James Monroe Iglehart Named Celebrity Ambassador of TDF's STAGE DOORS Campaign

It is Theatre Development Fund's belief that future audiences are built by engaging students, first-hand, in the vital and exciting activity of the creative process, as well as providing opportunities to see live performances of great theatre. Acting on this belief, TDF is launching a fundraising campaign to grow its most expansive theatre arts education program, STAGE DOORS.

Currently STAGE DOORS serves 7500 New York City public school students in 78 schools throughout the five boroughs. This program is so popular among educators that TDF currently has a wait-list of 60 additional schools that want their students to take part in the program. TDF's goal is to get all of those schools off the wait list and into the program, increasing the number of students served annually from 7,500 to 10,000 by the fall of 2018. For most of these students, STAGE DOORS will take them to their first Live Theatre performance. The program's objective is to create a generation of lifelong and independent theatre goers. Since it was first launched in 1994, STAGE DOORS has served nearly 100,000 New York City public school students.

The Ambassador of the STAGE DOORS campaign is Tony Award winner James Monroe Iglehart (star of Disney's Aladdin). Iglehart first encountered TDF's STAGE DOORS program while he was starring on Broadway in Memphis - to which TDF brought thousands of students. "It was my teachers that introduced me to theatre and if they hadn't, I don't know if I would have the life that I have today," said Mr. Iglehart. "Theatre education has been drastically cut or eliminated from New York City schools and it's amazing that not-for-profit organizations like TDF are trying to give these kids exposure to something they could have only dreamed of."

To learn more and donate to STAGE DOORS go to: stagedoors.tdf.org.