New York, NY – August 30, 2018 -- The Broadway League is proud to announce the recipients of its twenty-third annual National Education and Engagement Grants. These grants support inspiring 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 National Education and Engagement Grants program presents ten organizations with grants of $5,000 each to help them develop and maintain programming associated with Touring Broadway productions.
“We are proud to support organizations from around the country that are doing the important work of engaging local communities in the arts. These Broadway-based programs consistently have a significant impact on under-served populations by encouraging art curriculums, offering performance arts-based school field trips, promoting inclusion and providing life-long learning,” said Charlotte St. Martin, President of the Broadway League. “Our member organizations’ dedication to bringing Broadway to communities from coast to coast ensures that the magic of live theatre reaches everyone.”
The recipients of this year’s grants will take part in a range of activities to involve local communities with theatre. These diverse programs use the conventions of theatre to celebrate culture, develop creativity, and support access to arts-based education and learning. Some the activities include songwriting, puppetry, costume design, essay writing and group discussions, among many others.
Touring Broadway shows participating in this year’s recipient programs include: A Bronx Tale, Anastasia, Come From Away, Dear Evan Hansen, Les Misérables, Miss Saigon, School of Rock: The Musical, and The Play That Goes Wrong.
This year’s grant recipients are from the following cities: Appleton, WI; Baltimore, MD; Denver, CO; Des Moines, IA; East Lansing, MI; Greenville, SC; Nashville, TN; Proctors – Schenectady, NY; Sioux Falls, SD and Tampa, FL.
Since it was founded in 1996, The Broadway League’s Education and Engagement Grants program has awarded $1.25 million in grants to support the education efforts of Broadway and Touring Broadway presenting organizations. The League administers this program with generous additional financial support from Theatre Development Fund. In addition to the National Education and Engagement Grants program, the League also administers similar grants for programs affiliated with Broadway productions in New York City each year.
During the past year, theatre professionals at organizations that present Touring Broadway productions have worked closely with local educators and community organizations to create activities that immerse the community and public in theatre.
This year, the ten programs that were awarded grants of $5,000 each are as follows:
2018-2019 National Grant Recipients
Fox Cities Performing Arts Center, Inc. – Appleton, WI
Inspired by The Play That Goes Wrong, the Fox Cities Performing Arts Center will work with 20 at-risk high school students for their new project, “Finding the Funny.” During a four-month period, students will participate in workshops in comedy, improvisation, set design and construction, and attend a stand-up comedy show as well as a performance and backstage tour of The Play That Goes Wrong. Through “Finding the Funny,” students will utilize comedy as a healthy coping mechanism and develop skills onstage and off.
Hippodrome Foundation, Inc. – Baltimore, MD
The Hippodrome Foundation will present “Anastasia: Inspiring the Next Generation of Costume Designers.” Thirty 10th-grade students from the Baltimore Design School will enhance their knowledge of Broadway costume design by participating in a program related to Anastasia. Students will see the touring production and receive a backstage look at the costumes. They will meet with Anastasia’s costume designer, past Tony-Award® winner Linda Cho, leading them to design and create their own version of Princess Anastasia’s classic blue Parisian gown. Students will also complete a short research project about the professional world of costume design to help them explore it as a potential career.
Denver Center for the Performing Arts – Denver, CO
Denver Center for the Performing Arts (DCPA)’s “Sincerely Me: One Act Playwriting in Response to Dear Evan Hansen” is a residency-based project that will serve 90 Title I high school juniors and seniors in Language Arts classrooms. Teaching artists from DCPA will visit classrooms before, during, and after students attend Dear Evan Hansen and explore storytelling and themes from the production such as self-acceptance and social anxiety. The residency will culminate in a playwriting workshop with DCPA’s Regional High School Playwriting Workshop and Competition for students to connect these themes to their personal experiences, and write one-act plays.
