The Accessible and Inclusive Music Theatre Project, run by Co-Principal Investigators Julia Brook and Colleen Renihan, both of the DAN School of Drama and Music at Queen's University, uses research-creation methodologies to ask questions about how and why music theatre can be innovated and made more accessible for underserved populations in Canada.
With a 12-member research team, including a physical therapist/dance educator, two participant-researchers, and two researchers in the School of Rehabilitation Therapy, we investigate aesthetics and best practices of music theatre creation as we explore ways to use music theatre to make lives and communities better. We hire undergraduate and graduate research assistants and include them in all of our research processes. Our research assistants gain skills and knowledge about how to support the well-being and creativity of others through music theatre, and build leadership and critical thinking skills.