Jean & The Wonderful Idea Machine is the inspiring story of a young girl who invents a machine that transforms worried thoughts into wonderful ideas to help her struggling family. Despite her teacher’s doubts, Jean’s perseverance takes her all the way to a world peace summit, where her invention not only helps her parents but also creates peace and prosperity on a global scale. Developed through school assemblies, the musical entertains while teaching children valuable lessons in creativity, growth mindset, and the power of positive thinking. It shows that one small idea can truly change the world.
“Having a growth mindset means believing that a person’s abilities aren’t innate but can be improved through effort, learning, and persistence. A growth mindset is all about the attitude with which a person faces challenges, how they process failures, and how they adapt and evolve as a result.” - Steve Hogarty
In 2019 The Portland Musical Theater company put on two staged readings, and we collected feedback from the parent and children in the audience. Here are the most common words used to describe how the musical made them feel:
Uplifted - Hopeful - Happy - Very Good - Resolved - Inspired - More Positive - Encouraged.
AWARDS: In 2020 I put on a zoom production and recorded it and turned the production into a film that traveled around the world and received 12 film festival selections and FINALIST - European International Film Festival - 2020, Semi-Finalist - Children’s Cinema Awards 2021, Semi-Finalist - Eurasia International Film Festival - 2021.