The League of American Theatres and Producers Announces Recipients of Ten National Education Grants for 2007

Programs Support Arts-in-Education and Audience Development

New York, NY, September 11, 2007 – The League of American Theatres and Producers, Inc. (www.LiveBroadway.com) announced today the recipients of its twelfth annual National Education Grants.  These grants support innovative programs that enable students from coast to coast to experience touring Broadway as a form of artistic expression and as an educational tool.  

The 2007 National Education Grants program bestows $5,000 to each of 10 presenters of touring Broadway shows across the U.S. for the development or support of education programs associated with touring productions.  Since it was founded in 1996, the League’s National Education Grants program has awarded $600,000 in grants to support the education efforts of Broadway presenting organizations.  The League administers this program with generous additional financial support from Theatre Development Fund.

During the past year, theatre education professionals at organizations that present touring Broadway productions have worked closely with local teachers and community organizations to create activities that engage young people with theatre and enhance their academic experiences.  

"League-member presenting organizations continually demonstrate their commitment to creating innovative learning strategies designed to heighten critical thinking, problem solving-skills, and the examination of relevant social themes by incorporating the act of theatregoing into the formal educational experience," commented Charlotte St. Martin, Executive Director, The League of American Theatres and Producers, Inc.  "These programs serve a diverse population that includes students who may not otherwise have an opportunity to experience live theatre due to economic and/or geographic constraints."  

This year, the ten programs that were awarded grants of $5,000 each are as follows:  (Note: for contact info pertaining to each theatre, call Alan Cohen at 212-703-0225)

Fox Theatre – Atlanta, GA
The Fox Theatre will work with four different groups of students in its "From Thesis to Sondheim and Beyond" program.  Drama students from North Atlanta High School and Tri-Cities High School will write, produce and perform an original play.  Production students will observe a production load-in, meet with production staff, and implement their knowledge creating sets for their own productions.  The Boys and Girls Club will learn about musical theatre history and paint and exhibit posters that depict various musicals.  An after-school program for low-performing students will include a weekly dance class, and participants will choreograph their own musical numbers to represent the history of musical theatre.  All participants will attend the touring Broadway productions of The Drowsy Chaperone and Irving Berlin's White Christmas at the Fox Theatre, as well as a culminating event that will bring all of the groups together to share their work and experiences.

Civic Center of Greater Des Moines – Des Moines, IA
One hundred students from ten central Iowa high schools will use the touring Broadway production of Twelve Angry Men to explore the judicial process, their personal responsibility as a potential juror, how background and prejudice affect juries, and the lessons of personal responsibility and decision-making.  Students will take part in a field trip to the Polk County Court House and an interactive workshop led by real-life judges and lawyers.  After attending a performance of the play at the Civic Center and participating in a post-performance discussion, each student will submit a final reflective project based on their experiences.  Two projects from each school will subsequently be displayed at the Civic Center.

The Peace Center for the Performing Arts – Greenville, SC
Broadway Boot Camp is an outreach program designed to provide enhanced theatre and dance education for approximately 50 students of Carolina High School and Academy, an urban environment public high school.  In November, theatre and chorus students will attend a performance of the touring Broadway production of My Fair Lady at The Peace Center, including a backstage tour and artist meet-and-greet.  In the spring semester, the same students will work closely with a professional actor and dancer in a Broadway Boot Camp.  These eight to ten sessions are designed to develop and strengthen performance skills for what will be their school’s first full-length musical production, in Spring 2008. 

Clowes Memorial Hall of Butler University – Indianapolis, IN
"Broadway Behind the Scenes: Technical Theatre in Traditional and Non-Traditional Productions" will involve 40 theatre students from Ben Davis High School and Fishers High School in a series of activities comparing and contrasting the technical elements of the touring Broadway productions of Cirque Dreams: Jungle Fantasy and My Fair Lady at Clowes Memorial Hall.  The Clowes five-person professional stage crew will provide several introductory experiences that will prepare the students to observe the load-in of Cirque Dreams.  Students will then attend both productions, compare the technical elements of each and apply their newly acquired technical skills in their own school performances with mentoring help from the Clowes stage crew.

Connecticut Association for the Performing Arts/Shubert Theater – New Haven, CT
This grant will support "Literary Lessons: Camelot" to enable 75-85 students at middle or high schools in the New Haven community to study an award-winning musical, learn about historical fiction, examine related literature and art forms (musicals, movies, art), visit the medieval collections at the Yale University Art Museum, and attend the touring Broadway production of Camelot at the Shubert Theater.  Qualified experts, including an author, a historian and a museum curator, will help students explore historical and artistic themes within this musical.  Literature will come to life with the assistance of a Guest Teaching Artist who will provide insights into the process of making theatre, writing a play, and how the two come together when dramatizing the written word.

