Broadway Dreams Foundation Kimmel Center Presents Free Performance; BDF Summer Intensive Scheduled

The Broadway Dreams Foundation and The Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts rang in 2016 with a free performance at 4:30 pm on Friday, January 1, 2016 on the Commonwealth Plaza Level. Broadway teaching artists and approximately 60 students (ranging in age from 8 - 58) from The Broadway Dreams Foundation's Summer Performing Arts Intensive will return to the Kimmel Center to celebrate the Center's current Broadway season.

Parade-enthusiasts can warm up indoors while enjoying a bird's eye view of Philadelphia's historical Mummers Parade and hearing the sounds of Broadway. Families can participate in fun activities from 10 am to 6 pm. The concert will feature selections from the Tony Award-winning musical, Once; Broadway's smash hit, Beautiful - The Carole King Musical; Disney's Beauty and the Beast; The Sound of Music; If/Then with original Broadway cast member Ryann Redmond; and many more. The concert will be directed by Greg Kamp (Catch Me If You Can), with choreography by Joey Dippel (West Side Story) and Sidney DuPont (Beautiful - The Carole King Musical). Judine Somerville (Hairspray) and Dave Barrus (Les Miserables) will also perform. BDF's annual Summer Performing Arts Intensive will take place at the Kimmel Center August 6 - 13, 2016.

Visit www.mybroadwaydreams.com for more information or to register. Each year hundreds of students received valuable musical theatre training through BDF programs offered in partnership with Philadelphia's Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts. The Broadway Dreams Foundation, led by Executive Director Annette Tanner, is a national non-profit education program that teaches the next generation of musical theater performers how to kick start their career through unique, week-long performance intensives taught by Broadway's brightest stars and industry professionals.

Attendees receive first-rate training in acting, dance and vocal performance before participating alongside their Broadway idols in concert events directed by one of the industry's finest directors. BDF offers significant scholarships to hundreds of participants each year, ensuring that all qualified students are able to realize their Broadway dreams regardless of their financial status. This past year, 42% of all BDF students attended programs on full or partial scholarship. Over 60 past students have gone on to star in Broadway, national touring and regional productions including Beautiful - The Carole King Musical, The Book of Mormon, Violet, If/Then, Annie, Evita, Motown the Musical, and many more.

For more information on the Kimmel Center's annual New Year's Day Celebration, please visit: www.kimmelcenter.org. For more information on The Broadway Dreams Foundation, please visit: www.mybroadwaydreams.com