New York City Public School Students Make Their Broadway Debuts

Broadway, here they come. New York City Public School middle school students from Brooklyn, the Bronx, Manhattan and Queens performed numbers from their full school productions of Broadway musicals at the 20th annual Shubert Foundation & Music Theatre International Broadway Junior Student Finale on Thursday.

The event was hosted by Smash’s Nicholas Matos and Real Women Have Curves’  Aline Mayagoitia. Hundreds of participating students got to take on a Broadway stage for the first time as they shared numbers from their fully produced school shows.

The shows included Disney's Aladdin JR., Disney's Alice in Wonderland JR., Annie JR., Disney's High School Musical JR., Disney's The Lion King JR., Madagascar – A Musical Adventure JR., Roald Dahl’s Matilda The Musical JR., Disney's Newsies JR., Seussical JR., and Shrek The Musical JR.

“Every year, our middle school students light up a Shubert stage with their performances, uplifting us all with their exuberance and inspiring spirit,” Diana Phillips, President of The Shubert Foundation, said in a statement. “More than 30,000 students have benefitted from this program over the past 20 years and it is a privilege for us to help make these formative and memorable experiences possible.”

The Shubert Foundation and MTI Broadway Junior partnership is a musical theatre mentorship program that helps public schools affect school culture change through theatre education programs. It engages students in all aspects of the arts and ensures their teachers have the tools to give them the best possible theatre education.

When a school joins the program, the first year is spent guiding teachers and students step-by-step through the process of producing their school’s first-ever musical. In the second year, teachers and students continue getting support, but take more ownership over their productions. Once they reach the program’s third year, they produce their shows independently.

“The Shubert Foundation and MTI Broadway Junior partnership with our Arts Office is an example of how the arts can empower our students both inside the classroom and on the big stage,” Schools Chancellor Melissa Aviles-Ramos said. “We deeply appreciate this commitment, which gives our young people unforgettable experiences that will leave a lasting impact on their artistic journeys.”