“Raising money for great causes can be very exciting, but what feels really good is putting that money to use,” said Heather Hitchens, president and CEO of The American Theatre Wing, in a statement. “I am thrilled to be embarking on this first piece of the Andrew Lloyd Webber initiative just a little over a month after we first announced it live at the Tony Awards. Over the next three years, we will continue to expand the access to theatrical resources through our grants for primary, secondary, and higher education.”

With the Andrew Lloyd Webber Foundation’s help, the American Theatre Wing is investing in public schools to help drama teachers get more of the resources they need to provide quality drama instruction in their schools. Any individual public K-12 school in the U.S. or Puerto Rico, or non-profit parent group associated with that K-12 may apply. (Private/parochial schools, home schools and pre-schools are not eligible.)

Grant requests of up to $100,000 will be considered, but the priority of funding will be for resource requests in the $10,000-$40,000 range.

The American Theatre Wing’s Andrew Lloyd Webber Initiative is a major new national initiative which received $1.3 million in seed funding from the Andrew Lloyd Webber Foundation and will “support theatre education opportunities for underserved young people and under-resourced public schools around the United States,” according to a press statement.

The Andrew Lloyd Webber Initiative consists of three separate components: Classroom Resources, Extracurricular Training Scholarships and 4-Year Partial University Scholarships. For more information or to apply, visit Americantheatrewing.org/program/the-andrew-lloyd-webber-initiative/.