As Ralph Waldo Emerson wisely said, “Dare to live the life you have dreamed for yourself. Go forward and make your dreams come true.”
But dreams are easier followed when we have mentors in our corner. When a ferocious advocate gets behind us and cultivates an unwavering unshakable belief in our talents, they help pave the way for magical possibilities.
Since 2006, Broadway Dreams and its founder and president, Annette Tanner, and her faculty, have been doing just that. The not-for-profit organization provides youth and young adults, from all socioeconomic backgrounds, top-notch performing arts training with a focus on acting, voice, and dance. The students take master classes with some of Broadway’s finest performers and choreographers At the end of the week they all perform together in a showcase.
More than 11,000 students and counting have participated in Broadway Dreams as the organization has awarded over $1 million in scholarships. In fact, more than 40 percent of their students are on scholarship because they can’t afford training on their own.“We don’t have an age limit at Broadway Dreams because there is no timeline for dreaming and making those dreams come alive,” says Tanner. Broadway Dreams alumni have gone on to amazing careers and have performed on Broadway, TV and in national tours. They have been represented in Hamilton, The Lion King, Waitress, Book of Mormon, NBC’s Hairspray Live, Beautiful: The Carole King Musical, West Side Story, Pippin, Motown, Hedwig and the Angry Inch, Miss. Saigon and many more shows. The students have also become playwrights, composers, stage managers, lighting designers, casting directors, and agents.
The idea to create Broadway Dreams came to Tanner more than 15 years ago. Three of Tanner’s performer friends who were touring in the Lion King decided to start teaching a musical theater class after they finished the tour. They asked Tanner, who worked as a casting agent, to help them set up a weekend training session in Atlanta. “That was the experience that changed the course of my life,” she says.
Since then 200 graduates of the program have been cast on Broadway, national tours and in television and film. Tanner has employed hundreds of Broadway stars, casting directors, choreographers.
Annette Tanner shared more.
Jeryl Brunner: Where did you initially find the funding to start Broadway Dreams. And how are you able to support its growth?
Annette Tanner: From the start, we have depended upon the generosity of everyday individuals who believe that performing arts training can help make a positive impact in our world. We are primarily funded by individuals, with some special government and foundation grants who have helped to bring us into new communities and take things to new levels. It is hard. It’s never ending. In arts education I feel like I am always asking for support.
Whenever I’m feeling challenged, I think about the tangible difference we’re making in the lives of the students we work with. On a daily basis, I see careers taking off first-hand, projects being made, and students getting into their dream schools, all of which demonstrate the power of the arts. Our amazing Board of Directors work so hard to fundraise and we have the most incredible faculty who truly give of their time and expertise, more than they are paid for. Our students are getting teachers who are there because they want to be, because they want to inspire and pass on their knowledge, it’s a really amazing family of dreamers.
Jeryl Brunner: There are countless musical theater training programs offered throughout the country. What can Broadway Dreams students get that they can’t get elsewhere?
Annette Tanner: We offer complete honesty wherever possible about where you are in your art. We teach a class called “Who Wants the Truth?” where a panel of our Broadway professionals give students a full assessment of what they’re presenting. We also provide a college prep program that is free to students who have participated over the summer, which includes a panel of up to ten department heads from the top musical theater colleges demystifying the audition and application process and giving our students the chance to practice their auditions and receive expert feedback. Another class we offer teaches students how to manage their fears and how to avoid being their own worst enemy.
Also, directors, choreographers and casting directors from all over the country approach me to help cast their productions. We continually match students with professional opportunities of all kinds, from regional productions, national tours, and even Broadway. We sharpen our students’ technical skills, therefore allowing them to compete at a higher level within the industry. Plus everyone on staff at Broadway Dreams is a working professional with their finger on the pulse of all that’s happening in the industry today. They live it and then share it with our students. It’s the reason why we’ve seen 150 alumni get major stage and screen gigs even in the last two years.
Jeryl Brunner: How did your expertise as a casting director and agent help guide you to make Broadway Dreams thrive?
Annette Tanner: I have always known that what I do best is help other people achieve their goals. From behind the casting desk to the rehearsal room to the main stage, I always had the ability to recognize talent and to find opportunity and make suggestions to encourage collaboration, discovery, and the right students for the right projects. I also think outside the box. As an agent I learned how to negotiate. And I certainly had to use that skill to get Broadway Dreams off the ground, to get people to believe in our goals, and to participate in our programming. Like most, if not all, casting professionals and agents I also worked a lot. You sort of have to set everything else aside and say, I won’t give up.
Brunner: So many students from Broadway Dreams have gone on to book roles on Broadway, in national tours, on television and film. What are some of your favorite success stories?
Annette Tanner: I love the stories of those we have been with every step of the way, like Ryann Redmond. She started as a scholarship student in Atlanta before beginning her CAP21 journey in New York and becoming a teaching artist with us. Along the way, we’ve coached her to success on Broadway in Bring It On, If/Then, Escape to Margaritaville, Usual Girls, and now as the first female Olaf in Disney’s Frozen. I have seen her grow as a performer and person, and I’m honored and proud that Broadway Dreams is a part of her story. Jai’len Josey was discovered at a Broadway Dreams weeklong workshop. I had emails asking for auditions for her, for both SpongeBob SquarePants and Dreamgirls. She ultimately made her Broadway debut in SpongeBob and it was particularly rewarding because I had met Jai’len by attending her first high school musical when she was just 13 years old. And the rest is history.
Similarly, when financial troubles shook her family, Ari Groover thought that performing was a thing of the past. But I knew that she held the possibility for greatness in this industry, so a scholarship brought her in the room with Stafford Arima, who cast her in his New York production of Bare. Since then, she has gone on to star in Holler if Ya Hear Me on Broadway. She then joined us as teaching artist, and has been featured in the original companies of Summer: The Donna Summer Musical at La Jolla Playhouse and Head Over Heels on Broadway. I’m also super proud and excited for Brett Gray, he was a Philadelphia scholarship student and he got his agent at Broadway Dreams. He is starring in the Netflix show On My Block and has been releasing his music. His career is really on fire. He was on Chicago PD and was incredible.