AWEARNESS: On the Making Books Sing website, there are many examples of the types of shows and productions that children have been involved with over the years, including some touring events. How do you work with teachers and teaching artists to create the right program for each school or community?

Debra Sue Lorenzen: The theatrical productions we help create are fully-produced dramatic productions. We use professional artists, professional designers, full lights, full costumes -- everything you would expect from an off-Broadway production. If we want children to benefit fully from the power of theater, they need access to the full production value of theater. We take long-standing productions and then tour them around New York City. A child from the Bronx is not likely to come to Manhattan for a theatrical production, so we bring the production to the Bronx.

Our entry point is encouraging children to get up on their feet and use dramatic techniques to explore literary aspects of books. They provide their own adaptation of books and musicals. As a result, the teacher has to be closely aligned with the social and historical significance of the work. What do we want them to learn from all this? Theater is a very collaborative art form, so we want children to learn about teamwork. A high percentage of the children are English language learners or special needs students. For them, theater-making is a real learning experience.

AWEARNESS: How do you choose the works of literature that will be used in the productions?

Debra Sue Lorenzen: In creating the professional musical productions, we're very attuned to the literary world. We choose books where children are the main characters. We do not usually adapt book that personify animals, for example. We work closely with a nonprofit children's book press based in San Francisco. In general, we're really interested in culturally-specific works about real historical events. The production we are working on next is "Tea With Chachaji," which tells of the cultural adaptation of a boy from Southeast Asia and explores the cultures of India and Pakistan. That work can be the basis for studying about so many other areas, even beyond culture. Children can learn about immigration, about the displacement of people, and about how cultural values are passed down to new generations.

AWEARNESS: What is the typical process for bringing Making Books Sing into the schools?

Debra Sue Lorenzen: This is a process that typically starts with a three-hour formal planning and evaluation, so that we can explore the content of the production. Next, we take a closer look at the book choice. The schools have freedom to explore the best possible resources and titles. We don't mandate that they use any book - in fact, the book could be a favorite book of one of the teachers. We also look at lesson plans. Later, we examine our shared goals. What do we want children to be able to do? So we meet to assess how it's going. Do the lesson plans need to be changed? We spend a great deal of time on formal assessments and feedback -- it's a very collaborative process.

AWEARNESS: What type of feedback have you received from parents and teachers about bringing the arts to the learning process?

Debra Sue Lorenzen: One of the things we hear the most often is that we are giving children new insights into literature. Through becoming the characters, through the process of on-the-feet activities, it changes the way children view their relationship to literature. One of my favorite examples involves how children learned to study historical literature as a separate genre. One of our teachers wanted to track attitudes about history among the students. In other words, how would making a play based on historical fiction change their ideas about the genre? When we started the process, there were no takers for historical fiction. Many children didn't even realize that it could be a genre of literature. By the end of the process, which culminated with a production about Harriet Tubman and the Civil War, students understood it. After the children had become a character, had evaluated the most dramatic moments - all the children had a positive attitude to historical fiction.

AWEARNESS: For readers of this blog, can you give a brief preview of what will happen tonight at the Kenneth Cole Summer Charity Shopping Night event?

Debra Sue Lorenzen: We are raising money and awareness about the role of the arts in helping improve the lives of shelter residents through the performing and visual arts. Tonight, Kenneth Cole has very generously coordinated a summer evening of cocktails, hors d' oeuvres and shopping to support the S.A.F.E. (Shelter, Arts, Families and Education) program. A portion of the sales will be donated in support of the two-year old homeless program. The event starts at 6pm, and by 7pm, we will feature lyrics created by our shelter residents as well as a presentation that describes the work we're doing and that describes the artwork at the event.

AWEARNESS: Thank you so much -- you've been very gracious with your time. Good luck with the event tonight!