Album 01
Case study · Move With Mr. Prather
From the classroomto the stage.
Princeton, West Virginia · 2024
A children’s entertainment property Move With Mr. Prather
Originated by Mr. Prather
Developed in collaboration with Aja Sophia
Liner notes
Move With Mr. Prather
What began as a few songs for an elementary school gym teacher has become three albums, music videos, educational content, and live shows. Somewhere along the way, Mr. Prather and I found ourselves building something much bigger than either of us had planned.
- 01 Before There Was a Show 2021
- 02 Building the World 2021–2024
- 03 From Songs to Story 2025
- 04 Behind the Curtain 2025
- 05 MWMP LIVE! August 2025
- 06 The Next Chapter 2026
- + Beyond the Show The Prather Foundation
Recorded musicMusic videosLive entertainmentCommunity programming
Track01
Before There Was a Show
2021Before there were albums or stages or characters, there was Mr. Prather, an elementary school gym teacher with a song for just about everything.
He made up little jingles to get his students moving. And they worked. The kids knew the words, the teachers caught on, and the music started finding its way beyond the gym.
We took the songs into the recording studio.
Those little jingles became the starting point for something much bigger. Mr. Prather brought the music and his understanding of the kids. I came in as a creative partner, helping write, shape, and produce the songs into a complete album.
What started as a way to get through the school day became our first album.
Track02
Building the World
2021–2024The music was only the beginning.
We started making music videos, giving the songs characters, settings, and stories of their own. I produced the videos, working to bring the same energy and imagination from the music into something children could see.
Teachers began using the videos in their classrooms, and Mr. Prather kept taking the music directly to students through school performances.
The more we made, the more there was to make.
The songs were becoming something children could recognize, participate in, and return to. We weren’t just making more content. We were beginning to understand the world these songs could live in.
Album 02
Move With Mr. Prather Vol. 2
Listen Verified streaming links
Track03
From Songs to Story
2025By 2025, we’d spent years making music and building a world around it.
The songs had been made for children to move, sing, and learn along with. But we started imagining what could happen if we brought them all together in one theatrical experience.
Not just a concert, but a show with characters, a script, transitions, and a story to carry the audience from one moment to the next.
That’s how MWMP LIVE! was born.
Together, Mr. Prather and I began figuring out what that show could be. I took the lead on developing its creative direction, writing the script, shaping how the music and story would move together, and building the visual world that would bring it all to life.
The songs gave us the material. The story gave everything somewhere to go.
- A
Open on a character
The show opens with Grandma Suga, the nosey neighbor, in the middle of a phone call. Then: “Wake up, Mr. Prather!”
- B
Sing, dance, learn
Count to 100, then four different workouts, starting with Workout Song #1.
Track04
Behind the Curtain
2025There is the show the audience sees. And then there’s everything it takes to make that show happen.
Mr. Prather and I co-executive produced MWMP LIVE!, and I led the production through DOTHEWORK DC.
The script became a run of show. The ideas became rehearsals, technical cues, crew assignments, and a room full of people who needed to know what happened next.
I was responsible for bringing all those moving pieces together, leading rehearsals and technical production, coordinating the crew, and calling the show.
And because this was a DOTHEWORK production, young people weren’t just in the audience. They were part of the crew, working front of house, backstage, and across the day-of production.
The production was part of the story, too.
Production binder · MWMP LIVE!
- Co-executive producers
- Mr. Prather & Aja Sophia
- Production
- DOTHEWORK DC
- Call time
- 7:00am
- Show caller
- Aja Sophia
Youth crew · day of
- Front of house
- Backstage
- Stage operations
- Show calling
- Setup + breakdown
- Content capture
Track 05August 2025
MWMP LIVE!
- 500 attendees
- August 30, 2025
- Bowie Center for the Performing Arts
Five hundred people came to see the world we’d been building.
The music, the characters, the rehearsals, the production meetings, the technical cues. All of it had been leading to a room full of families experiencing the show together.
And for a couple of hours, everything we’d spent months working on belonged to the audience.
Track06
The Next Chapter
2026The third album was released on August 14, 2026. I co-wrote and co-produced it, continuing the creative partnership that began with those first recordings.
The album was submitted for GRAMMY consideration.
Album 03
Move With Mr. Prather Vol. 3
Submitted for GRAMMY consideration.
And the live show is still growing.
Our next MWMP LIVE! is scheduled for October 23, 2026, with me returning as writer and executive producer.
Up next
MWMP LIVE!
October 23, 2026
Bowie Center for the Performing Arts
Aja Sophia · Writer & Executive Producer
There are still songs to write, stories to tell, and things we haven’t thought of yet.
That’s one of my favorite parts of making something that keeps growing.
Beyond the Show
The Prather Foundation
Mr. Prather and I have made a lot together. Not all of it has been music.
What began as a Christmas toy drive grew into The Prather Foundation, a nonprofit supporting children and families throughout the year.
Our creative partnership extended into the foundation’s programming. As a creative thought partner, I helped develop ideas and experiences that brought its mission to life in ways families could participate in and remember.
Breakfast with Black Santa
Before · In person
One of those experiences was Breakfast with Black Santa, originally an in-person gathering where families could share a meal, celebrate the holidays, and take photos with Santa.
After · Virtual, during COVID
When COVID made gathering impossible, we had to rethink what the experience could be.
Instead of trying to recreate the brunch on a screen, we turned it into a story.
I co-wrote and produced a virtual live show, with teachers playing characters in a storybook adventure to find Santa.
The format changed. The reason for making it didn’t.
The Work Continues
Beyond the events, the foundation’s work has included school drives, toy drives, coat drives, and direct support for families during COVID.
I also developed Mr. Prather’s brand identity and website, helping give the work a recognizable home beyond the classroom and stage.
Brand identity · Website
Credits
Move With Mr. Prather Originated by Mr. Prather. Developed in collaboration with Aja Sophia.
Recorded music
- Co-Writer · Co-Producer
- Aja Sophia
- Vol. 1
- 2021
- Vol. 2
- 2024
- Vol. 3
- 2026
Music videos
- Producer
- Aja Sophia
MWMP LIVE! · August 30, 2025
- Co-Executive Producers
- Mr. Prather & Aja Sophia
- Writer
- Aja Sophia
- Creative Director
- Aja Sophia
- Lead Producer
- Aja Sophia, through DOTHEWORK DC
- Venue
- Bowie Center for the Performing Arts
The Prather Foundation
- Breakfast with Black Santa (virtual)
- Co-Writer · Producer
- Programming
- Creative thought partner
Brand
- Brand identity · Website
- Aja Sophia
Photography
- Rehearsal, tech + crew photographs
- Be Creative Be Tykaile