in our 
community, receiving 10 awards for artistic excellence from the 
National Endowment for the Arts. Its artistic vision, under the 
direction of Kevin R. Hauge since 1996, has helped to bring hundreds of 
thousands of performance arts patrons to Downtown San Jose, 
contributing to the cultural renaissance and development and economic 
vitality of our city.
  Mr. Speaker, today we honor Children's Musical Theater San Jose for 
its 50 years of extraordinary contributions to the cultural arts 
community in our city and its sustained leadership in the development 
of the young members of our community.

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