(New York, NY – Thursday, April 25, 2024). The Broadway Education Alliance is pleased to announce that Tony Award-winner Bonnie Milligan, will host the 2023-24 Roger Rees Awards for Excellence in Student Performance on Sunday, May 19, 2024 at The Gerald W. Lynch Theatre at John Jay College.

Co-sponsored by Disney Theatrical Group and the Broadway production of Back to the Future, this year’s awards event will feature over 100 high school student performers, singers and musicians representing 74 area schools who will be recognized in several performance categories including Outstanding Performer, Outstanding Choral Performance, Outstanding Solo Performance and Outstanding Student Reporter. Additionally, the New York City Center will be introducing an Outstanding Scenic and Costume Design Award and selecting a student orchestra to perform at the event.

To be eligible to participate in The Roger Rees Awards Outstanding Performer category a student must have performed a qualifying role in an officially licensed high school production of an eligible show during the 2023-2024 academic year. Following an extensive adjudication process, 50 student nominees will be selected to compete for the award at the event.

The esteemed panel of judges for this year’s Outstanding Performer award includes Erich Bergen (actor/singer); Kiara Brown Clark (Teaching Artist, Disney Theatrical Group); Jenny Gersten (director and producer, New York City Center); Baayork Lee, (actress, director/choreographer), Merri Sugarman (casting director, Tara Rubin Casting); Tom Viertel (Tony Award-winning producer of Back to the Future).

The Roger Rees Awards is the Greater New York Regional Award for The Broadway League Foundation’s National High School Musical Theatre Awards aka The Jimmy Awards®. Two students selected by this panel of Broadway experts will represent the Greater New York region at the national awards on June 24th at the Minskoff Theatre on Broadway.

The Roger Rees Awards recognize the importance of theatre arts education and celebrate the exceptional life and career-long artistic excellence of Broadway’s beloved actor/director, Roger Rees. Playwright Rick Elice, Rees’ partner of over 30 years, and author of “Finding Roger,” said, “Rog would have liked this chance to educate and inspire young actors, to offer a guiding hand as so many were offered to him when he too was a kid with a dream.”

Tickets go on sale on Tuesday, May 7.

During our theater production of Bruised But Not Broken, you will step into the lives of the Thomas sisters as they learn more about themselves and each other. Watch as they unveil pieces of themselves…the pieces that they didn't want anyone to see…the parts of themselves they were ashamed of and tried so desperately to hide.

Bruised But Not Broken is about healing when you think you were too messed up, too damaged, and too bruised to heal. This production teaches you how to get up after you have fallen. God's ability to take what the enemy meant for evil and turn it into good is manifested in every scene. Remember, bitter becomes sweet when you put it in the Master's hands.

About the Event
Embark on a mind-blowing cosmic adventure with physicist and bestselling author Brian Greene. In this stunning multimedia journey, you'll travel through the key moments of our universe's history, from the big bang to the rise of stars, black holes, life, and consciousness. Greene's captivating storytelling and visuals will illuminate humanity's quest for meaning in the vast cosmos. Don't miss this profound and enthralling evening that will forever change your perspective on existence.

For more information about Brian Greene, visit our website worldsciencefestival.com

About the Event
What’s the role of AI in advancing or redefining creativity? Join a visual exploration to the vanguard of artistic expression with three leaders who are embracing AI as a partner in the next phase of the human creative process.

Moderator: Brian Greene
Participants: Justine Bateman, Heidi Boisvert, Benjamín Labatut, and Matthew Ritchie

For more information about the participants, visit our website worldsciencefestival.com

About the Event
Scientists can now describe the unfolding cosmos with unprecedented precision, yet major mysteries remain, including the nature of expanding space, the need for dark matter and dark energy, and the possibility that our universe is but one of many separate realities. Join a conversation with leading researchers who will take us right to the edge--and just beyond--what we know about the deepest mysteries of the cosmos.

Moderator: Brian Greene
Participants: Wendy Freedman, Katherine Freese, and Will Kinney

About the Event
Journey to the very frontier of astrophysical exploration, from black holes that may have been produced in the big bang, to the search for life on moons orbiting distant planets, to the mind-bending speculation that we may be able to create wormholes—tunnels through spacetime—in the laboratory.

