TheatreWorksUSA is a professional, not-for-profit

theatre Theatre or theater is a collaborative form of performing art that uses live performers, usually actors to present experiences of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place, often a Stage (theatre), stage. The performe ...

for young and family audiences founded in 1961. The company is based out of

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

, but has touring productions that run through forty-nine states as well as parts of

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

. Plays and musicals produced by Theatreworks have reached over 90 million children, teachers and families since the company's founding.

Free Summer Theatre

Since 1989 TheatreWorksUSA's Free Summer Theatre has provided young people and families with original, professional theatre free of charge. Each summer, tickets are distributed to

children A child () is a human being between the stages of childbirth, birth and puberty, or between the Development of the human body, developmental period of infancy and puberty. The term may also refer to an unborn human being. In English-speaking ...

in over 200 social service and youth programs throughout the

five boroughs 5 (five) is a number, numeral and digit. It is the natural number, and cardinal number, following 4 and preceding 6, and is a prime number. Humans, and many other animals, have 5 digits on their limbs. Mathematics 5 is a Fermat pri ...

. To date, over 300,000 children have attended free productions of some of the company's most popular shows, including '' Junie B. Jones'', ''

Romeo and Juliet ''The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet'', often shortened to ''Romeo and Juliet'', is a Shakespearean tragedy, tragedy written by William Shakespeare about the romance between two young Italians from feuding families. It was among Shakespeare's ...

'', and '' Sarah, Plain and Tall''. According to its own literature, TheatreWorks believes "all children should experience the excitement of going to the theatre, regardless of their financial circumstances." Roma Torre, a NY1 reporter, has said the following of the program: TheatreWorksUSA's production of '' The Civil War'' made its Off-Broadway debut at the Lucille Lortel Theatre for the 2013 Free Summer Theatre program. ''The Civil War'' ran from July 15, 2013, until August 16, 2013.

Managed artists

In addition to their plays and musicals, TheatreWorksUSA offers educational presentations by artists and groups, for school and public performances. Included are historical productions, as well as stories, songs and dance from many cultures featuring authentic artists who entertain as well as teach about their traditions.

Alumni artists

TheatreWorksUSA has a history of giving young actors, writers, directors, and designers their first professional job. Amongst the alumni are four-time

Tony Award The Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Broadway Theatre, more commonly known as a Tony Award, recognizes excellence in live Broadway theatre. The awards are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League at an annual ce ...

winning director

Jerry Zaks Jerry Zaks (born September 7, 1946) is an American stage and television director, and actor. He won the Tony Award for Best Direction of a Play and Drama Desk Award for directing '' The House of Blue Leaves'' (1986), '' Lend Me a Tenor'' (1989), ...

, Robert Jess Roth (''

Beauty and the Beast "Beauty and the Beast" is a fairy tale written by the French novelist Gabrielle-Suzanne Barbot de Villeneuve and published in 1740 in (''The Young American and Marine Tales''). Villeneuve's lengthy version was abridged, rewritten, and publish ...

''), Michael Mayer (''

Thoroughly Modern Millie ''Thoroughly Modern Millie'' is a 1967 American musical romantic comedy film directed by George Roy Hill and starring Julie Andrews. The screenplay by Richard Morris, based on the 1956 British musical ''Chrysanthemum'', follows a naïve young ...

''), Gabriel Barre; writers Marta Kauffman and David Crane (TV's ''

Friends ''Friends'' is an American television sitcom created by David Crane (producer), David Crane and Marta Kauffman, which aired on NBC from September 22, 1994, to May 6, 2004, lasting List of Friends episodes, ten seasons. With an ensemble cast ...

''),

Lynn Ahrens Lynn Ahrens (born October 1, 1948) is an American writer and lyricist for the musical theatre, television and film. She has collaborated with Stephen Flaherty for many years. She won the Tony Award, Drama Desk Award, and Outer Critics Circle Aw ...

and

Stephen Flaherty Stephen Flaherty (born September 18, 1960) is an American composer of musical theatre and film. He works most often in collaboration with the lyricist/book writer Lynn Ahrens. They are best known for writing the Broadway musicals ''Ragtime'', wh ...

(''

Ragtime Ragtime, also spelled rag-time or rag time, is a musical style that had its peak from the 1890s to 1910s. Its cardinal trait is its Syncopation, syncopated or "ragged" rhythm. Ragtime was popularized during the early 20th century by composers ...

'', ''

Once on This Island ''Once on This Island'' is a coming-of-age one-act stage musical with a book and lyrics by Lynn Ahrens and music by Stephen Flaherty. It is based on the 1985 novel ''My Love, My Love; or, The Peasant Girl'' by Rosa Guy, a Caribbean-set retel ...

''),

Jason Robert Brown Jason Robert Brown (born June 20, 1970) is an American musical theatre composer, lyricist, and playwright. Brown's music sensibility fuses pop-rock stylings with theatrical lyrics. He is the recipient of three Tony Awards for his work on ''Parad ...

(''

Parade A parade is a procession of people, usually organized along a street, often in costume, and often accompanied by marching bands, floats, or sometimes large balloons. Parades are held for a wide range of reasons, but are usually some variety ...

