Broadway League Sets 2014 National Education, Community Engagement Grant Recipients

The Broadway League has announced the recipients of its nineteenth annual National Education and Community Engagement Grants. These grants support inspired and inventive programs for a wide range of participants to experience and understand Broadway performances as a form of artistic expression and a powerful educational tool.

The National Education and Community Engagement Grants program presents ten organizations with grants of $5,000 each to help them develop and maintain programming associated with touring Broadway productions, and this year The Broadway League is also pleased to announce the addition of four $2,500 grants to support the engagement of even more audiences.

"We tip our hats to the performing arts centers across the country, and to their commitment to provide arts-based learning experiences for future Broadway professionals and audiences," commented Charlotte St. Martin, Executive Director of The Broadway League. "These programs successfully continue to help students become historians, critical thinkers, ambassadors and lovers of the Broadway mission and legacy."

The recipients of this year's grants will engage in a range of activities to educate young minds on theatre tradition. From demonstrations with touring department heads of carpentry, electricity and sound to Fosse-style choreography classes, students will learn about all facets of the theatre industry. Some programs will directly interact with the storyline of the musicals including publication of student newspapers as presented in the Newsies, or learning to write poetry and lyrics, and explore the composition of music as seen in Once.

Touring Broadway shows represented in this year's grant recipient list include: Dirty Dancing, Jersey Boys, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, Kinky Boots, The Lion King, Motown, Newsies, Once, Pippin and Rodgers + Hammerstein's Cinderella. This year's grant recipients are from the following cities: Appleton, WI; Denver, CO; Des Moines, IA; Fort Lauderdale, FL; Greenville, SC; Indianapolis, IN; Minneapolis, MN; Nashville, TN; Orlando, FL; Rochester, NY; Schenectady, NY; Tampa, FL; Waterbury, CT; and West Palm Beach, FL.

Since it was founded in 1996, The Broadway League's Education and Community Engagement Grants program has awarded $960,000 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 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.

This year, the ten programs that were awarded grants of $5,000 each are as follows:

The Denver Center for the Performing Arts - Denver, CO

Working directly with third grade teachers at Kunsmiller Creative Arts Academy, The Denver Center Education team will create a 5-session workshop series starting in January 2015, developed to support reading, writing, communicating, and research + reasoning through the exploration of the story of Cinderella in various countries and the creation and performance of each student's adaptation of the story in a contemporary context. Students will then see Rodgers + Hammerstein's Cinderella at the Buell Theatre and have a post-show visit from the cast in their classroom.

Des Moines Performing Arts - Des Moines, IA

Starting in September 2014, Des Moines Performing Arts will partner with five low-performing Des Moines Public Schools to conduct multi-curricular workshops and residences around Disney's The Lion King. The project will enable 500 high-needs Des Moines students to attend a performance of the touring production of The Lion King at the Civic Center, and participate in workshops that reinforce literacy, social and 21st century learning objectives. The collaboration will be a signature project of the year, and lay the foundation for future arts-based learning experiences.

Broward Center for the Performing Arts - Fort Lauderdale, FL

Beginning this September, the Broward Center will commence "I Just Can't Wait to Be King," an educational initiative that will use community resources to address issues faced by adolescents and implement social change. Drawing on the Broward Center's partnership with Broadway Across America and using themes from Disney's The Lion King, gifted students from low-income families will participate in activities to identify the "Scar" (insecurity, inhibition, negativity) in their world, and work to find their inner "Simba" (strength, dreams, empowerment). Students will work with cast members and Broward Center teaching artists to create an original performance piece and use their new skills to mentor younger students.

The Peace Center for the Performing Arts - Greenville, SC

The Peace Center will partner with 150 theatre and band students at Travelers Rest High School to present "Raise Your Voice," an educational project that uses Once as a platform to explore the relationships between a lyricist and composer, fully realizing the power of music to move audiences. Through various workshops designed around songwriting, students will collaborate with teaching artists and each other to write poetry and lyrics, compose music, and arrange a student-produced showcase performance to present their work within their school community. Students will see the production of Once at the Peace Center and participate in a creative conversation with cast and company members.

Clowes Memorial Hall - Indianapolis, IN

"Broadway Behind the Scenes: A Community Theatre Partnership" is a professional development series for 25 technical crew members from Indianapolis community theatres, in conjunction with Broadway Across America-Indianapolis' presentations of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat and Dirty Dancing. Beginning this March, participants will attend both productions at Clowes Memorial Hall and have follow-up lectures/demonstrations with the touring department heads of carpentry, electrics and sound. In addition, participants will receive mentoring from the Clowes stagehands as well as national scenic design leaders from Indianapolis, they will learn new technical skills and information to implement in their own community theatre venues and productions, thus raising the quality of technical expertise in their community.

