Alice Ripley Leads Broadway Dreams Foundation Teaching Artists at Kimmel Center

Philadelphia's Broadway dreams will come true once again when the Broadway Dreams Foundation offers their Summer Performing Arts Intensive for the second consecutive year at the Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts (300 South Broad Street) Monday, August 2 through Sunday, August 8, 2010. Alice Ripley, the Tony Award-winning star of Broadway's Next to Normal will lead the roster of BDF celebrity teaching artists which will include Tyler Hanes (A Chorus Line), Jessica Bogart (Les Miserables), Titus Burgess (Guys and Dolls), James Kinney (Sweet Charity) and Nicholas Rodriguez
of ABC's "One Life to Live."

Alice Ripley won the 2009 Tony Award for Best Actress in a Musical for her performance as "Diana" in Next to Normal. Previous Broadway credits include The Who's Tommy, Sunset Boulevard, Les Miserables, The Rocky Horror Show and Side Show which earned her critical acclaim and her first Tony Award nomination.

With the success of wildly popular television shows like "Glee" and the blockbuster films Hairspray and Fame, the world of musical theater is more popular than ever. The Broadway Dreams Foundation, a national non-profit performing arts training program, teaches America's youth how to kick start their career with one of a kind performance workshop taught by Broadway's brightest stars.

Attendees of the week-long BDF Summer Performing Arts Intensive will receive first-rate training in acting, dance and vocal performance daily from 9:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. by savvy Broadway veterans who will share their invaluable insider knowledge on the skills needed to make it in show business. Students will also learn how to improve their audition skills (song selections and cold readings) and attend classes geared toward college and career planning (headshots and resumes).

At week's end, all participants will perform alongside their Broadway idols in a "one night only" concert event entitled Don't Stop Believing to be held at the Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts‘
Perelman Theatre on Saturday, August 7, 2010 at 8 pm. Tickets to Don't Stop Believing are $65 - 25.00 and are available to the public by calling the Kimmel Center Box Office on 215-893-1999 or by visiting www.kimmelcenter.org.

In addition to Philadelphia, BDF has brought its unique program to Atlanta, Chicago, Las Vegas, Minneapolis, San Diego and Omaha among others. Former BDF faculty include Tony Award winners Alice Ripley (Next to Normal) and Jarrod Emick (Damn Yankees), Tony Award nominees Jodi Benson (Crazy for You), Laura Bell Bundy (Legally Blonde) and Gavin Creel (Hair) and Broadway favorites Nick Adams (A Chorus Line), Shoshana Bean (Wicked), Stephanie J. Block (9 to 5), BDF Artistic Director Paul Canaan (Legally Blonde), BDF alum Blake Daniels (Spring Awakening), Eden Espinosa (Wicked), Megan Hilty (9 to 5), Billy Porter (Miss Saigon), Nikki Snelson (Legally Blonde), Amanda Watkins (Sweet Charity) as well as television personalities Diana DeGarmo ("American
Idol," Hair), Mark Indelicato ("Ugly Betty") Nicholas Rodriguez ("One Life to Live") and Nicole Parker ("MadTV," Wicked).

Over one thousand students have participated in the BDF program and some have gone on to perform in regional, national and Broadway productions including Disney's The Lion King and Spring Awakening, pursue careers in the arts or attend prestigious theatre programs in universities throughout the United States.

For more information on THE BROADWAY DREAMS FOUNDATION, please visit www.mybroadwaydreams.com.

Photo credit: Monica Simoes

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