My name is Leah Heidenreich - I am the artistic director of The Sheridan Arts Foundation's Young People's Theater, where I produce theater year round with children from preschool through high school.
What is your chosen artistic medium?
My chosen medium is performance art. As a performer, I am a musician first, an actor second, and a dancer very last.. lol. As an educator, my chosen medium is all things performance art. I direct, music direct, choreograph, and produce full-scale shows for the kids. It is truly a dream come true that I get to call this my job - I can honestly say that I look forward to Mondays.
What and Who are your muses?
I have many muses, including the incredible kids I create art with. It blows me away that I am at the helm of a program that is non-competitive, non-audition based, and it always culminates into such a beautiful show. That speaks volumes about the passion the kids in my program hold. Of course, I have a few other muses including Barbra Streisand, Stephen Sondheim, Mariah Carey, Bernadette Peters, and Diana Damrau. I mean- can you call yourself a "theatre person" if you are constantly inspired by those folks?
What are your prep or practice rituals to get you into the artistic headspace?
This may sound tacky, but I feel like I'm always in an artistic headspace. I am constantly staging scenes and musicals in my head, I am never not singing and dreaming about how to help the next group of kids flourish to their absolute prime, and during my free time, I am almost always working on different aspects of my next production. I'm about as right-brained as they come, sometimes to a fault. My ultimate relaxation is karaoke in my living room with my husband. Lol.
What is your favorite awkward growth moment or barrier breaking time?
In my job, there is nothing cooler than seeing the kids let go of all self-conscious thoughts and take big risks on the stage. Sometimes they fall on their face, sometimes they discover something within themselves that they didn't know existed - but when every young thespian takes that inevitable leap, it's incredible to see how much light comes out of these young people.
What inspires you and/or keeps you engaged and moving forward?
It's all about the kids, and helping them discover a love for something as powerful as performance art. I can look back into my own 34 years on earth and see how music and theater have completely shaped me into the person I am today, and to get to help a kid love this medium the way I do, and to then watch them go into the world with that love is incredible.
What is your favorite quote or saying?
"I came to Hollywood without having my nose fixed, my teeth capped, or my name changed. That is very gratifying to me." - Barbra Streisand
That may seem like a silly quote to love but it's so reflective of what every artist dreams of- being held to a certain standard because of their talent and passion, not because of their conformity to what our society continually pushes on us in order to call ourselves a success. I try to instill that in YPT's kids, too.
Tell us about what’s next:
Next year's season for YPT includes "Beauty & The Beast," "Chicago," and "Peter Pan."