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NEW YORK (FOX 5 NY) - On Tuesday morning, the 14th annual Shubert Foundation/Music Theater International Broadway Junior Finale took place at the Imperial Theater.
500 students from 15 schools throughout the five boroughs got a chance to perform on Broadway. For the vast majority of the students, this was their first time performing, let alone in a Broadway theater.
The talented group of public middle school students showed off musicals they spent months working on.
It was all part of a 16-week musical theater mentorship program thanks to the partnership between the Shubert Foundation, Music Theater International and the New York City Department of Education Arts and Special Projects Office.
Peter Avery, the Director of Theater for the New York City Department of Education says, “the schools apply for funding to put on their first musical ever in the school. Many of the schools have low arts they are all public schools and we get about 60 applications a year we visit them 15 get chosen and those schools get support to put on the show."
Students told Fox 5 News that their exposure to musical theater has changed their lives. Some had never seen a Broadway show.
There to support the students were Broadway's own stars James Harkness and Jawan Jackson from the show "Ain’t Too Proud, The Life and Times of the Temptations."
The Shubert Foundation/Music Theater International Broadway Junior Finale will take place once again next year.