Tickets On Sale Now For Kravis Center's 'Dream Awards' For High School Musical Theater

Tickets are now on sale for the Kravis Center Dream Awards: Celebrating High School Musical Theater Excellence. This showcase performance event will be held at 7 pm on Sunday, June 3, at the Raymond F. Kravis Center for the Performing Arts' Dreyfoos Hall and will feature student performers from 10 local high schools. Ticket prices start at $15 and featured musicals will include Disney's Beauty and the Beast, Bye Bye Birdie, The Drowsy Chaperone, Fiddler on the Roof, Ghost, Hairspray, Kiss Me Kate, Legally Blonde, Oliver! The Musical, Sweet Charity and White Christmas.

This new performing arts education initiative for high school students was launched for the 2017-2018 school year and sponsored by PNC's Arts Alive grant program for the visual and performing arts. Public and private high schools in Palm Beach County were invited to participate in the yearlong program. Kravis Center theater adjudicators viewed and critiqued musical theater productions at Alexander W. Dreyfoos School of the Arts, The Benjamin School, Boca Raton High School, Boynton Beach Community High School, Cardinal Newman High School, The King's Academy, Oxbridge Academy, Palm Beach Central High School, Suncoast Community High School and Wellington High School.

"We have always wanted to create a high school musical theater awards program here at the Kravis Center, so we're thrilled to be hosting our first Dream Awards," said Judith Mitchell, Kravis Center CEO. "Our community has become the cultural capital of Florida, and these awards are a testament to the mission of the Kravis Center, as well as to the hard work by our local educators to make arts education a priority for our young people."

At the Dream Awards performance and ceremony, two local student actors - one male and one female - will be selected from among the eligible performers to travel to New York City to participate in the National High School Musical Theatre Awards, known as the Jimmy Awards, and represent Palm Beach County while taking part in a weeklong musical theater intensive. The culmination of the intensive will be the Jimmy Awards ceremony performance on June 25 on the Minskoff Theatre stage on Broadway. All expenses for this student experience will be covered by the Kravis Center.

During the awards event at the Kravis Center, an inspiring local theater educator and his/her commitment to performing arts education will also be honored.

About supporting the Dream Awards through PNC Arts Alive, Cressman Bronson, PNC regional president for Southeast Florida said, "We know what the visual and performing arts can do, how it changes perspectives - even changes lives. The Dream Awards is the epitome of how the arts can catapult a young artist to the next level. This program shines a light on the next generation of the best and brightest performing artists in Palm Beach County and we support it whole-heartedly. From classical music and fine art to dance and theater, we're committed to keeping the arts alive in Florida."

Bronson added that the arts and culture industry in the state of Florida generates approximately $49.7 billion in annual revenues, according to the Division of Cultural Affairs.

The Dream Awards pilot program had three primary objectives:

· To provide much-needed enrichment and access for students and drama teachers to learn from theater professionals. By launching this program, the Kravis Center expands the resources available to underserved students and under-funded theater arts programs throughout Palm Beach County schools.

· To celebrate the art form of musical theater and to elevate the prominence of our schools' musical theater programs, helping make our community aware of the fine work that is being produced in our local high schools.

· To engage the community and offer performance excellence at an affordable ticket price. This project welcomes family members, students and community members to experience the outstanding work of these young performers while contributing to the development of future audiences for live performing arts in southeast Florida.

In September 2017, Kravis Center theater adjudicators began attending eligible musical performances at each participating school and prepared written evaluations of student performances. The written feedback was then provided to both the students and directors to enhance the growth of each individual program.

To purchase tickets to the Dream Awards, please call the Kravis Center box office at 561-832-7469 or visit kravis.org/events/dreamawards.

For more than 25 seasons, the Raymond F. Kravis Center for the Performing Arts has helped students of all ages fuel their imaginations and expand their lives through comprehensive arts education programs. Last season, nearly 60,000 children from Palm Beach, Broward, Martin, St. Lucie and Okeechobee counties attended performances through the S*T*A*R Series. To learn more about the Kravis Center's educational programming, please visit kravis.org/education-community.

The Jimmy Awards/National High School Musical Theatre Awards (NHSMTA) impacts more than 100,000 students who participate in high school musical theatre competitions sponsored by presenters of Touring Broadway productions throughout the United States. A Best Actress and Best Actor winner from each of these competitions is sent to New York for a week-long theatre intensive of coaching and rehearsals with industry professionals in preparation for a one-night-only showcase on Broadway, where a panel of judges crowns the nation's top performers. Named for Broadway impresario James M. Nederlander, the program has been the catalyst for more than $2,000,000 in educational scholarships. In 2012, the program inspired preeminent broadcaster WGBH Boston to produce a 3-part documentary series called "Broadway or Bust," which follows students on a journey from their hometown competitions to their debut on Broadway. The series remains popular viewing at www.pbs.org. Presented by The Broadway League Foundation, the tenth annual Jimmy Awards will take place on Monday, June 25, 2018 at the Minskoff Theatre on Broadway. Coaching and rehearsals for this one-of-a-kind event will be held Monday, June 18, 2017 through Tuesday, June 26, 2018 in New York City. For more information, please visit www.JimmyAwards.com.

The PNC Foundation, which receives its principal funding from The PNC Financial Services Group (www.pnc.com), #PNCArtsAlive actively supports organizations that provide services for the benefit of communities in which it has a significant presence. The foundation focuses its philanthropic mission on early childhood education and community and economic development, which includes the arts and culture. For more information about Arts Alive grants visit www.pncartsalive.com.