ATW's SpringboardNYC Program Has Started

The American Theatre Wing's SpringboardNYC, an intensive summer boot camp for aspiring theatre artists, is now in session for the 2008 program, being held June 2nd to 15th. A concentrated pre-professional training course, SpringboardNYC is designed for serious students who wish to enter the New York City theatre world. SpringboardNYC provides the job-seeking skills, insight into the business of theatre, and the urban survival tools necessary to translate academic training into a productive career.

Limited to 35 participants, SpringboardNYC also offers financial aid and multiple scholarship programs to students.  Applications were accepted and reviewed on a rolling basis until April 15 for the June 2008 session. Complete information and application materials are available at www.americantheatrewing.org/springboardnyc.

Now in its seventh year, SpringboardNYC's innovative programming supports early career professionals who come from around the country to immerse themselves in this college-to-career transition program. Information packages have been sent to university theatre programs and career development centers nationwide; last year alone, 24 universities and colleges from 21 states across the country were represented. In 2007, SpringboardNYC began to offer tuition scholarships to accepted students; over 75% of the class received some form of scholarship support.

SpringboardNYC mentor Michael Emerson (Off-Broadway's Gross Indecency, Ben Linus on TV's "Lost"), sees great value in the program.   "When I was young, all discussions of the business seemed to me to be either too hard-bitten or too mystical," said Emerson. "It scared me and I wondered where or how I would ever fit in. I could see the dim outlines of a hard life in the theater but it wasn't like anything I'd seen in the media and I had no real role-model-- no advisor. I like the way SpringboardNYC facilitates a conversation between generations of theater people."

The rigorous curriculum includes a series of workshops, seminars, master classes and field trips that place the participants in the center of New York's theatrical community and provide access to influential working artists. Workshop subjects include resume development, interview technique, audition technique (monologue, cold reading, and on-camera), and a mock open call, authentically replicating the process of a high-pressure audition. Accompanied by real-life evaluations by working professionals, these workshops give participants a competitive edge as they launch their own careers. Informational sessions are held with a variety of key "behind the scenes" players.  General managers, press agents, company managers, and those in all aspects of commercial and non-profit theatre, give participants a working vocabulary and understanding of the world into which they're entering.

SpringboardNYC alumna Kristin Svenningsen, who is now Casting Assistant at the Manhattan Theatre Club, credits SpringboardNYC with clarifying her career path. "It really put things in perspective for me.  I was right there, in NYC, in the heat and bustle of the industry, making connections with people I never even imagined meeting.  It solidified for me that this industry was one that I absolutely needed to be a part of.  Springboard really helped me carve out exactly what my part would be." Svenningsen has returned to SpringboardNYC as a mentor of the program.

Participating mentors and speakers have included actors Cynthia Nixon, Billy Crudup, Liev Schreiber, Audra McDonald, Paul Rudd, Neil Patrick Harris, Michael Emerson, Martha Plimpton; directors Lonny Price (110 In the Shade), John Rando (Urinetown), and Leigh Silverman (Well); composers Jason Robert Brown (Last Five Years) and Robert Lopez and Jeff Marx (Avenue Q); and musical directors Kimberly Grigsby (Spring Awakening); Seth Rudetsky (The Ritz), Mary-Mitchell Campbell (Sweeney Todd) and director/choreographers Jerry Mitchell and Rob Ashford. Casts and production teams who have participated in the program include Casts and production teams who have participated in the program include Spring Awakening, Avenue Q, Legally Blonde, Sweeney Todd,  The Wedding Singer, Mary Poppins, Awake and Sing!, Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, Radio Golf, and Inherit the Wind..

The Director of SpringboardNYC is Randy Ellen Lutterman, who founded the program at Musical Theatre Works.

The American Theatre Wing is best known as the creator of the Antoinette Perry "Tony" Awards®, which it presents annually with the League of American Theatres and Producers.  The Wing's other activities, dedicated to recognizing excellence and supporting education in theatre, include "Working in the Theatre," now in its 29th year of telecasts on CUNY TV in New York and on other national cable outlets; "Downstage Center," an hour-long weekly interview program on XM Satellite Radio; "Guides to Careers in the Theatre," a video series developed for schools and libraries; a grants and scholarship program to New York City schools and not-for-profit theatre companies, which has awarded more than $2.5 million since its inception; the Theatre Intern Group, a career development program for young professionals; and SpringboardNYC, a two-week college-to-career boot camp for emerging artists moving to NYC.  Visitors to www.americantheatrewing.org can view an archive of "Working in the Theatre" and the career guides and listen to "Downstage Center", all as free, on-demand streaming audio and podcast. Sondra Gilman is Chairman of the Board of the American Theatre Wing; Doug Leeds is President of the Board and Howard Sherman is Executive Director.

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