ATW Welcomes 35 Students From 30 States During Springboard NYC

The American Theatre Wing (Theodore S. Chapin, Chairman, Board of Trustees; Howard Sherman, Executive Director) will welcome 35 students from 30 states for this year's SpringboardNYC summer program, being held June 6 - 17 in New York City for its seventh consecutive year. Drawing students from colleges and universities around the country, SpringboardNYC places emerging artists right at the heart of the theatre community, giving them the professional tools to turn their talents into a career. SpringboardNYC is the only program of its kind which draws from New York City's community of extraordinary working artists, creating mentoring relationships that help groom the next generation of theatre professionals. It is the ideal college-to-career experience, giving students information and contacts that would otherwise take them years to build on their own. Springboard NYC uniquely focuses on audition training, the business of art, and making a life in the theatre.

2011 SpringboardNYC mentors and teaching artists will include Bobby Cannavale, Marcia Milgrom Dodge, Edie Falco, Leah S. Gardiner, Sam Gold, Peter Francis James, Marc Kudisch, Judith Light, Kathleen Marshall, Seth Rudetsky, and Ted Sperling, as well as a host of agents, managers, casting directors, and producers. In addition, SpringboardNYC program alums return each summer to share their experiences and expertise with the incoming class. Director of American Theatre Wing's SpringboardNYC is Randy Ellen Lutterman, who created the program.

ATW's mission extends beyond New York City as the home for America's largest free online archive of media focused on how theatre is made, in the words of the very people who make it. In the past month, ATW has released a range of new content, including a new episode of the television program "Working in the Theatre" entitled Theatre Journalism: Online and Off. This episode features Chris Caggiano (blogger, www.everythingmusicals.com), Scott Heller (Theater Editor, The New York Times), David J. Loehr (founder, www.2amtheatre.com), Jan Simpson (faculty, CUNY Graduate School of Journalism), and Terry Teachout (critic and columnist, The Wall Street Journal) discussing how blogging is able to reach a more expansive and diverse audience than traditional journalism; what they look for online and if what they read affects their own writing; and how social media has been able to create national and even international conversations about theatre. An acclaimed fixture on New York television and in the theatre community for 30 years, the American Theatre Wing's "Working in the Theatre" offers an unprecedented forum for the meeting of theatrical minds. "Working in the Theatre" can be streamed live at www.americantheatrewing.org/wit/.

ATW's original podcast series, "Downstage Center" continues with all-new interviews with Jason Robert Brown (composer of Parade; The Last Five Years), Joe Mantello (actor in The Normal Heart, director of Wicked), Marc Kudisch (actor in A Minister's Wife), and John Weidman (librettist of Anything Goes; Assassins) are now available online by visiting www.americantheatrewing.org/downstagecenter/.

A new "In The Wings" feature has also been posted, featuring Associate Lighting Designer Caroline Chao. These short videos shine the spotlight on disciplines you may not even realize are a part of theatrical production and celebrate the full diversity of talent that contribute to bringing a show to the stage. For all "In The Wings" installments, visit www.americantheatrewing.org/inthewings/.

The American Theatre Wing (Theodore S. Chapin, Chairman, Board of Trustees; Howard Sherman, Executive Director) is a not-for-profit organization best known as the creator of the Antoinette Perry "Tony" Awards®, which it presents annually with The Broadway League. In addition to "Downstage Center," "In The Wings," "Working in the Theatre," and a host of other online resources, The Wing operates many activities, all dedicated to recognizing excellence and supporting education in theatre, including SpringboardNYC, the Theatre Intern Group, the National Theatre Company Grants and the Jonathan Larson Grants. Visitors to www.americantheatrewing.org can listen to, watch or download from ATW's extensive media collection, and learn more about all of its programming for students, aspiring and working professionals, and audiences who want to learn more about the making of theatre. Follow ATW on Facebook.com/TheAmericanTheatreWing, youtube.com/americantheatrewing and Twitter.com/TheWing.