openingact | Opening Act

Donate Crypto! 10.16.2023

Opening Act has partnered with The Giving Block to accept crypto donations!

Donating with crypto is another way you can help Opening Act support high-quality theatre education for young people in NYC public schools!

Crypto donations are one of the most tax-efficient ways to give to charity. Cryptocurrency donations are tax-deductible as property, per guidance from the IRS. By making a charitable gift, you may also be eligible to significantly reduce what you would otherwise owe in capital gains taxes.

Simply fill out the form below. Thank you for your support!

SAVE THE DATE! April 21, 2015 02.13.2015

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Opening Act cordially invites you to Save the Date for our 9th Annual Benefit Play Reading on Tuesday, April 21st! To read exciting announcements, head over to our Play Reading page.

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HAPPY NEW YEAR: A message without pictures… 01.15.2015

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From all of us at Opening Act, we wish you a Happy 2015! We invite you to sit back, close your eyes, and listen to some powerful words of inspiration from our students. This is a message without pictures.

2014 Power of 10 – Record SHATTERED! 11.22.2014

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2014’s #POWEROF10 Campaign shattered Opening Act’s previous record by raising over $72,000! Thanks to YOU we far exceeded our goal of raising $50,000 in 10 days to support our goal of reaching 15 programs by of Fall 2015. We are blown away by the incredibly powerful and supportive Opening Act network. Thank you!

To check out all of the Daily Sparks that featured circles within the Opening Act community, head to our video page. Click here to get more info on being a Team Leader for our 2015 Power of 10 Campaign.

SLC @ HBO 11.14.2014

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Students from our Student Leadership Council performed an original piece at the #POWEROFUS Party at HBO for an audience of over 125 Opening Act enthusiasts and supporters. Check out the video below!

2014 Power of 10 – Campaign Trailer is LIVE! 11.04.2014

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Want to be part of the ‪#‎POWER‬? Share this trailer far and wide, get inspired, and donate your $10 today at POWEROF10.kintera.org!

2014 Power of 10 – BECOME A TEAM LEADER! 10.09.2014

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Opening Act’s #POWEROF10 Campaign
November 12 – 21, 2014: 10 Days to Raise $50,000!

Opening Act’s #POWEROF10 Campaign is about making a small investment ($10!) for a BIG impact. To help us reach our ambitious (and achievable!) goal of reaching 15 programs by Fall 2015, we’re asking our friends and supporters to become Team Leaders. What’s new in the #POWEROF10 Campaign and why are Team Leaders so necessary to achieving this goal? See what Suzy, Caleb, and Dashawn have to say!

Team Leaders are the individuals who make this campaign happen! To be a Team Leader means to ask 10 friends to give $10 each — that’s it! To find out more click Be a Team Leader. If we work together, we can raise $50,000 in 10 days!

This is the #POWEROFYOU, the #POWEROFUS, the #POWEROF10.

VIDEO UPDATE! Uzo Aduba & Michelle Williams rep Opening Act 09.19.2014

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Opening Act was honored to have Uzo Aduba (Orange is the New Black) and Michelle Williams (Brokeback Mountain) represent our students at Cantor Fitzgerald and BGC’s Annual Charity Day, commemorating those lost on 9/11.

Participating as part of our wonderful partnership with The Catalog for Giving, Uzo and Michelle ‘made trades’ with Cantor and BGC employees to help generate nearly 12 million dollars to support charities like Opening Act!

(And a special thanks to Artistic Advisory Board Member Kristen Bell for helping us put together this magical team!)

HIGHLIGHTS: 2014 Summer Arts & Leadership Conservatory Showcase 07.18.2014

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Check out highlights below of our 2014 Conservatory students’ culminating performance:

2014 Play Reading: Opening Act takes BROADWAY! 05.13.2014

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The cast, creative team, and supporters celebrate the success of the 2014 Play Reading with a selfie. Photo by John Labbe.

It was a magical night to remember! On Monday, May 12, 2014 Opening Act proudly presented its 8th Annual Benefit Play Reading of dance of the holy ghosts: a play onmemory. Written by award-winning playwright and former Opening Act Teaching Artist, Marcus Gardley, and performed by Tony Award-winning actors Courtney B. Vance (Nora Ephron’s Lucky Guy, Law and Order: Criminal Intent) and Lillias White (The Life, Fela!, Dreamgirls), along with Uzo Aduba (Orange is the New Black, Godspell), Doug Eskew (The Color Purple, Five Guys Named Moe), former Opening Act Teaching Artist, Kobi Libii (Amazon’s Alpha House, Atlantic Theater Company’s CQ/CX), and current Opening Act student in her Broadway debut, Brittany Adebumola, this year’s benefit reading was a true celebration of the Opening Act family!

HUGE THANKS goes out to our Director, Kwame Kwei-Armah, Assistant Director, Sam Godfrey, Sound Designer, Dave Sanderson, Stage Manager, Kate Kuhle, and Production Assistant, Taylor Miller, for all of their brilliance, dedication, and love for this production. Additional thanks goes out to our friends at the Samuel J. Friedman Theatre — Jim, Bethany, Josh, Tim, Dave, Geoffrey, Richard, and all the wonderful people on the crew who made this event possible.

Check out more photos from the event here.

Meet Patrick Cucuta: Teaching Artist & Opening Act Alum 03.10.2014

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The Opening Act Mini-Doc series is an organization-wide showcase of featurettes on individuals who are currently working within, and impacting the Opening Act community. Check this space and our Vimeo page for future featurettes. Special thanks to Nelson Hume, Bennett Windheim, and Katie Flint, for realizing this inaugural Mini-Doc!

Opening Actor Odley Jean in the Daily News! 03.10.2014

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November 5, 2013 — Congratulations to Odley Jean, aspiring actor & senior at Clara Barton High School. Odley is being recognized as one of The Catalog for Giving’s Urban Heroes, and will be speaking on November 14th at the Urban Heroes Award ceremony at The Pierre. Read about her experience with Opening Act as covered in the NY Daily News here.

Special thanks to Variety, The Children’s Charity of New York for Odley’s interview opportunity!