BRIGHT LIGHTS
City kids get up-close exposure to Great White Way
BROADWAY IS GIVING back to New York’s youngsters by teaching and treating students this year through an arts education program and an initiative offering free tickets to hot plays and musicals.
T he nonprofit Inside Broadway, through the City Council's C.A.S.A. (Cultural After-School Adventures) Initiative, has started its winter/spring program, which will bring theater, arts and music training to more than 500 public school students in Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens and the Bronx.
And tickets are now on sale for the “Kids’ Night on Broadway,” a discount offer that allows youngsters and teens to attend selected Broadway and Off-Broadway shows at no cost.
“Broadway Rocks the 80s” is the theme for C.A.S.A. project that helps students create their own shows with the help of Inside Broadway’s professional staff and teaching artists. Twice a week, the instructors teach acting and theater history, as well as dancing, singing, scenery design and construction for their original productions featuring music the students create.
Participating schools include PS 77M in Manhattan; PS 72X, PS 78X, PS 100X, PS 108X, PS 112X, PS 153X, PS 182X and PS 214X in the Bronx; PS 45K, PS 102K and PS 151K in Brooklyn; and PS 69Q, PS 87Q, PS 113Q, IS 126Q, PS 162Q and PS 164Q in Queens.
The program concludes with performances of the shows for fellow students, teachers and family members.
For information on Inside Broadway and its programs, visit www.insidebroadway.org.
But the C.A.S.A. presentations aren’t the only opportunities for young people to get a taste of theater in New York. The “Kids Night on Broadway” program gives 6-to-18-year-olds a great deal — attend a Broadway or Off-Broadway for free when accompanied by an adult purchasing a full-priced ticket for the same performance.
Top Broadway hits — such as “The Lion King,” “Rodgers and Hammerstein’s Cinderella,” “Motow n: T he Musical,” “Wicked,” “Pippin”, “Chicago” and “Phantom of The Opera” — are among the eligible shows. And the OffBroadway shows “Avenue Q,” “Murder for Two,” “Stomp” and “iLuminate” also qualify for the discount.
“Kids Night” discounts are in effect from Feb. 24 through March 2, but tickets are on sale now.
The initiative is a national audience development program of the Manhattanbased Broadway League.
“It’s important that kids come to theater because they get to see life through different characters. I’m so grateful that my career awards me with so many special opportunities to connect with young people,” said 2014 National Kids’ Night On Broadway Ambassador Idina Menzel, the Queens-born actress who is starring in the new Broadway musical “If/Then.”
There’s special treatment outside the theater too. Particpating Times Square area restaurants and parking facilties are offering discounts for "Kids Night" patrons. For tickets and information, visit http://kidsnightonbroadway.com.
jmccallister@nydailynews.com