Omaha Performing Arts Society – Omaha, NE
"Club Orpheum" is a yearlong advanced professional training program offered to high school juniors and seniors who hope to pursue careers in musical theatre.  Participants are selected based on a competitive application/nomination process and receive full scholarships insuring participation by those with limited financial means.  A combination of master classes, professional mentoring, access to shows, and interactions with touring company members provides a unique and in-depth perspective on the challenges and rewards of career artists.  The season-long structure of the program allows Omaha Performing Arts to nurture future arts professionals and address their specific goals and ambitions.  Participating students will attend the touring Broadway productions of The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, Monty Python’s Spamalot, The Phantom of the Opera, and Mamma Mia! at the Orpheum Theatre.

Rochester Broadway Theatre League – Rochester, NY
"Defying Gravity: The Good, the Bad, and the Wicked" is an in-depth middle school theatre exploration of contemporary issues that confront contemporary youth.  Through a variety of related yearlong activities, students will explore the concepts of tolerance, diversity and bullying and how each plays a role in their day-to-day existence.  Students will participate in a backstage tour, interactive workshops about tolerance and women in society, learn about the Holocaust, and visit the Strong National Museum of Play.  All participating students will also attend a performance of the touring Broadway production of Wicked at the Auditorium Theatre. 

California Musical Theatre – Sacramento, CA
"Puttin’ the Show on the Road" is a new project partnering California Musical Theatre with Natomas Charter School in conjunction with the touring Broadway production of The Phantom of the Opera.  Students will review lighting plots and schedules, costume sketches and dressers’ notes, sound and sound effects cues, scenic drawings and other materials with their professor and three members of IATSE Local 50.  Schedule permitting, the tour’s advance man/head carpenter will also address the students.  The Local 50 members will tour the school’s new theatre facility with students and compare it with the equipment at Community Center Theater, where Phantom will be staged. The students will tour CCT while it is empty, then observe the Phantom load-in and assist when permitted.  They will subsequently attend a performance of Phantom and participate in a question-and-answer session.

Tampa Bay Performing Arts Center – Tampa, FL
This project will take place in conjunction with two eighth grade classrooms of Franklin Middle Magnet School, an urban magnet school focusing on law studies and public service.  A teaching artist will visit the classrooms twice a week for four weeks to implement an exploration of the jury selection process, the psychology of jurors and the dynamics of the jury room.  Students will complete a writing assignment outlining character profiles, and the teaching artist will help stage a mock trial in class.  Students, teachers and families will then attend a performance of the touring Broadway production Twelve Angry Men at the Tampa Bay Performing Arts Center and participate in a post-show talkback with cast members and attorneys.  The teaching artist will follow up with a classroom visit to assess the impact of the program.

Arizona State University Public Events – Tempe, AZ
"School to Work: Twelve Angry Men" will introduce 100 students from Dysart High School to careers in theatrical producing and presenting, encourage them to study issues of prejudice, ethics, and the judicial system, and facilitate their attendance at the Touring Broadway production of Twelve Angry Men at Gammage Auditorium.  Qualified experts, including two ASU fine arts professors, will help students understand the process of bringing complicated social issues to life on stage.  Students will also meet with staff members at the theatre to discuss their responsibilities as an overview of potential careers in programming, operations, development, box office, marketing, cultural participation and finance.

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"Young people represent the future of our audiences, and we are proud to help Broadway fulfill its responsibility to share the unique power of live theatre with them," St. Martin states.  "We firmly believe that in addition to their inherent educational value, the performing arts can be a useful academic tool through which educators can initiate dialogue about important issues and concerns of people of all ages.  The arts inspire, and we are proud to help presenters of touring Broadway shows integrate theatregoing into the curriculum of students in their communities."

In addition to the National Education Grants program, the League also administers similar grants for education programs affiliated with Broadway productions in New York City each year.

The League of American Theatres and Producers, Inc., founded in 1930 and operating under the trademark "Live Broadway," is the national trade association for the Broadway industry.  The League’s 600-plus members include theatre owners and operators, producers, presenters, and general managers in over 240 North American cities, as well as suppliers of goods and services to the theatre industry.  Each year, League members bring Broadway to more than 30 million people in New York and on tour across the U.S. and Canada.  www.LiveBroadway.com.

For more information on these programs, call Rachel Reiner at (212) 703-0215.

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