Moderator: Brian Greene
Participants: Daniel Jafferis, Joseph Lykken, David Kipping, Priyamvada Natarajan, and Maria Spiropulu

About the Event
Can artificial intelligence experience artificial consciousness? Can AI illuminate human consciousness? Join a conversation that cuts across technology, neuroscience, philosophy and ethics as we grapple with the greatest mystery of all: how matter can make mind.

Moderator: Brian Greene
Participants: Lenore Blum, Manuel Blum, David Chalmers, Anil Seth, and Rufin VanRullen

About the Event
Quantum computation -- leveraging quantum physics to revolutionize computational power – is rapidly becoming a reality. Join a conversation with renowned leaders to explore the basics of quantum computers, the state-of-play in building them, and the wonders that await and dangers that lurk in a world replete with quantum computers.

Moderator: Brian Greene
Participants: Ryan Babbush and Seth Lloyd

About the Event
Will the next breakthrough in fundamental science come from an artificial Einstein? Or perhaps from a human whose insights rely on collaboration with an AI Einstein? Join a conversation exploring the profound role AI is poised to play in taking human understanding–from quarks to the cosmos and molecules to mind--to the next level.

Moderator: Brian Greene
Participants: Eric Horvitz, Daphne Koller, and Stephen Wolfram

During our theater production of Bruised But Not Broken, you will step into the lives of the Thomas sisters as they learn more about themselves and each other. Watch as they unveil pieces of themselves…the pieces that they didn't want anyone to see…the parts of themselves they were ashamed of and tried so desperately to hide.

Bruised But Not Broken is about healing when you think you were too messed up, too damaged, and too bruised to heal. This production teaches you how to get up after you have fallen. God's ability to take what the enemy meant for evil and turn it into good is manifested in every scene. Remember, bitter becomes sweet when you put it in the Master's hands.

With the support of a CUNY Dance Initiative residency at the Gerald W. Lynch Thetaer, Tabula Rasa Dance Theater premieres two compelling dance works that arise from the intersection of art and social justice: Animus Necandi and Ship of Fools.
Running time: 60 minutes

“Animus Necandi” brings attention to the pain of families who have lost relatives condemned to the death penalty. The piece also explores the moral issues of capital punishment, which continues as a legal practice in more than 55 countries and 27 U.S. States.

"Ship of Fools” is a dance-theater parable critiquing the global rise of authoritarian leaders. The piece examines the human cost of despotism and exalts the values of knowledge, wisdom, and justice.

With the support of a CUNY Dance Initiative residency at the Gerald W. Lynch Thetaer, Tabula Rasa Dance Theater premieres two compelling dance works that arise from the intersection of art and social justice: Animus Necandi and Ship of Fools.
Running time: 60 minutes

“Animus Necandi” brings attention to the pain of families who have lost relatives condemned to the death penalty. The piece also explores the moral issues of capital punishment, which continues as a legal practice in more than 55 countries and 27 U.S. States.

"Ship of Fools” is a dance-theater parable critiquing the global rise of authoritarian leaders. The piece examines the human cost of despotism and exalts the values of knowledge, wisdom, and justice.

A one-night-only benefit reading starring Ella Beatty, Rachel Brosnahan, Lilli Cooper, David Corenswet, Hiram Delgado, Chris Perfetti, and John Slattery.

American Youth Dance Theater’s Holiday Spectacular opens with the Nutcracker, featuring ballet students ages 6 to 18 years and Advanced Tap students. Act two highlights our tap, Broadway, contemporary and hip hop students. The show ends with the Toyland Suite.

American Youth Dance Theater’s Holiday Spectacular opens with the Nutcracker, featuring ballet students ages 6 to 18 years and Advanced Tap students. Act two highlights our tap, Broadway, contemporary and hip hop students. The show ends with the Toyland Suite.

American Youth Dance Theater’s Holiday Spectacular opens with the Nutcracker, featuring ballet students ages 6 to 18 years and Advanced Tap students. Act two highlights our tap, Broadway, contemporary and hip hop students. The show ends with the Toyland Suite.