I have always wondered what the theater world looks like from the outside. Coming from a family of actors and artists, I always had pretty exclusive access to the mystical land of live theater. I can only imagine how our tight-knit and wacky community may seem to someone unfamiliar with the world of theater.
However, I think the biggest misconception is that theater is a community you have to qualify into. The fact of the matter is, theater is for everyone. No matter your background or the part you play in the real world, theater has a way of bringing people together through creativity and storytelling.
Last week, I had the chance to speak with Peter Kramer, a journalist and longtime champion of theater and the arts.
After a 38-year career in newspapers, Peter now focuses on helping young people find and share their voices through journalism. This past summer, Pete worked with high school journalists through the Youth Journalism Coalition on The Broadway Banner, a student arts journalism program created by Broadway Education Alliance, Camp Broadway, and the NYC Youth Journalism Coalition. He also covers high school theater throughout Westchester, Rockland, and Putnam counties, shining a spotlight on young artists and storytellers.
My conversation with Pete re-emphasized just how important and unique the community aspect of theater really is. Many of the young journalists he worked with on The Broadway Banner this summer weren’t high school theater kids. While some had a little bit of background knowledge, others were essentially thrown into our world blind.
During their time writing for The Broadway Banner, Pete’s students asked questions, met theater professionals, and got the chance to meet the many different people who make theater happen. And the professionals they met welcomed their curiosity with open arms.
Pete told me, “You know, what’s really cool, and what’s really important on Broadway, and if you’re a member of that community, you know this; is kindness…you have to be a good person.”
That kindness is what makes room for curiosity. Pete explained that one of the most important qualities he saw in his student journalists was their desire to learn. He said, “If you have a curious spirit and a curious heart and you want to learn more, that’s more than half the battle.”
That curiosity is exactly what makes journalism such a valuable way for young people to engage with the arts. Pete’s students weren’t simply watching theater from the outside. They were asking questions, telling stories, and giving the work happening around them the attention it deserves. As Pete put it, “They had the curiosity that I think is so key to being a journalist…you want to know more.”
Pete knows that student theater deserves that attention, too. In his words, during the school year, Pete covers “high school theater the way most people cover high school sports. You know, like wall to wall,” he told me. This means celebrating all the people who make theater possible, not just the performers. “Kids are there to have fun doing whatever they do, whether it’s sets or costumes or performing.”
And that is what I love most about Pete’s approach to theater. You don’t have to identify as a “theater kid” to be part of the community. You can be a performer, musician, stage manager, designer, director, journalist, audience member, or simply someone who is curious enough to ask a question.
The theater has room for all of us. And the more we spotlight the many different ways young people engage with the arts, the bigger, and more welcoming, our community becomes.
A big thank you to Peter for such an awesome conversation. And another big thank you to Sophie Mode and her team at the New York City Youth Journalism Coalition for giving BEA the opportunity to participate in their summer student internship program this year. If this post inspires curiosity in any of you, you should check out The Broadway Banner to see some of the work Pete and his students accomplished this summer.
My cast of characters, “this is why we tell the story!”
(Name that musical), and I’ll talk to you all next week!
Jenny
