25th Anniversary Press Release
INSIDE BROADWAY PRESENTS SPECIAL FREE BROADWAY EVENT: 25TH ANNIVERSARY CONCERT ON THURSDAY NOVEMBER 2 AT 10:15 AM AT THE WINTER GARDEN THEATRE
CASTS AND EXCERPTS FROM BROADWAY SHOWS AND INSIDE BROADWAY’S UPCOMING “CINDERELLA”
Inside Broadway (www.insidebroadway.org), which during its 2006-2007 will celebrate 25 years of serving New York City children with innovative and acclaimed theatre programs and services, will present a special free anniversary event: on Thursday, November 2 at 10:15 AM at the Winter Garden Theatre, Broadway at 50th Street. Founded by Michael Presser, its Executive Director, in 1982 at the invitation of Bernard Jacobs, late President of the Shubert Organization, Inside Broadway was the first to create a Broadway student ticket program and student study guide to a Broadway show; and the first educational video for schools showing the behind- the- scenes operations at a Broadway theatre. In addition, Presser developed the company concept of 50-minute versions of classic Broadway musicals, to introduce young people to musical theatre.
Featured onstage on November 2 will be casts from several Broadway shows (to be announced), as well as excerpts from the company’s upcoming production of Rodgers & Hammerstein’s Cinderella (a special 50-minute version adapted by the Rodgers & Hammerstein Organization) which begins school tours in November, culminating in public performances at the Florence Gould Hall February 3, 4 and 10, 2007). The theater’s 2002 production of Richard Rodgers’ Broadway caused the New York Times to say “Rodgers continues to enchant and entertain, and he couldn’t ask for better cheerleaders, in all senses of the word.”
The 80-minute presentation on November 2 will be essentially for school children, honoring Inside Broadway’s many years of presenting educational theatre in the schools. However, there will be limited general public seating, beginning at 10 AM, first come first served, with no advance reservations.. School groups are being invited from the New York City Department of Education. Other interested schools may contact Inside Broadway at (212) 245-0710, or www.insidebroadway.org for information.
Following the creation of the first Broadway study guide – the CATS FUNBOOK, Inside Broadway’s BROADWAY BACKSTAGE, its ground-breaking educational video was presented in area schools along with seminars with cast members of CATS, and the video was subsequently shown to Russian school students during a 1988 tour to Moscow and St. Petersburg. The company’s many other educational programs have included THE SHAKESPEARE CONNECTION, featuring the education department of The Royal Shakespeare Company from England, and the popular CREATING THE MAGIC series of seminar programs held in a Broadway theatre, demonstrating the various production elements of a Broadway musical.
Inside Broadway produces professional Equity touring productions of classic Broadway musicals that travel to school auditoriums across the city. These special 50 minute adaptations have included Rodgers and Hammerstein’s CINDERELLA, BYE BYE BIRDIE, ON THE TOWN, THE PIRATES OF PENZANCE, KISS ME KATE, SMOKEY JOE’S CAFÉ. SOPHISTICATED LADIES, Irving Berlin’s LAND THAT I LOVE, FREE TO BE YOU AND ME and RICHARD RODGERS’ BROADWAY. All shows include student study guides and teacher lesson plans. Each season, over 85 performances are presented for school children as well as performances on the weekend for families at the Florence Gould Hall in Manhattan.
In other educational activities, the organization also operates an extensive teaching artist residency program that operates in about 79 public schools throughout the city. These programs include BUILD A MUSICAL, which utilizes professional theatre artists to help children produce their own musical theatre presentations. Other workshops include SHAKESPEARE SHAKEUP, FOLKTALES and STORYTELLING. All of the workshops are aligned with the New York City Department of Education’s Theatre Blueprint and the New York State Standards for the Arts.
