Theater News

Taye Diggs, Lena Hall, and More Broadway Stars to Mentor Students

The Broadway Dreams Foundation’s summer training program will tour the U.S. this summer.

Taye Diggs joins the roster of teaching artists for the Broadway Dreams Foundation's 2015 summer instensive tour.
Taye Diggs joins the roster of teaching artists for the Broadway Dreams Foundation's 2015 summer instensive tour.
(© Tristan Fuge)

The Broadway Dreams Foundation (BDF) has announced a star-studded lineup slated for this summer's program, Generation: The 2015 Summer Intensive Tour.

The national nonprofit training program includes Broadway directors, performers, and industry insiders who will offer highly personalized musical theater training and mentoring through weeklong performing arts intensive workshops for students of all ages, skill levels, and socioeconomic backgrounds. The program will visit eight U.S. cities, followed by its first-ever stop in Canada.

BDF will kick off at RISPA Performing Arts in Atlanta on May 26, followed by Midtown Arts Collaborative in Omaha, Nebraska; RWS & Associates in New York; Le Conte School and the Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts in Los Angeles; Dance Tech Studios in Park City, Utah; Theatre Aspen in Aspen, Colorado; Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts in Philadelphia; and Sheridan College in Toronto.

The 2015 teaching artists will include Tony Award winner Lena Hall (Hedwig and the Angry Inch), Taye Diggs (Private Practice, Rent), Tituss Burgess (Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, The Little Mermaid), Lindsay Mendez (Wicked), Nick Adams (Wicked), Tony Vincent (American Idiot), composer Joey Contreras, Quentin Earl Darrington (Ragtime), Gregory Haney (Bring It On: The Musical), Matthew Scott (Jersey Boys), Kirsten Scott (Big Fish), Sara Jean Ford (The Phantom of the Opera), Kyle Brown (Wicked), Jenny Parsinen (Allegiance), Dave Barrus (Les Misérables), Tim Acito (Zanna Don’t!), musical theater writers Drew Fornarola and Marshall Pailet (Shrek the Halls), Jeremy Schonfeld (Drift), and Ryann Redmond (If/Then).

The creative team will also include directors Stafford Arima (Allegiance), Tony nominee Dan Knechtges (Spelling Bee), Matt Lenz (Hairspray), Alan Souza (Camelot), and Otis Sallid (Smokey Joe’s Café), along with Emmy Award-nominated choreographer Spencer Liff (Hedwig and the Angry Inch), BDF artistic supervisor Nicholas Rodriguez (Tarzan), director of creative and educational programming Craig D’Amico (Fiddler on the Roof), and executive director Annette Tanner.

Additional Broadway faculty will be announced soon.

For more information, visit the Broadway Dreams website here.