Lance Morse (TCHS) wants to share this cool opportunity with you:

Right now the arts are in a time of transformation and transition. Our industry is grieving and we are all working to reinvent the performance medium. As a theatre educator, you understand these new challenges better than most! As we know, there has always been a constant fight for funding for arts education, and during this unprecedented time in our history, that struggle will be more prevalent than before. Those that will be affected the most are low-income communities and communities of color, where funding is already scarce.

I’m reaching out today because I have some great news to share! I’m currently helping with an upcoming event called Project Sing Out! Broadway Live for the Arts that will fundraise for the Educational Theatre Foundation (ETF) and highlight the importance of diversity and representation in the arts.

ETF is the philanthropic arm of the Educational Theatre Association (EdTA) and works to provide financial support to enhance excellence in theatre education and to expand access to K-12 school theatre programs for every child. Funds raised during this event will go towards a Thespian Relief Fund, created to provide financial support for the programs affected by COVID-19 related-funding cuts.

Hailey Kilgore (Tony Nominee for Once on This Island & OR thespian alum) is leading this project in order to bring together a diverse & talented cast of Broadway performers and theatre students from all walks of life to emphasize the importance of, and funding needed, for arts education.

As this event is focused on arts education, we are hoping to have about 40-50 individual Thespians involved as performers!!

WHAT IS THE EVENT:
60min pre-recorded live stream event airing this July
Call to Action for arts education funding through ETF
An opportunity for thespians to perform alongside Broadway performers in duets and group numbers
LOOKING FOR:
The best of the best diversified talent from your theatre program
Must be a current card-carrying thespian
Spoken word performers
Singer & dancers

HOW TO SUBMIT:

Singers:
Send in headshot/photo, 1 min video statement of what theatre means to them, and a video submission of a 1 min musical theatre vocal cut to ecarr@schooltheatre.org
Troupe number should be listed in submission, either in email or name of video submission
Dancers:
Send in headshot/photo, 1 min video statement of what theatre means to them, and a video submission of a 1 min musical theatre dance cut to ecarr@schooltheatre.org
Troupe number should be listed in submission, either in email or name of video submission

Spoken Work Performers:
Send in headshot/photo, 1 min video statement of what theatre means to them, and a video submission of a 1 min spoken word performance cut to ecarr@schooltheatre.org
Troupe number should be listed in submission, either in email or name of video submission
Additional:
Acceptable platforms for submissions: share a link, share in dropbox, share vimeo link
ALL initial submissions should be sent in by Friday, May 29th
Casting selections will be made by Monday, June 1st (Casting will be made by several theatre educators working on the event as Educational Advisors)
Final submissions will be due Monday, June 8th (so all students will need to be able to submit the provided material by this date)
If you have performed Once on This Island in the past two years or have thespian students who have performed pieces at a state/national showcase, please encourage those individuals to submit using “Why We Tell the Story.”

If you have performed Seussical in the past two years or have thespian students who have performed pieces at a state/national showcase, please encourage those individuals to submit (vocal or dance) using “Oh, The Thinks You Can Think.”

TIMELINE of EVENT:
Friday, May 29th: Interested submissions due
May 30th & 31st: Casting process to select participants for the event
Monday, June 1st: Selected participants will be notified with their selected material, information on recording, and where/how to submit their final version(s)
Monday, June 8th: All material from selected students will be due
Tuesday, June 9th – Wednesday, July 1st: Project Sing Out! Production team compiling the segments all together with video and audio edits
Thursday, July 2nd – Sunday, July 19th: EdTA team using the recorded material from the event in their marketing/PR releases for the event
Please feel free to forward this to interested thespian students, or other thespian troupes that you feel would be good to notify!