Sharing History and Theater with Students

At The Yellin Center, we emphasize that there are many ways to learn and to express knowledge.  Twenty thousand New York City eleventh graders are about to experience education in a new and exciting way.  These students, all from schools with high percentages of low-income families, are going to learn about American history with the help of some Broadway multi-sensory aids.  Producers of the new musical Hamilton, about the revolutionary figure by the same name, have paired with the Rockefeller Foundation to finance student tickets to the show.  The Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History plans to create a curriculum to go along with this Broadway experience, with materials to include primary documents from the era depicted in the musical.  Students will have the opportunity to develop and share their own artistic responses.

From the Collection of the National Portrait Gallery

 Lin-Manuel Miranda, who wrote and now stars in Hamilton, was once a New York City student himself.  He told The New York Times, “If we can excite curiosity in students, there’s no telling what can happen next.”  We agree.

Happy Birthday, TKTS!

Today marks the 40th "birthday" of the TKTS booth in New York City, a terrific resource for locals and visitors of all ages. A project of the nonprofit Theater Development Fund, the booths can be found at Times Square and in Downtown Brooklyn. A third location, at the South Street Seaport, fell victim to hurricane Sandy and is closed indefinitely.

Jim Henderson

The booth in Times Square offers day-of-performance tickets to both matinee and evening performances of Broadway and Off-Broadway productions. The Brooklyn booth offers same day tickets to evening performances and next day tickets to matinee performances, as well as tickets to Brooklyn arts events. Discounts are generally from 30-50% off face value, plus a service charge of $4 per ticket, which helps support TDF (ticket prices go directly to the theaters, which determine the number of tickets available and the discount offered). You can download the free TKTS app from the iTunes store to keep abreast of current offerings and discounts.

Whether you are coming to New York for an evaluation at The Yellin Center, or a family vacation, or just a day in town from your home in the suburbs -- or whether you live right here in the City -- the TKTS booth is a great way to make the wide range of Broadway and Off-Broadway offerings more affordable. There are lots of shows and plays that are suitable for children and a love of theater is a gift that can stay with a child for a lifetime.