NEW HADESTOWN EDUCATION INITIATIVE TO BRING NEW YORK CITY PUBLIC SCHOOL STUDENTS TO “HADESTOWN”
Press Contact:
Rick Miramontez / Aaron Meier / Sammy Wolfin
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE, PLEASE
THE REIGNING TONY AWARD® WINNER FOR BEST MUSICAL
“HADESTOWN”
ANNOUNCES THE
HADESTOWN EDUCATION INITIATIVE
TO BRING NEW YORK CITY PUBLIC SCHOOL STUDENTS
TO THE TONY AWARD-WINNING BEST NEW MUSICAL
New York, NY (March 5, 2020) – Today, producers Mara Isaacs, Dale Franzen, Hunter Arnold, and Tom Kirdahy announced the launch of the Hadestown Education Initiative, a program that provides access to the Tony Award-winning Best New Musical for New York City public school students at a small cost per student. This industry-leading initiative is being announced just before the show’s first anniversary on Broadway and while Hadestown is selling out nightly at the Walter Kerr Theatre (219 West 48th Street).
These subsidized tickets are being made available through a partnership between the producers of Hadestown and various arts and education organizations including Broadway Bridges (a program of The Broadway League) and Situation Project. Ticketing subsidies are being secured by the Hadestown producing team in order to make subsidized tickets available to the New York City Department of Education for use by their various education, arts, and outreach programs.
In addition to tickets to Hadestown, the initiative will also offer educational materials created specifically for the initiative, as well as offering post-show talkbacks for students with Hadestown artists including members of the cast and creative team. Educators will also have access to a curated study guide designed to highlight the show’s unique blend of American folk music and jazz to reimagine ancient mythology for a contemporary audience.
“Hadestown has always been a celebration in the belief that if we stand together, we can accomplish anything,” said producer Mara Isaacs. “I’m deeply moved by the generosity of our underwriters and the commitment of our friends at Broadway Bridges and Situation Project, who are standing with me and my producing partners in this effort to make Hadestown available to thousands of students this season. We will continue to make the Hadestown Education Initiative a priority for years to come.”
“I’m delighted and honored to think Hadestown might be the first theatrical experience for thousands of New York City students,” director Rachel Chavkin said. “We have worked hard to ensure our stage reflects the racial diversity of NYC schools, and Anaïs Mitchell’s beautiful re-telling of a classic Greek myth for today will be a dynamic gateway onto classic literature and storytelling. Arts programming is vital to human development, and I‘m thrilled Hadestown and its producing team are diving into providing access for so many young minds!”
ABOUT HADESTOWN
Hadestown has been included in more Best of 2019 lists than any other musical including: The New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Los Angeles Times, Chicago Tribune, Time Magazine, Elle Magazine, The Guardian, Slate, EW, Vox, The Forward, Show Tickets, The Fabulous Invalid, and The Ensemblist. It is the most honored show of the 2018-2019 season. The musical is the winner of eight Tony Awards, including Best Musical, and has been honored with four Drama Desk Awards, six Outer Critics Circle Awards including Outstanding New Broadway Musical and the Drama League Award for Outstanding Production of a Musical.
Additionally, the Hadestown Original Broadway Cast Recording, from Sing It Again Records and available on CD, vinyl, and streaming, recently won the 2020 Grammy Award® Best Musical Theater Album.
It is the biggest hit of the 2019-2020 Broadway season and is the highest-grossing musical in the history of the Walter Kerr Theatre (219 West 48th Street).
The award-winning cast includes Reeve Carney, André De Shields, Amber Gray, Patrick Page, Eva Noblezada, Jewelle Blackman, Yvette Gonzalez-Nacer, Kay Trinidad, Anthony Chatmon II, Timothy Hughes, John Krause, Kimberly Marable, and Kim Steele. The full cast also includes swings Malcolm Armwood, T. Oliver Reid, Jessie Shelton, and Khaila Wilcoxon.
Hadestown originated as Tony Award winner’s Anaïs Mitchell’s indie theater project that toured Vermont which she then turned into an acclaimed album. With Tony Award winner Rachel Chavkin, her artistic collaborator, Hadestown has been transformed into a genre-defying new musical that blends modern American folk music with New Orleans-inspired jazz to reimagine a sweeping ancient tale.
Following two intertwining love stories — that of young dreamers Orpheus and Eurydice, and that of King Hades and his wife Persephone — Hadestown invites audiences on a hell-raising journey to the underworld and back. Mitchell’s beguiling melodies and Chavkin’s poetic imagination pit industry against nature, doubt against faith, and fear against love. Performed by a vibrant ensemble of actors, dancers, and singers, Hadestown delivers a deeply resonant and defiantly hopeful theatrical experience.
Hadestown electrified audiences with its 2016 world premiere at New York Theatre Workshop, which is the longest-running show in that celebrated theater’s 40-year history. The production then received its Canadian premiere at Edmonton’s Citadel Theatre in 2017 and then a 2018 sold-out engagement at the London’s National Theatre prior to Broadway. Hadestown was developed with funding from the Eli and Edythe Broad Stage at the Santa Monica College Performing Arts Center and was further developed by The Ground Floor at Berkeley Repertory Theatre. Hadestown was co-conceived by Ben t. Matchstick.
Tickets can be purchased at Ticketmaster.com, by calling (877) 250-2929, or visiting the Kerr box office.
ABOUT BROADWAY BRIDGES
Broadway Bridges is a program developed by The Broadway League in partnership with the Office of Arts and Special Projects of New York City’s Department of Education. Its goal is to bring every tenth-grade student in a New York City public high school to a Broadway show. By bringing students to live theatre on Broadway, the League is working to cultivate the next generation of theatregoers and professionals. Get more information at www.broadwaybridges.org.
ABOUT SITUATION PROJECT
Situation Project is on a mission to stimulate and expand the imaginations of students in local communities by increasing their access to arts & culture experiences. In 2011, we discovered that there was a lot of untapped inventory at cultural institutions across New York City (roughly 2 million seats stay empty on Broadway alone). With reduced arts funding for public schools, we realized there was something we could do to connect both worlds–empower organizations to take advantage of their unused inventory to nurture the cultural capital of students. Today, Situation Project raises awareness about the many benefits of an arts-rich education for the leaders of tomorrow and increases their access to cultural experiences. We work with New York City public schools, leading arts, and culture institutions, and corporate partners to provide immersive and educational programming. Partners have included Disney Theatricals, Cirque Du Soleil, Google, and more. We also provide organizations with information on how to increase awareness for the arts in their communities. Get more information at www.situationproject.org.
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