Exclusive: How 16 Students Got to Assist Broadway Stars at The Festival, Then Give the Ultimate Showcase
BroadwayWorld breaks down how these college-age performers were given a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.
Broadway stars weren’t the only ones who performed at The Festival, the weekend-long event held earlier this month in Kingston, New York. A new generation of musical theater artists got to show off their stuff on the mainstage — and were met with multiple (yes, multiple!) standing ovations.
During the first year of the Coachella-like weekend event at Hutton Brickyards, 16 lucky college students (or recent college grads) were given the opportunity to assist the production team as part of The Festival’s “Apprentice” program.
Throughout the weekend, Apprentices helped out with some of the day-to-day logistics at The Festival, including getting Broadway talent from where they were being housed to the grounds of Hutton Brickyards and taking them back after their performance.
They also performed pop-up sets for theater fans hanging out by the food trucks or simply taking in the views of the Hudson River and provided backup vocals when needed at some of the weekend’s Big Shows alongside a star-studded lineup of Broadway talent. Their weekend culminated with an hourlong set during which the Apprentices performed iconic musical theater tunes, and each of the performers had a moment to shine.
BroadwayWorld breaks down how these 16 aspiring stars were chosen to perform at The Festival — and how college students could apply to be part of the program next year.
How did the Apprentices get chosen for The Festival?
Lana Schwartz, a rising senior at Harvard University, was asked by The Festival founders Joshua Saltman and David Schwartz to direct this year’s Apprentice program after the two saw her work with Nxt Generation Theatrics, a theater company run for teens that she founded in 2019.
Once Schwartz was on board, she tells BroadwayWorld, “a lot of emails to musical theater colleges as well as my school, Harvard,” were sent out so that students could start applying for their chance to join The Festival.
Instead of any in-person auditions, potential Apprentice candidates sent over performance clips and/or video reels and were interviewed virtually to discuss their stage management experience.
“It’s kind of a stage management/PA job as much as it is a performing job,” Schwartz says. “We’re also behind the scenes moving people around.”
Out of approximately 150-175 applications, 16 Apprentices were chosen, 13 of which performed. The other Apprentices included stage manager Fiona Grand, technical director Kavi Gasper and music director Jack Terbush.
What did the Apprentices do at The Festival?
Before rehearsals began for the Apprentice’s hourlong set at The Festival, director Schwartz and music director Terbush “went through our dream set list and what we wanted it to look like, making sure that we get songs from Golden Age and contemporary [musicals],” Schwartz explains, adding that they also dreamed about including a medley of songs from everything currently playing on Broadway.
Schwartz and Terbush also collaborated with their fellow Apprentices on the set of songs, which was meant to showcase each cast member and show off their impressive skillsets. Schwartz sang “I’m the Greatest Star” from Funny Girl, while cast member Derek Bedell sang “Ilona” from She Loves Me and “Dancing Through Life” from Wicked, and cast member Jeffery Walker III brought down the house with “It All Fades Away” from The Bridges of Madison County and “The Room Where It Happens” from Hamilton.
Despite their standing ovations, Bedell says performing in front of the hundreds of Broadway fans in attendance was “definitely a little nerve-wracking, but it being the third day in The Festival, we kind of had all that time to get our nerves out.”
Impressive is an understatement to describe the Apprentice set at The Festival, especially given the fact that the young performers had about four days total to learn the material, put it on its feet and perfect it.
“The expectation was that we came in pretty much off-book and ready to go,” says Walker III. “It was very fast-paced, but we had time to prep.”
Did the Apprentices at The Festival get to meet Broadway stars?
Yes! Aside from their mainstage performance, the Apprentices also had a slew of other job duties. “Another of our responsibilities is that we were showing the big stars around and making sure they got from place to place and where they needed to be,” Walker III explains.
However, for more than a dozen aspiring artists, getting to interact with their favorite stars felt like a dream come true.
“A lot of us have played these roles that these people have originated,” Bedell points out. “So it was already a wild experience just meeting them in person and getting to talk about their experience working on the projects.”
According to Schwartz, “Some of them even came to see our Apprentice hour, and it was just so surreal.”
For Walker III, it meant a lot to meet the people he feels represented by on Broadway. “It was a really cool experience,” he says, “because I thought that a lot of the bigger names in the lineup were Black performers. And for me, that was really fulfilling to get to interact with these people who are in this space where I want to be — and come from a similar journey as me.”
“I cried a few times getting to see people who I’ve looked up to in this space,” he admits, “and who showed me that there was a space for me in musical theater.”
How do you apply to be an Apprentice at The Festival for next year?
In case you missed it, The Festival is going to be back for a second year next summer — and the Apprentice program will return!
“We’re going to open it up to more people to apply,” Schwartz reveals. “So there will be more access to the application, and there’ll be a little callback process as well, hopefully.”
Schwartz says that the Apprentice program is still hoping to have their hourlong set on the mainstage, and she teased, “We’re adding some new fun things in for next year.”
For those looking for more details, Schwartz says college-age performers can email apprentices@broadwayfest.com.
“Since we’re all college-age or recent graduates, we’re all in this space where we’re figuring out where we fit — and if we fit in this thing we're trying to pursue,” says Walker III. “The feedback from all the Broadway performers and the audience… it validated for me that I’m where I need to be.”
Photo Credit: Austin Ruffer
