Tony nominees Anika Larsen (Beautiful, the Carole King Musical), and Nick Cordero (Bullets Over Broadway) are among the 31 Broadway performers volunteering their time, wisdom and talent to mentor Broadway’s next generation in Vanguard Theater Company’s Fourth Annual Broadway Buddy Mentorship Program and Cabaret.
The other Broadway performers donating their time are from a wide variety of hit shows, past and present: Aisha Jackson (Frozen), Alex Dreier (Finding Neverland), Allison Fischer (Grease), Anita Welch (Little Rock), Antoine L. Smith (Carousel), Avionce Hoyles (Memphis), Ayla Schwartz (Frozen), Bonita Hamilton (The Lion King), Carmen Ruby Floyd (Hello Dolly), Cedrina Baugh (Don’t Bother Me I Can’t Cope), David Beach (Something Rotten), Deonte Warren (Aladdin), Dwayne Clark (A Color Purple), Elena Ricardo (Beautiful), Ellis Dawson (Aladdin), Gabrielle Elisabeth (Beautiful), Gary Lynch (Les Miserables), Jacob Gutierrez (Aladdin), Joanna Young (The Drowsy Chaperone), Joshua Morgan (Ain’t Too Proud), Kelly Letourneau (The Apple Boys), Lina Lee (Miss Saigon), Ned Eisenberg (Six Degrees of Separation), Nehal Joshi (All My Sons), Rachel Zatcoff (Fiddler on the Roof in Yiddish), Robert Dusold (Jeckyll & Hyde), Salisha Thomas (Beautiful), Soara-Joye Ross (Carment Jones), and Tommy McDowell (American Idiot).
Janeece Freeman-Clark, Vanguard Co-founder and Artistic Director, describes the struggles she had early in her career, which are always at the front of her mind when she sees talented young performers who are without guidance from experienced industry professionals. Broadway Buddies is about changing that for the better.
“Without ongoing mentorship from working actors, the future for young actors may not be so fruitful. That’s why Vanguard founded Broadway Buddy, to foster relationships between young talent and seasoned actors. Our previous programs have been overwhelmingly successful. We’ve had diverse groups of mentees rehearsing songs with their mentors, hanging out backstage and sharing the stage with Broadway actors from TONY award winning shows like Hamilton, The Color Purple, and On Your Feet. This year, we are thrilled to build more of these exciting, unique and one of a kind partnerships. The culminating cabaret is 'just the cherry on top.'"
After carefully reviewing a record number of auditions by hopeful applicants, the 2019 Broadway Buddy program launched in March 2019. Over the past weeks, mentors have been meeting with their mentees, offering show business advice, personal stories and individual performance coaching during cabaret rehearsals. The mentees and mentors will perform together at the Leonard Nimoy Thalia Theater at Symphony Space (2537 Broadway at 95th Street, New York, NY) on June 3 at 7:00pm. Tickets are available online.
"Vanguard is thrilled that every year, more Broadway artists want to give back to the next generation of performers. Audience members can expect to see a rainbow of talent that represents the best of Broadway’s past, present and future. We are beyond excited," adds Managing Director, Jessica Sporn. “We are grateful to our sponsor: TeeRico by Lin-Manuel Miranda, and the generosity of so many individual donors, for making this program possible.”
Mentees are from towns all over Northern New Jersey, including Bloomfield (Brianna Johnson), Bridgewater (Meghan Jenkins), Cedar Grove (Ian Wilson), East Orange (Jaci Coleman, Nimat Saleem, Amber Ruffin, and Trevor Lavine), Elizabeth (Elvin Rodriguez), Glen Ridge (Julian Novoa), Livingston (Danielle Russel), Mendham (Abigail Sebastian), Montclair (Aidan Dowell, Abraham Deitz-Green, Khari Jenkins, Mareau Hall, and Samy Cordero), N. Plainfield (Nala King), Newark (Jasir Quddus and Veronica Gonmiah), Orange (Riley Hahn), Randolph (Isabelle DiMichino), South Orange (Eve Johnson, Sylvie Schuetz, and Silas Silverman-Stoloff), Union (and Duane Banks), and West Orange (Olivia Ridley, Indigo Jackson, Maria Nalieth, Joe Nalieth, and Matteo Cellari).
Vanguard Theater Company is a 501(c)3 not-for-profit producing original, collaborative and re-imagined works of theater. Dedicated to D.R.E.A.M. - Diversity, Reciprocity, Education, Awareness and Mentorship - Vanguard is committed to imaginative, non-traditional casting, and professional artistic mentorship. Vanguard Theater Company's year-round programming is made possible through generous support from the New Jersey State Council on the Arts; TeeRico by Lin-Manuel Miranda; The New York Community Trust; collaborations with Montclair Film, and the generosity of many individual donors.
