Kravis Center's Broadway Reach Program Celebrates ALADDIN With Performances by Students

The Raymond F. Kravis Center for the Performing Arts celebrated the seventh season of its Broadway Reach arts education program with stunning student performances and visual artwork inspired by the hit Broadway musical Disney's Aladdin.

This year, 83 students from The Conservatory School @ North Palm Beach, Palm Springs Middle School, Riviera Beach Preparatory and Achievement Academy, and U.B. Kinsey/Palmview Elementary School of the Arts were enrolled in the program.

Under the guidance of local teaching artists, 4th-12th graders engaged in academic lessons and social-emotional learning activities related to the content and themes of the Broadway musical Aladdin over a 12-week residency. The middle school students rehearsed and performed numbers from Aladdin, including a choral arrangement of "A Whole New World" and a Middle Eastern-inspired jazz dance number to "Friend Like Me." The high school students performed Spoken Word poetry inspired by the metaphor "diamond in the rough" used in the show. And the elementary students created colorful drawings of magic lamps inspired by Iranian teapots that expressed their three wishes. The artwork was exhibited in the Dreyfoos Hall Lobby Loge Gallery.

This year's Broadway Reach workshops culminated with performances on the Grand Staircase of the Dreyfoos Hall Lobby and outdoors on the Golden Walkway on Saturday, Dec. 17, prior to the matinee of Aladdin. Students also participated in a post-performance discussion with the cast members who played Aladdin, the Genie and Jasmine.

This program was made possible by a grant from the Max M. & Marjorie S. Fisher Foundation through the Community Foundation for Palm Beach and Martin Counties. The one-year $32,049 grant allows Broadway Reach to continue giving underserved students access to world-class arts education and exposure to touring productions.

"We developed this program for economically-disadvantaged students who attend Title I schools to participate in creating new work in connection with a Kravis on Broadway production," said Tracy C. Butler, Director of Education at the Kravis Center. "We are grateful to be able to provide students with this fully-funded opportunity to improve their connection to themselves, others and the world around them through the arts."

In addition to learning musical selections from Aladdin, students explored the show's key themes, including honesty, kindness and being true to yourself.

"This wonderful opportunity was one of the most magical trips ever," wrote one student. "Performing on the staircase, seeing the show and getting to feel like a professional performer were all magical feelings."

Next season, the Broadway Reach initiative will continue to engage motivated students from Palm Beach County Title I schools and explore more themes from a specially selected Kravis On Broadway production.

The Kravis Center is a not-for-profit performing arts center located at 701 Okeechobee Boulevard in West Palm Beach, Florida. The Center's mission is to enhance the quality of life in Palm Beach County by presenting a diverse schedule of national and International Artists and companies of the highest quality, by offering comprehensive arts education programs - serving nearly 3 million students since its inception; by providing a Palm Beach County home for local and regional arts organizations to showcase their work; and by providing an economic catalyst and community leadership in West Palm Beach, supporting efforts to increase travel and tourism to Palm Beach County.

For more information about the Kravis Center or the Broadway Reach program, please visit www.kravis.org.

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