Des Moines Performing Arts – Des Moines, IA
Des Moines Performing Arts will partner with the Des Moines Music Coalition and Girls Rock! Des Moines to engage young people with the themes from School of Rock: The Musical through their project, “Rock Des Moines.” Eighty participants ages 10-16 will explore their unique talents and musical voices through monthly workshops in playing instruments, singing, and songwriting. These workshops will culminate in seeing a performance of School of Rock: The Musical at the Des Moines Civic Center and a showcase at Des Moines Performing Arts’ Temple Theater.
Wharton Center for the Performing Arts – East Lansing, MI
Wharton Center for Performing Arts will partner with the Saginaw Arts and Sciences Academy for “The Living Reminder, “an exploration into the character development, portrayed conflicts, and artistry of Miss Saigon. Through a series of creative learning opportunities, including a conversation with a U.S. military veteran and a former Vietnamese citizen, 60 students in grades 9-12 will work towards writing monologues inspired by a photograph of a current event or social issue that is personally significant. Students will create a visual presentation that combines their photograph and monologue for display at Wharton Center during the touring Broadway production of Miss Saigon. Finally, students will visit Wharton Center to perform their monologues, attend a performance of Miss Saigon, and meet with cast members for a post-show discussion.
Peace Center Foundation – Greenville, SC
The Peace Center and Roger C. Peace Rehabilitation Hospital’s Outpatient Injury & Young Stroke Program will partner on the project “Crossroads and Kindness,” in conjunction with Come From Away, to support self-exploration, self-expression, and community re-entry following life-altering events for patients and their caregivers. The program includes specialized workshops in personal storytelling and will underscore the pre-existing therapeutic goals of brain injury patients while paralleling the traumatic and transformational events around 9/11 depicted in Come From Away.
Tennessee Performing Arts Center – Nashville, TN
Tennessee Performing Arts Center’s new “School of Rock: Battle of the Bands” project will allow 35 middle school band students from a Title I public school in metro Nashville to participate in a series of four hands-on music workshops. Students will learn about the history of rock music, and collaborate to create their own songs, dances, visual pieces, or scenes inspired by a rock song. Finally, participants will attend a performance of School of Rock: The Musical at Tennessee Performing Arts Center, and present their work to each other in a “Battle of the Bands.”
Arts Center and Theatre of Schenectady, Inc. /Proctors – Schenectady, NY
Proctors will partner with the Schenectady Center for Community Justice (CCJ) to produce “Writing for Change.” Inspired by A Bronx Tale, 10-15 formerly incarcerated individuals will participate in playwriting workshops and explore themes of choices, consequences, and relationships. Participants will attend seven writing and team-building workshops surrounding a performance of A Bronx Tale, culminating in a reading of their own work and a reception at Proctors. “Writing for Change” will provide participants with active outlets for expression, cognitive therapy, and exploration of career paths.
Washington Pavilion Management, Inc. – Sioux Falls, SD
The Dakota Academy for Performing Arts (DAPA) at the Washington Pavilion will host “DAPA: Les Mis Camp,” an accessible, interdisciplinary learning experience for 18 middle school students. This one-week series of interactive workshops will fuse history, literature, music, acting, directing, and theatre management. Guest teaching artists will use Les Misérables as a springboard for exploration and will include interactive presentations related to the literary themes of Victor Hugo’s novel, the history of the French Revolution, staging considerations with recent directors of local productions, and collaborative performance work. The week will culminate in attendance at a performance of the touring Broadway production of Les Misérables and cast meet-and-greet.
Straz Center for the Performing Arts – Tampa, FL
The Straz Center for the Performing Arts will partner with Tampa International Airport (TIA) and Manatee School for the Arts for their project “Come From Away: Everyday Heroes.” Inspired by the true story of Come From Away, 16 theatre and visual arts high school students will team up to invite their community to celebrate “everyday” heroism by sharing their own stories of witnessing kindness. Guided by professional teaching artists and TIA’s director of marketing, students will design a social media campaign to gather community stories of everyday heroism. Responses will inform students’ original performance and visual “living art” representations. These will be shared through the campaign and displayed for the public at the Straz Center when the students attend a performance of Come From Away.
