‘Listen Up’ Musical Playing at Outside Venues

The Bridge

The “Listen Up” musical is coming to a town near you. The original musical based on the lives of Vermont teens will continue its outdoor tour.

Vermont Conversation: Teens sing and speak their truth in ‘Listen Up’ musical

VT Digger

On this week’s Vermont Conversation, student cast members Theo Novotny, Miles Novotny and Sadie Chamberlain perform and discuss the issues raised in the musical and the process of making it, and producer Bess O’Brien describes how and why the musical was created.

‘Listen Up’ on tour: Vermont teens reveal themselves in new musical

Times-Argus

“If you want to know the pulse of what teenagers are thinking, feeling, wanting, doing, needing right now — this is the show to come to,” Bess O’Brien said Monday afternoon.

‘Like an anthem’

The Commons

Potent teen voices ripple through Listen Up!, an original music theater piece currently touring Vermont, created by multi-award-winning director and producer Bess O’Brien and a company of teen and adult collaborators.

Bess O'Brien's 'The Listen Up Musical' Sets the Stage for Destigmatizing Tough Conversations Among Teens

Seven Days

Sixteen teenagers stood onstage in a school gymnasium at the Lyndon Institute in Lyndonville and sang an emotional rendition of "Lockdown." Written and inspired by Vermont teens, the song describes an experience that's familiar to virtually every member of Generation Z: active-shooter drills in school and what it feels like to practice hiding for their lives.

Listen Up Vermont: Teen Voices

Indigo Radio

Hosts Mikaela and Anna talk with Silas Brubaker & Amar Vargas -- two VT teens of the cast of Listen Up! -- a musical amplifying VT teen voices. Join us for the hour to hear from Silas and Amar. 
The show is playing in Putney August 10th and 11th.

New musical written and performed by Vermont teens kicks off 5-town tour

VT Digger

The song was about the world being on fire. And as they rehearsed the musical number on an athletic field in Lyndon, they watched haze from the Manitoba wildfires obscure the mountains, the trees and the moon. 

What's on the minds of Vermont teens? New production gives clues in song and dance

Burlington Free Press

Teens have a lot of things they need to say but it can be hard to put them into words, according to 14-year-old Avery Cutroni of South Burlington. It’s a lot easier, she said, to convey those messages by song and dance.

‘Listen Up Project’ ready for Lyndonville opening night

WCAX

It’s opening night Wednesday for the “Listen Up Project,” a musical production written by teens, for adults.

New Musical From NEK Filmmaker Offers Glimpse Into Vermont Teen Life

Vermont Public Radio

Independent producer Erica Heilman visited with some of the teens in their third week of rehearsal, and asked them to explain what the show is about, in their own words.

'Listen Up Project,' 'Black Voices of Vermont' Productions Amplify Teen Voices

Vermont Public Radio

VPR's Mary Engisch speaks with Shani Stoddard and Vermont teen Elyse Martin Smith. 

‘Black Voices of Vermont' Aims to Build Community and Promote Learning

NEC

Teen outreach program announces interactive media project honoring and centering the voices of young Black Vermonters

Listen Up Project launches ‘Black Voices of Vermont’

Mountain Times

Teen outreach program announces interactive media project honoring and centering the voices of young Black Vermonters

‘Listen Up Project’ releases Valentine’s Day preview

WCAX

Céline McArthur speaks with Bess O’Brien and music co-writer Lulu Barr-Brandt.

New Vermont musical takes on important teen topics

WCAX

Bess O'Brien speaks with Galen Ettlin about the Listen Up Project.

Highlights from the Launch Press Conference

Listen Up

Highlights from our kick-off press conference at the State House, featuring Bess O'Brien, T.J. Donovan, Don George, Annalise Rose Shelmandine, Mark Levine, Phin Brown, and Gov. Phil Scott.