City at Peace has just completed its 2007 season of premiere performances - original musicals written and performed by diverse groups of teenagers from the stories of their lives and their ideas for creating change.

We strive for excellence in all that we do, whether it is positively developing our youth, creating community change or pursuing artistic ends. Our measure of success is not only our sense of what we are achieving, but also our audiences – youth participants, community members and performance attendees.

We thought you would like to hear what our audiences are saying about what they experienced at this year’s City at Peace shows…

“I have been to, literally, a dozen Broadway and Off-Broadway shows this season. I have been touched and inspired by exactly four things: …To that list I must now add "Univers-All," whose breadth of imagination and depth of emotional truth moved me in ways that I didn't think was possible…That it was the cumulative work of high school students moves it into the realm of artistic triumph, if not outright miracle. To see such exemplary writing on stage is to give me hope for theatre's future…

Taken as a whole, the performances were examples of excellence through commitment to a script that demanded it; the directors as well as the actors are to be commended…(The girl who played the Latina mother made you forget she was a teenager--another onstage wonder in a show that almost had too many to count.)

I don't know if Sondheim's best song could punch me in the stomach any harder than "Believe Me." I know I'm grading on a curve here, but it made me gasp. The way the song was first delivered as cry for help and then reprised as a plea for redemption was yet another example of the show's sophisticated storytelling that few of today's Broadway writers can barely comprehend, let alone achieve.

You have done a wonderful thing, and I can't help but think that everyone's life has been profoundly and, I hope, unalterably changed for the better through their participation in City at Peace. I would say that (they) should all feel proud of themselves, but when I complimented them individually, I kind of got the idea that they knew how good they were, and they weren't being arrogant--just confident. That has to be the most telling sign that what you are doing is working, and working well…” — Andrew Salomon, News Editor, Backstage East

And from our Audience Evaluations….

“…it was so wonderful, we could hardly speak afterwards.  The kids were breath-taking in their performances.  I had tears in my eyes for more than half the show. The singing and dancing were rousing and thrilling, but the dramatic scenes tore our hearts out.”

“The show was fantastic.  The kids were incredible as usual.  I just felt a tingle as we sat in the audience soaking in all the energy… Why can’t there be more? Congratulations—it was exhilarating.  The value of the City of Peace program is incredible…Thank you, thank you, thank you.”

“In a word, it was remarkable! The level of poise, energy and passion the kids displayed left me and my crew awestruck… how vital your work is to the community we live in. It's impossible to leave the show and go back to the status quo. Congratulations to you and the rest of the team for another phenomenal show!”

“The show was the best-ever.  You never cease to astonish.  It was beautiful, deep, sensitive, and powerful.  And you could just feel how much it meant to everyone who had participated.  Bravo!”

“Congratulations and kudos on an EXCELLENT production. City at Peace has outdone itself, and I hope that you are reaping the benefits of all the work you put into the show.”

“My husband and I were amazed by the obvious thought and care these young people put into preparing and executing a thoughtful performance. Their reflection on understanding touched us and everyone seated nearby based on comments we heard throughout the performance, from teenagers to grandmothers and in-between. Please thank them for extending peace to the Baton Rouge community.”

“I wanted to tell you how incredibly moved and impressed I was by last night's performance… Thanks so much for inviting me (I've seen three Broadway shows in the last two weeks and none of them affected me as much as this did. You're doing amazing work).”