Jake Gyllenhaal to Host Shubert Foundation's 11th Annual High School Theatre Festival

In its 11th year, more than 200 young NYC public school theatre artists will make their Broadway debuts in The 2025 Shubert Foundation High School Theatre Festival for NYC Public Schools on Monday, March 24 at 7:30pm at the Shubert Theatre. This annual theatre education experience for NYC students is presented by The Shubert Foundation and the NYC Public Schools Arts Office.
 
Academy Award and Tony Award nominee Jake Gyllenhaal (Othello) will host this year’s 11th annual event. Additional guest presenters, supporting public school theatre education, will include Maya Boyd (& Juliet), Will Eno (Thom Pain), Thayne Jasperson (Hamilton), Baayork Lee (A Chorus Line), Liam Pearce (& Juliet), members of Pigpen Theater Co. (Water for Elephants), Zachary Noah Piser (Redwood), John Scott-Richardson (Between Two Knees), Shaun Taylor-Corbett (In the Heights), Jessica Vosk (Hell’s Kitchen), Khailah Wilcoxon (Redwood), and more!
 
The Shubert Festival celebrates five outstanding high school student productions from the 2024-25 school year, selected from more than 30 productions across the city by professional theatre artists and theatre educators. Over the course of the festival’s 11-year history, school productions from all five boroughs have performed at the event.
 
This year, student presentations from the following schools will present excerpted scenes and musical numbers in order as follows:
 
IN THE HEIGHTS – Theatre Arts Production Company High School (Bronx)
THE SKIN OF OUR TEETH – Repertory Company High School for Theatre Arts (Manhattan)
NATASHA, PIERRE AND THE GREAT COMET OF 1812 – Professional Performing Arts School (Manhattan)
A CHORUS LINE – Port Richmond High School (Staten Island)
SWEENEY TODD: THE DEMON BARBER OF FLEET STREET – Frank Sinatra School of the Arts (Queens)
 
The Shubert High School Theatre Festival showcases the ongoing excellent theatre work currently taking place in NYC public high schools, as well as highlighting the crucial skills of theatre study for the stage and in life: collaboration, artistry, discipline, focus, literacy, student voice, self-awareness, presence, and empathy. The evening focuses on the impact that a dedicated theatre program can have on students and school communities, enabling students to see theatre and the arts as a potential career path.