HowlRound: Back in October 2015, the Rockefeller Foundation and the producers of Hamilton announced they would finance a program to bring over 20,000 New York City eleventh graders from all schools with high percentages of students from low income families to see the Broadway sensation during the spring and through 2017 for $10. By June 2016, the Rockefeller Foundation made a second announcement that over 100,000 students from around the United States would also see Hamilton for $10. They pledged $6 million to expand the program, and create a national program set to take hold in Chicago, Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Washington, DC.
8 comments:
I agree with the author, access to the arts does enhance learning, and can be a key factor in structuring young adults. I do, however, disagree with the general claim that community college students don't get the same advantage as theatre students at Marymount Manhattan. There is no actual reason for them to receive an email with discounted, or free tickets, because although it would be a good resource, it's not mandatory to their education. The reason performing arts schools are connected to these opportunities are because it's key to their education. I also disagree that college programs for discounted/ free tickets are nonexistent, since there are many which I'm aware of.
In Foundations II class, we recently learned about the Federal Theater Projects that were created in the 1930s and 40s while FDR was trying to rebuild the country after the Great Depression. The whole point of these projects were to not only employ actors, but to provide meaningful and thought-provoking theater across the country for adults, not just children like most of the theatrical projects of the time. The thought behind it was that theater is important for everyone, and it enriches people's personal learning and growth. These same ideas are clearly in effect for this initiative to bring free theater to community college students: that theater is important for everyone, even those not studying theater or the arts in general. I think it's strange to disagree with that, because as theater-artists-in-training we are operating on the belief that theater is important and we are providing meaningful experiences to all people. Obviously certain shows or niche genres of theater may apply most to one group or another, but overall I believe we should strive for inclusivity and accessibility because theater can be impactful for everyone. Making theater cheaper or free for students who would not otherwise have these opportunities is taking a big step towards accessibility and more theater for all.
This initiative is so important. When all the theater young adults have seen is the stuff high schools put on its hard to have any respect for theater as an art. When you see a real show, one with talent and artists you cant help but fall in love. You respect theater, maybe even pursue it or become a consistent patron. That being said I originally started theater because I loved costumes, they were everything I loved about clothes that fashion doesn't involve. Originally I could care less about theater, I was in it for a little faucet that was conveniently necessary to a show. After seeing the high quality work at CMU its impossible not to fall in love with theater. Had I gone my whole life only looking at the crap my high school put on I would have never spent an entire Friday night seeing three consecutive shows. This initiative to exposed high schoolers to real quality theater is a perfect solution to the 'high school theater' disease. Or even worse, people who have never seen a show in their life.
Like Claire, I agree that this movement is vital. The more exposure to art in a young adults life, the better (in my opinion). Hamilton has be instrumental in exposing theatre and history to those who wouldn't normally be interested. Though some die-hard broadway fans may be annoyed at the "uncultured audience member", I think its a great thing that the broadway houses are comprised of as many different theatre goers as possible. I think a show like this has done a fantastic job of impacting, quite frankly, art as a whole. Is it the end all-be-all? maybe not... However, it has opened so many closed doors for so many people. I hope that there is a follow up article about this initiative that states how wildly successful it is.
I really like the idea of giving free tickets to shows and a chance for those students to talk to other artists and donors to community college students. It is crazy to think that some people who are studying theatre in school have never actually seen a show. Theatre is the type of art that gets value from exposure and seeing other pieces of theatre. In order to be a better theatre artist you need to see shows and see what other people are doing. It is very hard to do theatre without knowing what other people are doing in the industry. I really like what Hamilton has done for high school students and I hope that this program will be able to expand to community college students as well. In a perfect world everyone would be able to see Hamilton, but of course that is not the case at all. Starting small and continuing to expand the amount of students that get to see Hamilton for a very low price is a huge step in the right direction.
I’m shocked that there are students majoring in theater who have never seen a show. I surprised that the idea of live theater could draw someone in and make them decide that this is what they want to study for four years, without ever seeing it. It’s also a shame that the students didn’t know of ways to get discount tickets. I hope that not only college student ticket program is enacted but that students are informed of them. Since it's clear that the problem is not the lack of ways to get tickets, but lack of knowledge about these programs. I hope that they listen to that and find a way to change that. Maybe try a social media campaign? However I can see why theater companies might not want to inform people of these programs. If people know about discount tickets, they might only buy those and not buy regular tickets. I hope that a good solution is found where students can get discount tickets and theater companies can still make money.
I think it’s insane how inaccessible professional theatre is, even to the students who wish to study it. I knew this was an issue at the high school level, but I hadn’t considered how community colleges were also affected. I know that in a lot of the larger universities in NYC, they have programs where students get severely discounted ticket prices. I have a friend at Fordham who sees a new show every week pretty much, usually for only $10 or $20 a ticket, and she’s not even a theatre major. For someone who is thinking about making a career in theatre, seeing a large variety of performances is critical. I think it would kill me being so close to the ‘heart’ of theatre on the East Coast and not be able to participate. I’m glad that programs to address this issue are springing up, and I hope they continue to grow.
The high ticket prices play a big part in making students hesitant about watching shows. And it's ridiculous not being able to see performances when you are studying them because how then could you possibly apply theories to practices? During he mid-semester break the P/SM students went to Las Vegas and toured the backstage of some of the most successful Cirque Du Soleil stages including MJONE, KA, MYSTER and LOVE. The tickets are not scarily expensive but still not cheap. With the help of our professor we are able to take turns and see some of the shows in the booth, which is such a precious learning experiences for all of us. Although there are certainly limited space in the calling booth or backstage that prohibits big group of visitors/student, these kinds of opportunities should be more accessible to college students, or those who are pursuing degrees in theatres. I'm really glad to see that the programs the article discuss are put into effect and beneficial to their recipients, the eager community college students.
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