High School Theater Groups Return to the Spotlight

By the Spring of 2023, all The Broadway League High School Programs will be back in person

One of the most well known tourist attractions in New York City is the many stages of Broadway. Each theater brings in masses of people of all ages from around the world. However, the Covid-19 pandemic left the theaters empty and quiet for over a year. 

This period of closure caused many students throughout the country to lose their opportunities of ever seeing a Broadway show or even going to New York City at all due to school trip cancellations. They were told to virtually attend shows and speak to actors over zoom calls. It was nearly impossible for them to feel the warmth and connection that comes with the in person experience of Broadway. But now, after so long, things are finally changing.

Nathan Lavoie, a 2021 high school graduate from Scituate, Massachusetts, was stunted, along with everyone else, with many activities during the Covid-19 pandemic. Lavoie was the president of his school’s Drama Club his senior year and went on to attend Suffolk University, where he now is working toward a BA Degree in Theater. In both 2020 and 2021, Lavoie had plans with his drama program to travel to New York City to see Broadway shows, participate in theater workshops, and speak to some working actors. However, his trips were canceled, leaving him without the experiences he was so excited for.

In his first two years of highschool, Lavoie’s drama club went to NYC as usual. In those two years he saw six Broadway shows, took a stage combat class, and partook in a theater makeup workshop, along with meeting various Broadway actors and learning the ins and outs of what it means to work in professional theater. These experiences gave him an understanding of what the job is really like. Trips like these were what allowed Lavoie to discover that this was what he wanted to be part of in life. “I hope someday I’m able to return to New York City and see more Broadway productions, but ticket prices for Broadway are increasing at an alarming rate and it’s become very hard to go see a Broadway show nowadays.”

But, now that the depth of the pandemic looks to be behind us, students are making their way back to the city with eagerness and anticipation. 

Rachel Reiner, the Director of Audience Engagement at Broadway League and Executive Director of the National High School Musical Theater Awards Program has been working endlessly with her team to get highschool theater groups to return to Broadway as “normal”. She has said that, finally, by this spring, it looks like everything will be back to the way it once was. 

Reiner works specifically close with two programs: The Jimmy Awards and Broadway Bridges. 

The Jimmy Awards is “sort of like a highschool Tony Awards,” according to Reiner. Students from across the country are nominated and sent to New York every June to compete for awards and scholarships. They receive professional training and get the chance to sing and perform on a Broadway Stage. Some, now, famous actors, like Andrew Barthfeldman, Renne Rapp, and Antonio Capriano, all went to book lead roles in Broadway shows after competing at the Jimmy Awards. It is truly a once in a lifetime experience. 

Unfortunately, during Covid, the program was completely shifted and pushed to a halt. In 2020 they had to cancel the awards completely, leaving students who had been preparing for this moment for months to come to an end with their preparation as there would be nowhere for them to perform. Then in 2021, the program was made to be virtual. The nominated students sent in tapes for the awards and it was viewed and judged over the computer. An hour and a half long was aired online for them to view at home. 

While luckily they began the awards again, students were still missing out on the most important and influential parts of the experience that come with being a part of The Jimmy Awards. They missed the connections with their peers, the chance to perform on a Broadway Stage, and the opportunities to closely work with working professionals. Everything that made The Jimmy Awards what they are was lost behind the screens. In 2022 the program was finally brought back to the city, but still there were many covid protocols that left the experience more dull than most would have hoped. 

Thus, Reiner is excited to see the future of The Jimmy Awards as it is planned to be back to normal this coming year, allowing the experience for the students to be just as wonderful and enchanting as it once was in the past, pre-pandemic.

The other program that Reiner works with, Broadway Bridges, is an initiative from The Broadway League that works with the Department of Education in New York City and the United Federation of Teachers to ensure that every New York City public highschool student goes to see a Broadway show before they graduate. Each student pays only $10 for their ticket, making the experience easily accessible and opening up the opportunity for as many students as possible. The program had to take an unfortunate break during the pandemic, but as soon as they were able to, they started seating students in theaters again. This past spring the Broadway Bridges program brought over 15,000 students to Broadway shows. 

“There's really nothing that replaces the live experience of being in a theater,” said Reiner, “so, we were really thrilled that by this fall, we were able to entirely accommodate all of the schools. And they could all come back to Times Square and see the Broadway shows.”

While now students were starting to attend shows in person, there were still many activities being brought virtually. But, Reiner is excited to announce that their high school Broadway Shadowing program would be brought back in person this upcoming spring. According to The Broadway League, this program “connects New York City public high school students with behind-the-scenes professionals including general managers, stage managers, press agents, and marketing and advertising staff, who share what goes into mounting and maintaining a Broadway production.” Students will again be given the opportunity to work one on one with professionals on the job. They will be given the chance to be placed back inside the world they had been dreaming to be part of for so long. 

Finally by 2023, all Broadway League student experiences will be back to the way they were before the pandemic, if not better. After hearing about this news of complete normality for high school theater groups in the upcoming year, Nathan Lavoie stated, “I am sad for myself and the rest on my theater graduating class in highschool for what we missed, but I’m excited for the current and future high school students, both at my school and everywhere else, who get to experience this all four years of high school.” 

Though the years of lost experiences for students in the past cannot be forgotten, it seems as though Broadway is looking up and students have found their way back to the spotlight.