A partnership with Springfield’s Any Given Child program will bring eighth graders from Springfield Public Schools to the Missouri State University campus to watch live theater. These students will have to opportunity to watch Shakespeare’s “Romeo & Juliet,” running Nov 21-24, or the Gilbert and Sullivan comic opera “Pirates of Penzance,” running March 27-30.

This expansion to the Any Given Child program was announced at a Sept. 6 kickoff luncheon and was made possible by a grant from the Foundation for Springfield Public Schools.  Any Given Child is sponsored by The Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. In 2010, Springfield was the second city in the U.S., after Sacramento, Calif., be selected for the program.

Any Given Child is also part of Arts in Action, an effort funded by the Community Foundation of the Ozarks and the Springfield Regional Arts Council.