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HOSTED BY BROADWAY’S ALEX SHARP
Star of ‘The
Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time’
OVER ONE HUNDRED NYC PUBLIC HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS
STEP INTO THE BROADWAY SPOTLIGHT
NEW YORK – The first annual Shubert Foundation High
School Theatre Festival for New York City Public Schools
took place on Monday, March 9 at Broadway’s Imperial
Theatre (249 West 45th Street)
at 7:00 p.m. More than 100 talented students from five
select New York City high schools made their Broadway
debuts.
Hosting the event was Alex Sharp, the acclaimed young
star of the Broadway hit, The
Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time.
Chancellor Carmen Fariña, of the New York City
Department of Education, provided the welcome
remarks and introduced the Shubert Organization’s
Chairman, Philip J. Smith and President Robert E. Wankel.
Shubert Foundation President Michael I. Sovern
introduced the host, Alex Sharp.
The Festival is a celebration featuring five outstanding
high school student theater productions from the
2014-2015 school year. The shows have been chosen by a
panel of theater professionals and arts educators.
Students will present excerpted scenes and musical
numbers from:
GODSPELL
Talent
Unlimited High School (Manhattan)
STAND AND
DELIVER
Maspeth
High School (Queens)
LITTLE
WOMEN
Susan
Wagner High School (Staten Island)
THE TROJAN
WOMEN
Frank
Sinatra High School for the Arts (Queens)
IN THE
HEIGHTS
LaGuardia
High School (Manhattan)
“Theater
study teaches students the importance of revising,
editing, rehearsing and joy in the pursuit of mastery –
a lesson critical in the classroom and beyond,”
said Chancellor Carmen Fariña. “Expanding access to
theater, and more generally arts education, helps
inspire students, builds confidence and deepens their
critical thinking skills. By taking advantage of the
City’s rich cultural resources, and partnering with
great organizations like Shubert, we will continue to
provide our students with critical hands-on learning
experiences in the arts.”
Shubert
Organization Chairman Philip J. Smith stated, “We are
thrilled to introduce this new Foundation event. It’s a
perfect expression of what we’re trying to accomplish by
supporting arts education. I look forward to watching
these New York City stars of tomorrow light up the stage
at the Imperial.”
In
attendance at the event were members of Chancellor
Fariña’s cabinet from the Department of Education,
prominent NYC arts educators, leading members of New
York’s professional theater community, schoolmates from
each participating school and a large contingent of
fellow students and proud family members.
The
Festival is sponsored by The Shubert Foundation in
partnership with the New York City Department of
Education (NYCDOE). Funding for the Festival and for a
range of existing Shubert Foundation programs in New
York City public schools, comes from this year’s grant
of $525,000. Since 2005, The Shubert Foundation has
provided more than $3.2 million to the New York City
Department of Education for Arts/Theatre programs.
The High
School Theatre Festival aims to showcase the ongoing and
excellent theatre work currently happening in NYC public
high schools, as well as highlight the positive effects
of theater study on skills for the stage and in life:
collaboration, artistry, discipline, focus, literacy,
student voice, self-awareness, presence, active
listening and empathy. The evening focuses on the
impact a full theater program can have on students and
school communities. The festival enables students to see
that a life in the theater can be a legitimate career
path.
“The
Festival provides a high profile forum on Broadway to
celebrate, promote and advocate for theater education
for all students, ”according
to Peter Avery, Director of Theater, for the NYC
Department of Education, and the Festival’s producer.
The Shubert
Foundation
The Shubert
Foundation, Inc. is the largest institutional funder of
theatre education programs throughout NYC public schools
and the nation’s largest private foundation dedicated to
unrestricted funding of not-for-profit theaters, with a
secondary focus on dance. The Shubert Foundation, Inc.
was established in 1945 by the legendary team of the
brothers Lee and J.J. Shubert who produced more than 520
plays, musicals and revues, as well as owned and
operated a nationwide network of legitimate theaters.
For more information, visit
www.shubertfoundation.org
New York
City Department of Education
The New
York City Department of Education is the largest system
of public schools in the United States, serving about
1.1 million students in more than 1,750 schools. The
Department of Education supports universal access to
arts education through the ArtsCount initiative, which
tracks and reports student participation in arts
education and holds schools accountable for meeting New
York State Instructional Requirements for the Arts. For
more information, visit
www.nyc.gov/schools
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