The Theatre Development Fund revives theater around the city

The Theatre Development Fund (TDF) is a non-profit organization on a mission to making theater available to everyone. In this current economy, the theatre business has been struggling. People are not willing to spend hundreds of dollars to see a show.

When asked about why young people don't go see theater, TDF Education Associate Patrick Berger said, "We are not having everyday conversations about theatre. I think that is it because it is not part of their culture, their world, their understanding. Many kids think that theatre is the rich man's (or poor mans?) movie… something that is outside their world,

"I know [that] if I do not know about it, how can I get interested in it? Outreach, immersion, arts programming, etc. help but that is not the whole story. Stepping outside the world of your family and your parents is difficult because you have to lay the path… your life guides (parents) are not there to hold your hand as you try it on for size."

TDF was founded in 1968 in order to sustain and support theatre and the arts. "TDF's twofold mission is to identify and provide support, including financial assistance, to theatrical works of artistic merit and to encourage and enable diverse audiences to attend live theatre and dance in all their venues," as stated on the organization's Web site, Tdf.org.

Since then, it has "grown into the nation's largest performing arts nonprofit, providing support to more than 900 plays and musicals and returning upwards of $1.5 billion in revenue to thousands of Broadway, Off-Broadway and off Off-Broadway music and dance productions," according to Tdf.org.

TDF's TKTS discount theatre-ticketing booths at Times Square, Southstreet Seaport and Downtown Brooklyn have become an established part of New York City. In addition to providing affordable tickets, TDF also reaches out to future theatergoers.

Playwright Wendy Wasserstein created a program called the Open Doors Scholarship to find out if theater was still relevant to youth. It started out with a group of six high school students and paired them up with stage manager Roy Harris.

The students went to six Broadway or Off-Broadway shows and discussed it together afterwards over pizza. It became a success and now the program has expanded to 160 students in 20 participating high school all across NYC, each with a theater professional as a mentor.

TDF also has programs like Stage Doors, which takes this same idea and takes classes from high schools in NYC to shows and encourages discussions afterwards.

Another component of TDF is Play by Play Magazine, a theater magazine "written by and for teens," according to the organization's Web site. The magazine gives an opportunity for high school students to see theater productions, write reviews and have them published for other high school students to read.

"What I like most about TDF is that it has a real platform for youth to share their opinions. TDF realizes how important the voice of youth is to the future of the theatre industry and is always willing to listen and act on it," former Play by Play writer Sabrina Khan said.

TDF offers a yearly membership to teachers, educators, students and senior citizens. The membership includes discounted tickets on various theater, musical performances and events.

With all of these programs, TDF is here to help theater survive in this economy and to make it accessible to all.