The Theatre Development Fund (TDF), known for its TKTS Booth and special programs -- including those that provide theatre access to the deaf and hearing impaired -- continued another of its "def" programs when it joined forces once again with the Posse Foundation to provide "theatre mentors" for students in the Posse Foundation program. Taking its name from popular street vernacular, the Posse Foundation comprises multi-cultural teams or "posses" that provide support for students while they are away at college.
In their three-year-old partnership, TDF and Posse took advantage of both the Jan. 25 and Feb. 1 "Kids Night on Broadway" events, to make it possible for 40 volunteer theatre mentors to take students to what was, for many of them, their first Broadway show. Mentors volunteered from the TDF board, the League of Professional Theatre Women and alumni from Middlebury College in Connecticut.
TDF and other theatre groups continue to pursue programs that introduce younger audiences to the theatre as a means of encouraging artistic development and the preservation of theatre.
-- By Murdoch McBride