The Actors Fund Launches New Broadway Tradition for Young Stars

The Actors Fund has announced the introduction of "Broadway's Ziggy Bear," a new tradition for the children of Broadway. Created for The Actors Fund by philanthropist and producer, Kelly Gonda, Ziggy Bear will celebrate, for the first time ever, the children in Broadway shows and their contribution to the American Theatre.

The Actors Fund will bestow Ziggy Bear, a large stuffed animal sporting a jean jacket, upon the young performers in the cast of every Broadway show with one or more child actors under the age of 16. It will take place before each show's special The Actors Fund performance. The first "pinning ceremony" will be performed on Monday, May 2, at the Winter Garden Theatre (1634 Broadway) prior to The Actors Fund performance of School of Rock - The Musical. All children from other currently-running Broadway shows are welcome to attend this ceremony to help celebrate and kick-off the tradition.

Comparable to the well-known Gypsy Robe tradition, the Ziggy Bear ceremony will call for the children in the cast to gather at the theater before their The Actors Fund performance, where they will present a badge that they designed to represent their show, to be embroidered and sewn on Ziggy Bear's jean jacket. This jacket, similar to the Robe, will quickly garner multiple badges from all Broadway shows featuring children, and, when filled, each will be retired and displayed in The Actors Fund collection and replaced with a new jacket. In addition to the presentation of the badge to Ziggy Bear, every child in the cast will receive from The Actors Fund a unique pin, created and designed by Ms. Gonda, to commemorate the ceremony and denote their participation to this unique tradition.

Based on the hit film, School of Rock - The Musical is a hilarious new musical that follows Dewey Finn, a failed, wannabe rock star who decides to earn a few extra bucks by posing as a substitute teacher at a prestigious prep school. There he turns a class of straight-A students into a guitar-shredding, bass-slapping, mind-blowing rock band. While teaching these pint-sized prodigies what it means to truly rock, Dewey falls for the school's beautiful, but uptight headmistress, helping her rediscover the wild child within. School of Rock - The Musical features music from the movie, as well as an original score by Andrew Lloyd Webber, lyrics by Glenn Slater, a book by Julian Fellowes and direction by Laurence Connor.