''), Larry O'Keefe ('' Bat Boy: The Musical''), Double

EGOT EGOT, an acronym for the Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, and Tony Awards, is the designation given to people who have won all four of the major performing art awards in the United States. Respectively, these awards honor outstanding achievements in telev ...

winner

Robert Lopez Robert “Bobby” Lopez (born February 23, 1975) is an American songwriter for musicals and playwright, best known for co-creating '' The Book of Mormon'' and '' Avenue Q'', and for co-writing the songs featured in the Disney animated films '' ...

and Jeff Marx (''

The Book of Mormon The Book of Mormon is a religious text of the Latter Day Saint movement, first published in 1830 by Joseph Smith as ''The Book of Mormon: An Account Written by the Hand of Mormon upon Plates Taken from the Plates of Nephi''. The book is one of ...

Avenue Q '' Avenue Q'' is a musical comedy featuring puppets and human actors with music and lyrics by Robert Lopez and Jeff Marx and a book by Jeff Whitty. It won Best Musical, Book, and Score at the 2004 Tony Awards. The show's format is a parody ...

'');

Kristen Anderson-Lopez Kristen Anderson-Lopez (born March 21, 1972) is an American songwriter. She is known for co-writing the songs for the 2013 animated musical film '' Frozen'' and its 2019 sequel '' Frozen II'' with her husband Robert Lopez. The couple won the Aca ...

(Disney's '' Frozen'', with Lopez); and Tony-winning actors Roger Bart, Chuck Cooper, John Lloyd Young, and John Glover. Esteemed performers

Jesse Tyler Ferguson Jesse Tyler Ferguson (born October 22, 1975) is an American actor. From 2009 to 2020, he portrayed List of Modern Family characters#Mitchell Pritchett, Mitchell Pritchett on the sitcom ''Modern Family'', for which he earned five consecutive nomin ...

, F. Murray Abraham,

Daphne Rubin-Vega Daphne Rubin-Vega ( Vega; born November 18, 1969) is a Panamanian-American actress, dancer, and singer-songwriter. She is best known for originating the roles of Mimi Marquez in the 1996 premiere of the Broadway musical '' Rent'' and Lucy in the ...

Henry Winkler Henry Franklin Winkler (born October 30, 1945) is an American actor, producer, director, and author. Widely known as Arthur "Fonzie" Fonzarelli on the sitcom ''Happy Days'' (1974–1984), Winkler has distinguished himself as a character acto ...

, Kathryn Boule and

Judy Kuhn Judy Kuhn (born May 20, 1958) is an American actress, singer and activist, known for her work in musical theatre. A four-time Tony Award nominee, she has released four studio albums and sang the title role in the 1995 film ''Pocahontas'', includ ...

also got their start with Theatreworks.

Awards

TheatreWorksUSA has won many awards in its long history. Some of these honors include: *2010

Drama Desk Award The Drama Desk Awards are among the most esteemed honors in New York theater, recognizing outstanding achievements across Broadway, Off-Broadway, and Off-Off-Broadway productions within the same categories. The awards are considered a signific ...

Nominee for Outstanding Lyrics for ''Click, Clack, Moo''. *2010

Lucille Lortel Lucille Lortel (née Wadler, December 16, 1900 – April 4, 1999) was an American actress, artistic director, and theatrical producer. In the course of her career Lortel produced or co-produced nearly 500 plays, five of which were nominated for ...

Award Nominee for Outstanding Musical and Outstanding Choreography for ''Click, Clack, Moo''. *2008

Award Nominee for Outstanding Revival, Outstanding Choreography and Outstanding Costumes for ''

Seussical ''Seussical'', sometimes ''Seussical the Musical'', is a musical comedy with lyrics by Lynn Ahrens, music by Stephen Flaherty, and written by Ahrens and Flaherty. The musical is inspired by many of the children's stories of Dr. Seuss, with most ...

''. *2008

Drama League Award The Drama League Awards, created in 1922, honor distinguished productions and performances both on Broadway and Off-Broadway, in addition to recognizing exemplary career achievements in theatre, musical theatre, and directing. Each May, the awards ...

Nominee for Outstanding Revival of a Musical for ''

''. *2005

Award Nominee for Best Musical and Best Choreography for '' Junie B. Jones''. *2001 Jonathan Larson Performing Arts Foundation Award for "artistic vision and commitment to the support and development of theatre artists." *1996

given by New York theatre critics for Theatreworks' "35 years of providing quality entertainment to children and their parents. *1996

Award given by Off Broadway theatres and producers, for "Outstanding Special Achievement." *1996 Staw Hat Award for Best Play awarded to ''The Color of Justice''. *1984 AUDELCO Award at the Twelfth Annual Black Theatre Awards for ''Play to Win'', a musical about

Jackie Robinson Jack Roosevelt Robinson (January 31, 1919 – October 24, 1972) was an American professional baseball player who became the first Black American to play in Major League Baseball (MLB) in the modern era. Robinson broke the Baseball color line, ...

breaking the color barrier in major league

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...

. The award was for "best writing of a new show by black authors for the non-commercial theatre."

Chelsea Studios

In 2000, TheatreWorksUSA established Chelsea Studios, a rehearsal studio in the Chelsea neighborhood of Manhattan.Chelsea Studios / TheatreworksUSA
/ref> In addition to providing rehearsal space for TheatreWorksUSA's productions, Chelsea also rents its studios out to casting agents, touring productions, exercise classes, and various other clients.

References

External links

TheatreWorksUSA's home pageChelsea Studios
{{DEFAULTSORT:Theatreworks Usa Theatres in New York (state) 1961 establishments in New York (state) Non-profit organizations based in New York City Arts organizations established in 1961 Children's theatre companies in New York City