Theatre Development Fund News

Theatre Development Fund, the not-for-profit service organization for the performing arts, has announced that in cooperation with The Broadway League, it will test two new services at the main TKTS Discount Booth "under the red steps" in Times Square, which is now in its 40th year of operation.

For one night only the smash-hit on Broadway and West End - Rock Opera 'Tommy' plays at the Prince Edward Theatre. This powerful tale of a deaf, mute and blind pinball player who becomes an international messiah bursts onto the stage in this multi-award winning adaptation of the original chart-topping rock album. Featuring the hit songs including Pinball Wizard and See Me, Touch Me. Casting will be announced soon.

Last fall, Theatre Development Fund (TDF) piloted the new program, Autism Theatre Initiative, as part of TDF's Accessibility Programs (TAP), to make theatre accessible to children and adults on the autism spectrum, and their families. They presented the first-ever autism-friendly performance of a Broadway show at Disney's landmark The Lion King on October 2, 2011 and followed that up with an autism-friendly performance of Disney and Cameron Mackintosh's Mary Poppins on April 29, 2012. On September 30, the cast of The Lion King took part in another autism-friendly performance, and Rod Thomas, an actor in the show, wrote about the experience from his perspective. The full piece is as follows:

TDF's Autism Theater Initiative will present an autism-friendly performance of Disney's The Lion King today, September 30, at 1pm, at the Minskoff Theatre (1515 Broadway, NYC). This performances illustrates TDF's commitment to continuing to present autism-friendly performances in New York City. TDF is also available to consult with other theatre organizations across the United States who would like to present their own autism-friendly performances.

The New York Innovative Theatre Awards, the organization dedicated to celebrating Off-Off-Broadway, has announced the 2012 recipients of the Honorary Awards.

Single tickets for Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas! are now on sale online at www.TheOldGlobe.org.

Actress, singer, television host, playwright, songwriter and author Kathie Lee Gifford will host the 20th Broadway on Broadway concert, it was just announced by The Broadway League and the Times Square Alliance.

The New York Innovative Theatre Awards, the organization dedicated to celebrating Off-Off-Broadway, has announced the 2012 recipients of the Honorary Awards.

Composer and writer Mary Rodgers Guettel is at work on her memoirs, according to the New York Post.

Geva Theatre Center is committed to providing 'an enjoyable, high quality theatre experience for all patrons.' As part of their accessibility programming, Geva is partnering with two organizations - Theatre Development Fund's TAP Plus and the Hearing Loss Association of America, Rochester Chapter - to expand and improve services for patrons with hearing loss by adding open captioning services and a new assistive listening system.

StudentsLive, the Premier Broadway Education Company, has announced its first-ever multilingual international and domestic "Passport to Broadway" Program for students from today, July 23, 2012 to August 3, 2012 at Pearl Studios and Manhattan Movement and Arts Center (MMAC). The musical theatre intensive final performance takes place over 10 days from approximately 8:30am to 6:00pm, Monday through Friday, at Pearl Studios led by Broadway Musical Directors, Choreographers and Interactive Intensives with Broadway Performers and Guest Artists.

The Old Globe will offer an autism-friendly performance of the holiday musical Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas! on Saturday, Dec. 15 at 10:30 a.m. Following in the footsteps of successful autism-friendly performances of The Lion King and Mary Poppins on Broadway, The Grinch will be performed in a friendly and supportive environment for children on the autism spectrum and their families.

StudentsLive- The Premiere Broadway Education Company offers international and domestic students of all ages the opportunity to experience, first hand, the best live, Broadway interactive theater education programs, taught by the best, highly trained Broadway specialists, our country has to offer. It allows the young students to experience the intensive training of a professional, successful and highly disciplined Broadway Artist and the myriad skills required in collaboration, interrelation, communication and human exploration.

THE LION KING definitely roared into Houston.

The graduation for the Commercial Theater Institute's Extensive 16-week Seminar was held recently at The Broadway League. Every year, a small group of theatre professionals are selected for this program which covers a wide range of topics lead by the most distinguished industry professionals as lecturers and panelists.

A new partnership between the Toronto Alliance for the Performing Arts (TAPA) and BroadwayWorld.com promises to encourage Toronto's youth to participate in live performing arts events. The hipTIX Youth Invasion Video Series premieres today, with the release of hipTIX Youth Invasion at the Dora Awards.

Last fall, Theatre Development Fund (TDF), the not-for-profit performing arts service organization whose mission includes making theatre accessible for all audiences, piloted the new program, Autism Theatre Initiative, as part of TDF's Accessibility Programs (TAP), to make theatre accessible to children and adults on the autism spectrum, and their families.

Tickets for the second The Lion King performance, which is scheduled for September 30 at 1pm, went on sale at midnight on Monday, June 25 and were sold out by 8pm Monday evening.