Tennessee Performing Arts Center - Nashville, TN

In February 2015, the Tennessee Performing Arts Center will engage 40 metro Nashville public high school drama students in a multi-week exploration of the themes and artistry of Pippin. During four artist-led workshops, students will examine the significance of Fosse-style choreography, learn about the production's songs and unique style of storytelling, explore the history of the circus, and practice the arts of juggling and physical theatre. The final workshop will include an opportunity for students to discuss the production with Pippin cast members during a talkback following the show.

Rochester Broadway Theatre League - Rochester, NY

"Touring Broadway Reaches to the Incarcerated" is a community engagement program for an underserved audience. Its focus is to rebuild and reaffirm the families of incarcerated parents, and to reduce the impact of incarceration on their children. It is a partnership among Rochester Broadway Theatre League (RBTL), New York State Literary Center (NYSLC), and the Office of The Sheriff-County of Monroe. The parents, while incarcerated, will be provided with classroom learning experiences and writing assignments that will culminate in attending a Broadway musical with their children upon their release. Depending upon release dates, inmates will experience one or more of the educational writing components and will attend either Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, Rodgers + Hammerstein's Cinderella, or Pippin at the Auditorium Theatre with their children.

Arts Center and Theatre of Schenectady, Inc. - Schenectady, NY

Beginning in February 2015, the "Free To Be Me" outreach project will connect forty 13-18 year old students in New York's Capital Region to conduct a series of workshops focused on activism techniques relating to body image and gender expression. Working with the Pride Center of the Capital Region, Proctors will provide a teaching artist to conduct workshops at three Rainbow Nights drop-in groups, exploring themes expressed in Kinky Boots, followed by a regional Rainbow Nights meet up at Capital Region Pride, the largest Pride event in upstate New York.

Palace Theater - Waterbury, CT

"Making Headlines" is an intensive, seven-week language arts and theatre appreciation program beginning in October that will use the themes presented in the Broadway musical Newsies to engage high school and middle school students in the realistic "newsroom" environment that provides hands-on journalism experience. In addition to attending a performance of Newsies and participating in a cast "talk back," students will engage in a series of after-school workshops where they will be mentored by weekly guest speakers and teaching artists as they work together as a "news team" to research, write, edit, and publish a student newspaper based on the social issues they deem "newsworthy."

The Raymond F. Kravis Center for the Performing Arts, Inc. - West Palm Beach, FL

This fall, "The Cinderella Transformation Project" will engage a group of fourth and fifth grade elementary school students from a local Title I school in an exploration of the themes addressed in Douglas Carter Beane's new book for Rodgers + Hammerstein's Cinderella. Issues surrounding beauty standards, body image, self-confidence, kindness and charity will be discussed and examined through studio dialogue, independent journaling and collaborative mixed media sculpture design and construction. The project will employ the art of traditional Easter papermaking in building a larger paper sculptural dress which will be on exhibition in the main theatre lobby during the run of the production.

In addition to the ten $5,000 grants presented annually, this year The Broadway League has added four $2,500 grants to promote and support additional arts education and engagement initiatives around the country. The recipients of these grants are presenting organizations in Appleton, WI; Minneapolis, MN; Orlando, FL; and Tampa, FL.

Fox Cities Performing Arts Center - Appleton, WI

Starting January 2015, using the themes found in Once, a group of socio-economically at-risk students will begin a journey of exploration to define what it means to give without reservation and chase their dreams. Local singer-songwriters will instruct students in the basics of music composition and writing lyrics that pay homage to someone who gave selflessly to them. During this four month project entitled "Raise Your Voice," students will attend a performance of Once, learn to recognize the act of sacrificing for others, and begin to weave their own story.

Hennepin Theatre Trust - Minneapolis, MN

Beginning this December, the Hennepin Theatre Trust will commence their "Critical Reviewer" program through which 50 high school students will have the opportunity to attend Motown the Musical and Jersey Boys, as well as workshops associated with the shows focusing on decision making, diversity, communication, and writing. The program culminates with the students posting their reviews of the shows online.

Dr. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts - Orlando, FL

Two seventh grade classes from Maitland Middle School will partner to participate in the "Newsies - The Power of Young Press" project. The students will work on this project in both their civics and language arts classes. This project will culminate with the creation of a newspaper, written by the students, that the Orlando Sentinel will print. The students will sell the newspaper at their school and to patrons attending the January 28th performance of Newsies. The money collected from their newspaper sales will be donated to Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS.

Straz Center for the Performing Arts - Tampa, FL

"Music for All People: Exploring Motown" is an intergenerational project that will engage senior citizens with middle school students in a cultural heritage exploration of Motown music, culminating in new musical expressions created by the students and informed by the seniors' memories. Guided by a teaching artist, students will explore the stories, structure and enduring social impact of Motown music before creating their songs. Throughout the journey, students will connect with a musician or cast member of the show via social media. Students and seniors will see the touring production of Motown together, and the project will culminate in the students performing their original songs for the seniors.