Broadway is where dreams come true for theater lovers. Mentorship programs are working to bring young audiences, creatives and performers to the Great Bright Way.
The Theater Development Fund’s Wendy Wasserstein Project connects mentors to students around New York and takes kids to Broadway shows. Since its founding in 1978, some 60 mentors have brought 4,000 students to shows. This year, eight of those students are from the Young Women’s Leadership School of Manhattan, a public all-girls school in Harlem. Their mentor is Tony Award-winning lyricist David Zippel.
“I do open doors, because I’m so excited about live theater that I want to share that with as many people as I can,” Zippel told “CBS Saturday Morning.”
Ramona Fittipaldi, the students’ math teacher, encourages participation in the program. She said she’s had students be moved to tears by what they’ve seen on stage.
CBS Saturday Morning 
“I had a student tell me that she was so upset that the show ended, because it connected to her life so well that she just wanted more,” Fittipaldi said.
Recently, the students, Zippel and Fittipaldi, saw “Purpose,” a play about a troubled Black family grappling with faith, legacy and identity. Afterwards, the group met to share some pizza and discuss what they’d seen. Zippel said these “pizza discussions” have led to candid talks about the students’ lives.
This year, “Purpose” actor Kara Young made a surprise appearance at the pizza discussion. Young is Tony-nominated for her performance. It’s her fourth straight year being nominated for an acting award. She graduated from the same leadership school as the students. Mameawa Thiaw, one of the students, said she was excited to meet Young after watching her onstage.
“Growing up as a young Black woman, so to see myself presented in media, especially live media, is something that I do take pride in,” Thiaw said.
Meanwhile, five-time Tony Award winner Susan Stroman mentors future playwrights through a writing fellowship in her name at the University of Delaware. She has brought fellows to rehearsals of “Smash,” her most recent musical, and introduced them to set designers, lighting designers, and other production workers. Erin Muñoz, one of the fellows, said the exposure to the different fields further drove her Broadway dreams.
“I remember we were seeing the rehearsal for Smash, and I just couldn’t stop thinking how much I want to spend the rest of my life in a room like that with so many creative and talented people,” Muñoz said.
Stroman said she hopes this fellowship and other programs help bring more young people into the theater world.
“There’s nothing like being in the back of a theater of something that I’ve created and seeing how it moves an audience,” Stroman said. “See if they’re crying, if they’re laughing, if they’re putting their arms around one another. There’s no greater feeling.”
