Theater News

Fidelity FutureStage Program for NYC Students is Initiated

New York City
Fidelity FutureStage, an arts education program designed to provide New York City students with an opportunity to learn from some of the professional theater’s leading playwrights, directors, designers, and actors, has been initiated by Fidelity Investments in partnership with the Viertel/Frankel/Baruch/Routh Group and LEAP (Learning through an Expanded Arts Program).

The seven-month program will give more than 600 area students from 10 inner-city schools a chance to learn from members of the theater community. Activities will include workshops and lectures on playwriting, set and lighting design, acting and audition skills. Students will attend rehearsals and performances of professional productions, and they will write and produce their own original plays, 10 of which will be performed in a Broadway theater in May 2007.

Workshops and guest lectures will begin immediately. The 10 schools involved in the inaugural program were identified with the help of LEAP, a non-profit organization committed to improving the quality of public education through a hands-on, arts-based approach to learning. LEAP will continue to serve as liaison with the participating schools.