BWW Blog: Miranda Jackel - Broadway Back to School

Hello to all 5 million of my amazing readers (because there are DEFINITELY that many of you)!!! Sorry for my lack of blog last week...I know how emotionally difficult it was for you to deal with...but I'm back now, so you can wipe away the tears.

Last Monday, I went to an amazing benefit called Broadway Back to School at 54 Below (LITERALLY MY FAV PLACE). It was a fundraiser for the Educational Theater Association, which, I now know, is SUCH A COOL ORGANIZATION!!! They're basically trying to improve the experience of young drama students and spread the word that we must have theater education in schools (YAAASSS). They have troupes in schools around the country, and then in June, they hold the International Thespian Festival in Nebraska, where all these high school theater geeks, their teachers, and working professionals in the theater unite. It sounds awesome-I wanna go!! It was really incredible experience, hearing all these people talking about how important theater is for young people, and I was just like PREACH!!! I got to do interviews with many of the "stahs" and the student thespians, as I was there for another site I work for called BwayZone.com (check it out-it's an awesome site). When I chatted with the teens, I asked them about how theater had shaped their lives, and it was so beautiful hearing what a profound impact theater had on them, and I was just like SAMMMEEEE!!! And then, so was hearing from the adults about their amazing theatrical experiences growing up, and why they think it's important for us to be involved in theater. It's so amazing whenever you realize that these uber-cool and talented Broadway peeps started out as just crazy theater geeks like us. In the words of Us Weekly, "Stars-They're Just Like Us!" Jenna Ushkowitz (Spring Awakening, Glee, Waitress) was one of the performers, and she was so cool and down-to-earth. The director of the benefit, Seth Rutteberg (Avenue Q) was the absolute sweetest and everything he said was so inspiring. Plus, I chatted with THE BAES, Susan Blackwell and Hunter Bell ([title of show]). Hunter was part of the International Thespian Society as a kid growing up in Georgia, and now he's come full circle, and is on the EdTA's Board of Directors!!! How cool is that?! It was amazing talking to them. I've always been obsessed with them, and now, after having met them, I love them even more (I never even thought that was humanly possible).

After all my interviews, I went to the actual show, which was AWESOME (and not solely because of those ridiculously yummy 54 Below crab fritters). Hunter and Susan were the co-hosts, so it was obviously hilarious because they are THE FUNNIEST HUMANS ALIVE!!! All the performers KILLED IT, and it was amazing hearing all about the EdTA's mission-what they're doing is truly incredible. One highlight of the show was that Jenna Ushkowitz's high school drama teacher came onstage after her performance! She sang "I Dreamed a Dream", which was super cool because she was in the first-ever high school production of Les Mis. You could tell her former teacher was so overcome with pride, and it was beautiful to see. I also have to mention that Marla Louissaint SLAYED "I Got Four Kids" from Caroline, or Change. Marla won the National High School Musical Theater Award for playing Caroline in 2015, and she is INSANELY AMAZING!!! Mark my words, she will have a TONY the moment she gets out of college-oh, yeah, she's also studying computer science at Fordham. LIKE WHAT EVEN IS THAT LEVEL OF MULTITALENTEDNESS-I don't even know if "multitalentedness" is a word, let alone anything about computer science!! YES TO AWESOME TEEN STARS!!!

Broadway Back to School was such an incredible and inspirational night. I'm so glad there are organizations like EdTA out there, spreading the word that theater education is essential, because it absolutely is!! For more info on EdTA and their amazing mission, go to www.schooltheatre.org.