On May 19th, A Raisin in the Sun star Denzel Washington hosted the 9th Annual Shubert Foundation/MTI Broadway Jr. Celebration. The event brings together hundreds of young people who are participating in the New York City school-based program that puts scaled down Broadway shows in the hands of students and teachers. Here, kids from across the five boroughs ran through numbers from Annie Jr., Once on This Island Jr., Aladdin Jr. and more.
Among those on hand were Shubert Organization Chairman, Philip J. Smith and President, Robert E. Wankel, Carmen Farina, Chancellor of the New York City Department of Education; and Freddie Gershon, Chairman and CEO of Music Theatre International, creator of the MTI Broadway Junior Program.
The Shubert Foundation/ MTI Broadway Junior Program was founded during the 2005-2006 school year. To date, nearly 50 schools have participated in the program. 33 schools are currently involved in the 2013-2014 program, including nine first-year schools, seven second-year schools, and 17 graduated schools that have worked to develop and build sustainable theatre education programs.
During this academic year, teachers from participating schools attended three Professional Development workshops that took them step-by-step through the process of putting on a show in their communities. The teachers then returned to their schools, selected their musical, held auditions and cast the show. Later in the year, each first-year school’s cast participated in an in-school musical workshop with master teachers from iTheatrics. Students were guided through the entire process by a production advisor provided by ArtsConnection, a partnering organization that supported schools throughout the process.