Broadway League Announces 2013 Recipients of National Education Grants

The Broadway League just announced the recipients of its eighteenth annual National Education and Community Engagement Grants. These grants support inspired and inventive programs for a wide range of participants to experience and understand Broadway performances as a form of artistic expression and a powerful educational tool.

The 2013 National Education and Community Engagement Grants program presents ten organizations with grants of $5,000 each to help them develop and maintain educational programming associated with touring productions.

Touring Broadway shows represented in this year's grant recipient list include: Blue Man Group, Chicago, Million Dollar Quartet, Once, Peter and the Starcatcher, The Phantom of the Opera, Porgy and Bess, War Horse, and Wicked. This year's grant recipients are from the following cities: Appleton, WI; Baltimore, MD; Buffalo, NY; Dayton, OH; Greenville, SC; Indianapolis, IN; New Haven, CT; Rochester, NY; Sarasota, FL; and Tempe, AZ.

"We applaud our member organizations' dedication to teaching impressionable young minds inclusivity, self-worth, literacy skills, creative writing, history, and more through the magic of Broadway," commented Charlotte St. Martin, Executive Director of The Broadway League. "Lessons learned through theatre not only educate students about the world at large, but an introduction to Live Theatre creates a lifelong habit of theatre-going."

Since it was founded in 1996, the Broadway League's National Education and Community Engagement Grants program has awarded $900,000 in grants to support the education efforts of Broadway presenting organizations. The League administers this program with generous additional financial support from Theatre Development Fund.

During the past year, theatre education professionals at organizations that present Touring Broadway productions have worked closely with local teachers and community organizations to create activities that engage young people with theatre and enhance their academic experiences.

This year, the ten programs that were awarded grants of $5,000 each are as follows:

Fox Cities Performing Arts Center, Inc. - Appleton, WI

Using Wicked as a platform, the Fox Cities Performing Arts Center in Appleton, Wisconsin, in partnership with Bergstrom-Mahler Museum, will work with 30 at-risk high school students during a new four-month project entitled "Changed for Good." Using the medium of glass, students will explore life lessons found in Wicked. Lessons on inner worth, self-evaluation and respect towards others will be taught through the students' attendance at a performance of Wicked, classroom workshops, and the creation of their own glass artwork for public display.

Hippodrome Foundation, Inc. - Baltimore, MD

Starting this November, HFI will implement a literacy and arts program - "Bringing Tales to Life" - introducing arts to low-income 6th grade students to open young minds to experiences, knowledge and dreams they may not otherwise have a chance to develop. This program ties into core curriculum providing 40 students tools to study, write, illustrate and explore the concept of adventure talks in connection with Peter and the Starcatcher. This five-part program teaches students the key elements of an adventure tale. Students use the elements to write and illustrate their own hardbound story book.

Shea's Performing Arts Center - Buffalo, NY

Starting this September, Shea's Performing Arts Center will work with 7th grade students at Buffalo's International Preparatory School #198 to create an all-encompassing program centered around the Touring Broadway production of War Horse that will focus on history, puppetry, writing and performance. Students will learn about World War I and the crucial role that horses played in the war. They will also discover how horses and animals contribute to the psychological well-being of humans, specifically those with disabilities through a visit to the Buffalo Therapeutic Riding Center. Students will gain knowledge and respect for the art of puppetry by learning the skills required to build and operate a puppet and make it become a living, breathing being through in-class workshops with professional puppeteers.

Victoria Theatre Association - Dayton, OH

Victoria Theatre Association has created a community engagement program, "Guitars: A Bridge to Broadway," to bring together a burgeoning population of guitar enthusiasts, amateur and professional musicians, and Johnny Cash fans by using Million Dollar Quartet as a keystone to celebrate the guitar's influence on Dayton's strong musical roots. The four iconic figures in Million Dollar Quartet, Presley, Cash, Lewis, and Perkins, made their mark on American music. In turn, Million Dollar Quartet will provide a unique avenue for Victoria Theatre Association to excite and engage community members who might otherwise not attend a Broadway performance. Program components include an exhibit of memorabilia, a pre-performance panel discussion, a radio show, a lecture, a guitar-building workshop, a master class and attendance at the production at the Schuster Center.

Peace Center for Performing Arts - Greenville, SC

The Peace Center will partner with Berea High School to present "From the Palmetto State to Broadway: Uncovering SC Roots through Porgy and Bess." Berea High recently received recognition as a U.S. News Best High School, excelling despite the fact that the school is economically disadvantaged. The Peace Center will work with both theatre and English students at Berea in educational activities that use poetry writing and drama strategies as a vehicle for students to connect to their own personal roots, demonstrate how those journeys relate to South Carolina's history and discover how Porgy and Bess itself played such a pivotal role in unlocking cultural and social paths for the state and for the nation.

Clowes Memorial Hall at Butler University - Indianapolis, IN

Between September and May, Clowes Hall will advance its commitment to accessibility for all patrons with the project, "Blue Man Group: Feel the Music." This community engagement project will deepen the Broadway performance experience for deaf and hard-of-hearing patrons. The participants will engage in community-based events to meet the artists, theatre open houses to remove participation barriers, and opportunities to experience the ButtKicker sound enhancement equipment. This new equipment installation will allow patrons to feel the vibrations of percussion music. Never previously used for Live Theatre performances, the ButtKicker has the ability to create a new way of accessing aural performances for deaf and hard-of-hearing patrons.

Shubert Theater - New Haven, CT

"Art in Action: Once," will engage high school students from two different schools to explore what it means to pursue artistic dreams and make brave choices in life. One of the high school classes involved will be a visual art class from Cooperative Arts & Humanities High School, an arts magnet school located a block from the historic Shubert Theater. This February, using Once as the centerpiece of this project, students can discuss career options in theatre, music, and the visual arts, as well as ways of using the arts to explore their dreams. The high school students will create art pieces that will showcase their life goals and dreams. These pieces will be displayed in the lobby of the Shubert during the run of the show.

Rochester Broadway Theatre League - Rochester, NY

"Beyond the Mask" is a new in-depth, focused project incorporating current technological communication to facilitate a unique year-long relationship between the touring cast of The Phantom of the Opera and intermediate-aged students. Throughout the school year, each partnering classroom will be connected to a Phantom cast member and maintain written communication through email and social media. This will enhance collaborative efforts between production and classroom and give students a multi-faceted experience to create a complete understanding of theatre, culminating in attending a performance of Phantom in April. In addition, students will have multiple interdisciplinary classroom activities, which will utilize local community resources.

Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall - Sarasota, FL

The Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall will be conducting an educational initiative around Chicago: The Musical based on themes of celebrity criminals and attorneys, and the courtroom as a stage. High school students enrolled in the Law Academy at Booker High School in Sarasota will participate in workshops exploring the "razzle dazzle" of high-profile criminal justice proceedings in a series of workshops culminating with attendance at a performance of Chicago in March. The program will provide students a connection to the world of theatre and theatregoing that will inspire their legal studies and mock trials, and stimulate a lifelong appreciation of the theatre.

ASU Gammage - Tempe, AZ

ASU Gammage will work together with the Broadway production of Once and Arizona State University School of Music to provide students underserved by the arts a chance to learn about the infinite power of music and songwriting. Thirty valley high school students will participate in songwriting workshops led by ASU School of Music students that will culminate in a public performance in the ASU Gammage Lobby before a performance of Once at ASU Gammage. Students participating in the workshop also will receive the opportunity to view the production of Once at ASU Gammage and meet with the cast and crew.