www.broadwaynews.com: The Broadway League, the national trade association for the theater industry, has launched a program called Broadway Bridges on the Road. The audience engagement initiative expands upon the League’s original Broadway Bridges program, which aims to ensure every New York City high school sees a Broadway show before graduation.
5 comments:
This is awesome! Growing up across the country from NYC Broadway shows was not something I got to see much of. But I think that this is a way to continue to motivate education boards to continue to fund for the arts. By providing their students with access to world class theater. This will boost interest through talk backs and a way for these students to access this level of theatrical production. I remember the Oregon Shakespeare Festival being that motivation for me, providing me with some of the best theater I have seen to date. After seeing Broadway and the level of production and performance I was so inspired to get to that level. I would have loved to have gotten tickets to see a show in Portland Oregon mostly because my family did not have the time or lacked the funds to go on our own. So for this to be offered through school is a way to provide theater to less fortunate communities and provide that moment all theater lovers have.
By Tane Muller
The first Broadway show I ever saw was a touring production that came to a roadhouse in my home town. That first show is what started my love for theatre, long before I ever thought of a career in theatre tech. This Broadway Bridges on the Road program will help students across the country have that same experience. The is an amazing program that will not only provide this opportunity to see live theatre to students, but also help theatre as an art form grow and expand to larger audiences and ensure its future survival. I also like how the shows that are participating are a combination of classics, like Les Mis, and new shows, like Life of Pi. In addition, shows like The Lion King will be familiar stories to many students, providing an accessible entry into theatre. This new program is a fantastic idea, and I hope that more theatres and more shows will soon join it.
When I was in 6th grade, Hamilton was released and became extremely popular among my classmates. One of the school’s English teachers was very passionate about musicals and saw the impact that Hamilton had on her students, so she recruited some 8th grade students to put on an informal production of it for the rest of the middle school. It was the only school sanctioned theatre related event I remember throughout all my years of K-12 education. For many of my schoolmates, that may very well have been their only exposure to theatre. My experiences with theatre outside of school are memorable and impactful life moments that I remember very well, so I think it is amazing that Broadway Bridges exists and is expanding beyond New York City. Theatre productions can have such lasting impacts on people, and are a distinct art form that I believe everyone should have access to. Programs like Broadway Bridges are doing an immense service for the next generation.
Broadway Bridges on the Road, a new expansion of an existing program, will help students have the opportunity to see a Broadway show in high school. This is meant to encourage future interactivity with theatre in the students’ futures as well as for shows to help perpetuate their own efforts. The idea behind this expansion is to increase from just the standard image of Broadway for New York high schools into twenty-four league member venues from sixteen states. Big-name touring productions are involved like ‘Les Misérables” and “The Lion King”. I hope this cultivates a love for theatre for many more students that the project will now reach, hopefully lasting a lifetime. This is also a great move for accessibility, since travel can be a large part of the cost of theatre. Drama is not just for wealthy tourists and citygoers - it is for everyone. This program could be vital in fostering connections between the venues listed themselves, too. I wonder, will there be any follow-up programs for the students to ensure continued engagement?
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