Stars of Broadway’s SpongeBob SquarePants Kevin Moon Loh and Vasthy Mompoint will host the 13th Annual Shubert Foundation/Music Theatre International Broadway Junior™ Student Finale May 15 at the Broadhurst Theatre.
The trailblazing musical theatre mentorship program provides public schools the guidance to build sustainable theatre programs in hopes of changing school culture. The finale is the culmination of the year-long education program in which students share individual musical numbers from their fully-produced shows at the Finale presentation. Students from New York City public schools throughout the five boroughs will present routines from Hairspray JR.; Once on This Island JR.; Fame the Musical JR.; Disney's High School Musical JR.; Legally Blonde the Musical JR.; Disney's The Lion King JR.; Roald Dahl's Willy Wonka JR.; Shrek The Musical JR.; and Xanadu JR.
Sponsored by The Shubert Foundation, Music Theatre International (MTI) and the New York City Department of Education (NYCDOE), Playbill is proud to support the Broadway Junior Student Finale for the fourth consecutive year by supplying the event’s official PLAYBILLder.
Read: HOW TO MAKE YOUR OWN PLAYBILL
“The program’s impact is truly seen as participating schools are using theater education positively to affect their school cultures for both students and faculty,” said Anna Commitante, Senior Executive Director, Curriculum, Instruction & Professional Learning for the NYC Department of Education in a statement. “We are grateful to The Shubert Foundation for its ongoing partnership to provide hundreds of students with unique opportunities to express themselves creatively, collaborate and work towards a common production and learn skills that transcend the stage.”
“Every year, the Broadway Junior celebration is a joyful burst of youthful talent and energy that lights up Broadway,” said Michael I. Sovern, President of The Shubert Foundation in a statement. “The long-running success of this program clearly demonstrates the value of The Shubert Foundation’s ongoing support for arts education programs in our New York City public schools.”
The program encourages education across arts disciplines and operates based on principles from teacher and advisors from iTheatrics, Broadway Bound Kids and ArtsConnection. The three-year program begins in year one with a step-by-step plan to produce a musical from Music Theatre International Broadway Junior, support through the second year, and gives way to an independent production in the third year. Click here to learn more about the program.
