Industry Press / 03.02.23

TDF’s Arts Education Program “Introduction to Theatre” & SIX welcome 1,000 local high school students to experience the Broadway hit on Thursday, March 30 at 2pm

March 2, 2023 - New York, New York - It is TDF’s belief that future audiences are built by engaging students, first-hand, in the vital and exciting activity of the creative process, as well as providing opportunities to see live performances of great theatre. To that end, 1,000 local public high school students from 12 schools who are participating in TDF's Introduction to Theatre Program, will be attending a matinee performance of Broadway’s smash hit musical, SIX on Thursday, March 30 at 2pm at the Lena Horne Theatre (256 West 47th Street, NYC).

“We are thrilled to partner with SIX to bring students to see this exhilarating live performance,” said TDF’s Director of School Programs, Ginger Bartkoski Meagher. “We are dedicated to making theatre accessible and relevant to students and their teachers, and welcome them as new and future audience members! It is so much fun to work around a show with such pertinent historical characters as they are imagined as total rock stars. All hail theatre and its mighty transformational qualities. We will be cheering from our seats and dreaming from our classrooms.”

“SIX is proud to partner with TDF’s Introduction to Theatre program,” said SIX producer Kevin McCollum. We wholeheartedly support the importance of bringing new audiences to Broadway and applaud TDF’s efforts. SIX encourages everyone to find their voice, tell their story and live their best lives. SIX sprang from the minds of a group of college students eager to create art that spoke to their friends and community, and we are thrilled to bring the joy of SIX to an entire house filled with students, many of whom will be seeing their first Broadway show.”

The 1,000 students from the 12 local public high schools who will see SIX through TDF's Introduction to Theatre Program are from: BROOKLYN: Brooklyn High School for Law and Technology, HSSL@ Erasmus, Juan Morel Campos School; Lyons Community School and Millennium Brooklyn High School  MANHATTAN: Harvey Milk High School, High School of Fashion Industries, The Beacon School, The Young Women’s Leadership School of East Harlem QUEENS: Francis Lewis High School and Urban Assembly Media High School NEW JERSEY: North Plainfield High School.

TDF’s INTRODUCTON TO THEATRE is a project based arts education program that includes attending a Broadway or Off Broadway show. For over two decades, TDF Introduction to Theatre has provided over 100,000 middle, high school and college students with a meaningful welcome to live performance. The goal is to build a generation of independent, life-long theatregoers by providing middle school and high school students with a meaningful introduction to live theatre.The program connects 10,000 students annually in 150 schools throughout the tristate area to workshops, artists, and live performance, and we do it all at no cost to the school of the students.

How it works: TDF provides a teaching artist and the tickets to the designated Broadway/ Off Broadway show (one show per semester). The classroom project, which is central to the program, is designed by the classroom teacher and the teaching artist to serve as a preparation for attending the show. It is primarily an opportunity to engage the students in the creative process in a hands-on approach. TDF’s model is an 8 session residency, 4 of the sessions provided by the TDF teaching artist and 4 follow-up sessions carried out by the classroom teacher. TDF will support the collaboration and the project by providing guest artists to enhance the particular nature of the creative project (for example: actors, musicians, set designers, playwrights and costume designers).

ABOUT SIX: SIX is the Tony Award®-winning hit musical by Tony Award®-winners Toby Marlow and Lucy Moss currently playing at the Lena Horne Theatre (256 W 47^th St, NYC) on Broadway. From Tudor Queens to Pop Icons, the SIX wives of Henry VIII take the microphone to remix five hundred years of historical heartbreak into a Euphoric Celebration of 21st century girl power! This new original musical is the global sensation that everyone is losing their head over! SIX is co-directed by Lucy Moss and Jamie Armitage and features choreography by Carrie-Anne Ingrouille. The design team includes Emma Bailey (Scenic Design), Tony Award®-winner Gabriella Slade (Costume Design), Tim Deiling (Lighting Design), and Paul Gatehouse (Sound Design). The Broadway cast features Hailee Kaleem Wright as Catherine of Aragon, Leandra Ellis-Gaston as Anne Boleyn, Bella Coppola as Jane Seymour, Nasia Thomas as Anna of Cleves, Zoe Jensen as Katherine Howard, and Taylor Iman Jones as Catherine Parr. The cast also includes Marilyn Caserta, Ayla Ciccone-Burton, Holli’ Conway, Kristina Leopold, and Aubrey Matalon as Alternates.

ABOUT TDF: Founded in 1968, TDF (formerly known as Theatre Development Fund) is a not-for-profit service organization dedicated to bringing the power of the performing arts to everyone. TDF’s mission is to sustain live theatre and dance by engaging a broad and diverse audience and eliminating barriers to attendance. We fulfill our mission with a variety of programs that expand access, cultivate communities and support the makers of the performing arts.

We are known for our theatregoing programs, including the TKTS by TDF Discount Booths and TDF Membership program; Accessibility programs (including open captioning, audio description, Autism Friendly Performances and the Veterans Theatregoing Program), Education & Community Engagement programs (serving more than 12,000 New York City students annually and thousands of underserved individuals), as well as the TDF Costume Collection Rental and Research Programs. TDF envisions a world where the transformative experience of attending live theatre and dance is essential, relevant, accessible and inspirational. To learn more about TDF, go to tdf.org. FB/Instagram/Twitter: @tdfnyc.

For more about TDF's Arts Education programs to go:  www.tdf.org or about SIX at their official Web site:  www.sixonbroadway.com or FB/Instagram/Twitter: @sixbroadway

Introduction to Theatre is made possible by the generous support of the following individuals and institutions: Anonymous, The Cornelius N. Bliss Memorial Fund, Con Edison, The Cornelia T. Bailey Foundation, Myrna and Freddie Gershon, Howard Gilman Foundation, Phyllis Jo Kubey, The Pierre and Tana Matisse Foundation, The Thomas A. and Georgina T. Russo Foundation, The Shubert Foundation, Andrew and Merrill Silver, Sony USA Foundation.

This program is supported, in part, by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council, and by the National Endowment for the Arts.

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