HOME

Kaitlyn Tom, School of Music, Theatre & Dance

Produced by Kaitlyn Tom and Christian Kassab
Directed by Chloe Cuff
Music Directed by Caleb Middleton

HOME will encourage BIPOC artists from across the University of Michigan campus to bring forward songs, dance, poetry, and other performative art that feels like “home” to them. The essence of this abstract idea is interdisciplinary in nature, and functions only with a diverse set of students bringing their talents, perspectives, and stories to this project. As students in SMTD and Ross, we are unique in having both produced live theatre and strong backgrounds in business. Our larger creative and production team includes students from SMTD, LSA, and Ross all contributing their talents. We are making an active effort to cast students from various schools and backgrounds, and have compiled a list of campus-wide outreach avenues we are pursuing. We are confident that these avenues will allow us to achieve our goals of interdisciplinary collaboration. While we are excited to bring together students from across campus, we also recognize the challenges of compromising, collaborating, and communicating across artists, business people, engineers, and many others. As producers, it is our foremost goal to make sure every voice in this production is heard and to create a space of psychological safety for all team members to express their expertise. We will strike a balance between voices, solve disputes as they arise, and ensure a productive and fulfilling collaboration for all contributors. All parties involved in HOME will be challenged to step up and grow with one another as virtual leaders, artists, and collaborators.

The show will be released on Youtube on April 29. The impact of HOME will be twofold. First, we will create opportunities for non-performance majors. Many of the smaller organizations that engage with non-performance majors have dwindled away, so we are excited to step in and provide a creative outlet for those not studying the arts. Second, we’re excited about the effect that the relevance and universality of HOME will have on team members and viewers alike.