New York Welcomes America’s Teachers To The Fourth Annual ‘freddie G Broadway Experience’

NEW YORK - July 8, 2013 - PRLog -- New York, NY – July  8, 2013 -- Eight exceptional educators from schools and performing arts centers around the country will work one-on-one with Broadway greats at the 4^th Annual FREDDIE G BROADWAY EXPERIENCE July 10^th - 14^th.  Again this year, the event has been underwritten by Myrna and Freddie (“G”) Gershon, Chairman and CEO of leading theatrical licensor Music Theatre International (MTI).  The weekend honors instructors and teachers who are working to make a difference for their students and communities through the process of staging musical theatre productions in their schools and educational theatre groups.  In addition to the New York experience, each of the teachers’ schools also receives $5,000 from Freddie and Myrna to enhance their arts program.

The teachers will attend special workshops led by lyricist and composer Stephen Schwartz, Cinderella choreographer Josh Rhodes, Tony Award® winning director John Rando, lyricists and composers Benj Pasek and Justin Paul and special needs children teaching specialist Tessa Derfner.

“The weekend will fully immerse the teachers in the Broadway world and provide one-of-a-kind learning opportunities for the teachers to take back to their schools, students and communities,” says Gershon.  “These teachers do inspiring work with limited financial resources.  We want to give them the opportunity to live the Broadway experience and interact with top professionals to reward them for all they do to introduce the next generations to Broadway and musical theatre.”

Dozens of educators attending the 2013 Junior Theater Festival applied for the program, and eight total were selected (a full list follows).  Six teachers were selected as Freddie G Experience recipients on the basis of what the professional development opportunity would mean for them as teachers, as well as for their students and greater community.  Two additional educators were selected as winners of the Freddie G Broadway Junior Spirit Award and the 2013 Freddie G Broadway Junior Community Service award at the 2013 Junior Theater Festival.  

The eight educators will participate in dynamic, hands-on master classes with some ofBroadway leading choreographers, directors, producers, actors and designerscovering a wide range of topics including directing, choreography, music, design and marketing.  They will attend the Broadway show Pippin and watch a developmental performance of Children of Eden JR. (which is slated to be a new title in the MTI Broadway Junior Collection), go on backstage tours and experience Broadway theatre behind-the-scenes.

“I feel strongly about personally investing in these teachers by immersing them in experiential skills they can take home and share with students and other teachers,” added Gershon.  “It’s crucial we keep theatre alive in this country by working with both educators and children.  Myrna and I feel that America’s teachers should be honored and appreciated. Our future is in their hands.”

Following are the eight teachers attending the4th Annual Freddie G Broadway Experience

·       Danelle Cauley: Faith Christian School - Freddie G Award.  Rocky Mount, N.C.

·       Claudia Appel: WINGS Performing Arts Center – Freddie G Award. Gulf Port, Miss.

·       Merill Cheyne:  Harris County Carver Middle School - Freddie G Award.  Hamilton, Ga.

·       Lori Flanders:  Studio D Productions - Freddie G Experience Award.  Griffin, Ga.

·       Eric Bragg: River Trail Middle School - Freddie G Experience Award.  Johns Creek, Ga.

·       Spencer Lau:  Woodruff School ACE Music - Freddie G Community Service.  Seabrook, N.J.

·       Joanne O'Kain: Roy Waldron Middle School - Freddie G Broadway Junior Spirit Award.  LaVergne, Tenn.

·       Shirlee Idzakovich: Portsmouth Area Children’s Theatre - Freddie G Experience Award. Portsmouth, Ohio.

Music Theatre International www.mtishows.com (../Local%20Settings/Temporary%20Internet%20Files/Local%20...) is one of the world’s leading dramatic licensing agencies, protecting the rights and legacies of composers, lyricists and book writers.  MTI is particularly dedicated to the idea of theatre as education and has created special collections for younger audiences resulting in 80,000 productions consisting of more than 300,000 performances. The Broadway Junior Collection® features 70-minute adaptations of major musicals designed for middle school children to perform; the KIDS Collection®, provides 30-minute musicals for performance by elementary school children; School Editions are musicals that have been annotated for performance by high school students; and the Theatre For Young Audiences Collection, 70-minute musicals designed for adults to perform for children.