My son, Matthew, is 11 years old and worked with Scott Hart in A Christmas Story -The Musical at The Barn Theater in November/December of 2014. My son has been performing since he was 8 years old and has worked with many different directors. Most of the productions Matthew has been part of only had one or two parts for children, so when we heard there would be 12 children in this production, we were thrilled. Scott was able to assemble these twelve children and make them into an amazing team, a family. Scott's patience was apparent as he directed these children of different ages, theatrical backgrounds, and personalities for three months. He showed the children respect and in turn they showed him the same respect. These children would do anything to make Scott proud. Even when Scott was stern and serious, the children were eager to please. Scott was also very clear and precise in his notes for the children, as well as the entire cast. There were no blurred lines, my son knew exactly what was expected of him and was able to follow all the notes he received from Scott. Scott never had Matthew (or any actor) just sit around doing nothing during rehearsal. He managed the rehearsal time and the actors’ time very efficiently. When Matthew was called to a rehearsal, it was for a specific purpose. There was limited wasted time as Scott knew what the production process entailed and he executed it superbly. Scott tried to wrap up the children's rehearsal by nine pm during the week, knowing they had school the next day. This impressed me the most because Matthew has been at rehearsals until midnight in other productions, just sitting around doing nothing. Matthew not only learned acting skills from Scott, but he learned that hard work pays off. Matthew worked hard, practicing on his own, the music, the dances and his lines. He saw that the result of all this hard work was an entertaining and remarkable show. Scott’s encouragement and leadership pushed all the children and the entire cast to work hard to put this amazing production together. This production at The Barn could have never been as incredible as it was without having Scott Hart at the helm. Not only would Matthew love to work with Scott again, but as Matthew's parents, we would also love to work with Scott Hart again.