AUGUST WILSON COMES TO LIFE IN LEAP'S NYC STUDENT MONOLOGUE COMPETITON
NEW YORK, NY – LeAp is proud to present the fourth annual NEW YORK CITY AUGUST WILSON MONOLOGUE COMPETITION, hosted by Broadway award-winning actor Stephen McKinley Henderson with a performance by Tony Award-winning actor Chuck Cooper and Broadway's Lynda Gravatt.
The competition is a culmination of LeAp's August Wilson Program, a part of a nationwide initiative, which introduces high school students to the works of renowned playwright August Wilson and to the world of theater, while illuminating the African-American experience of the 20th century.
On Thursday, April 19, 2012, LeAp students from six New York City high schools will inhabit Wilson's characters and bring them to life by performing two to three minute monologues from Wilson's Century Cycle series of plays. Judges will rank them based on a variety of criteria - from energy and physical presentation to emotional connectedness and vocal presentation. Student finalists from the following schools will perform:
Edward R. Murrow High School
Hillcrest High School
Marta Valle High School
Brooklyn Theater Arts High School
Fordham High School for the Arts
Repertory Company High School for Theater Arts
The three winners of LeAp's NYC competition will advance to the National August Wilson Monologue Competition to compete against students from Atlanta, Pittsburgh, Boston, Los Angeles, Seattle, and Chicago on Monday, May 7, 2012 at the August Wilson Theater on Broadway. Finalists will be judged y a panel of Broadway luminaries and the winning students will receive four-year college scholarships, cash prizes, and bound copies of August Wilson's work.
LeAp's August Wilson Program, now in its fourth year, is designed for high school students and illuminates the African-American experience in the 20th century through the study of the work of renowned playwright August Wilson. In this year-long program, led by LeAp’s theater professionals, students explore Wilson’s 10-play Century Cycle, and examine important social issues and historical events. Students strengthen their acting skills and performance techniques and present scenes from various Wilson works. Ultimately, students choose one character to inhabit and select a monologue to perform at school-wide competitions. Winners from each school participate in LeAp’s New York City August Wilson Monologue Competition, and finalists advance to the National August Wilson Competition at the August Wilson Theatre to compete against students from other cities. As part of the program, students attend a Broadway or Off-Broadway performance and meet with Broadway actors, directors, and designers. This program has been developed in partnership with Jujamcyn Theaters and Kenny Leon's True Colors Theatre Company. It has been generously funded by the New York State Council on the Arts (NYSCA).
Learning through an Expanded Arts Program (LeAp) is a nonprofit organization committed to improving the quality of public education through a unique hands-on, arts-based approach to teaching the core curriculum. LeAp empowers students to reach their full potential. For 34 years, LeAp has provided more than two million NYC students in grades K through 12 with music, dance, theater, film and visual arts programs that are integrated into academic instruction. LeAp offers in-school residencies, afterschool activities, teacher trainings, parent workshops, and assembly programs to schools citywide, conducts programs in hospitals, shelters and cultural institutions and develops educational materials. LeAp has been endorsed and supported by the US Department of Education, National Endowment of the Humanities, NYC Department of Education, NYC Department of Cultural Affairs, NYSCA, and Department of Youth and Community Development, among many others.
www.leapnyc.org