The students are participating in Theatre Development Fund's Stage Doors program, which is provided at no cost to the schools or students. The program is a project-based arts education program that provides middle and high school students with a meaningful introduction to live theatre.

"We’re so excited to have the entire house so that 1400 students in our Stage Doors program will be able to experience Kinky Boots. For many of them it will be their first Broadway show," said Daniel Renner, TDF’s Director of Education, in a statement. "The show’s themes of accepting others, changing your mind to change your world, cooperation in the workplace, and just living your life 'full-out' are all qualities educators strive to instill in their students. Our Stage Doors students come to the theatre well prepared, having engaged in a series of intense workshops around the issues the show touches on. These kids are going to be transformed!"

The 1,400 students are from the Bronx: Bronx Center for Science and Math, Bronx Community High School, Bronx Leadership Academy, DeWitt Clinton High School, Monroe Campus; Brooklyn: Academy of Hospitality and Tourism High School, Brooklyn College High School, Brooklyn School for Music and Theatre, Lyons Community School; Manhattan: City College Academy of the Arts, Democracy Prep Charter Middle School, Democracy Prep Endurance Middle School, High School of Fashion Industries, Humanities Preparatory Academy, Talent Unlimited High School, Young Women’s Leadership; Queens: Queens High School for Sciences at York College, Robert F. Wagner Jr. High School; and Staten Island: Susan E. Wagner High School.

Each participating class in the program attends a Broadway or Off-Broadway performance and participates in eight in-class workshops: four workshops conducted by a TDF teaching artist and the other four conducted by the classroom teacher.

For more about TDF's Arts Education programs, visit TDF.org.