Opening Act

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Committed to advancing arts equity in NYC and beyond, for twenty years, Opening Act has actively centered the voices of students of color through free, high-quality theater programming.

Opening Act targets the city’s highest need schools with disproportionately less access to resources than other schools in the system. These schools are often flagged by the DOE as “under-performing” and are at risk of closure. Since inception, we have grown to reach over 5,000 young people. Today, our free, year-long, after school theater program serves 57 schools throughout New York City, including our partnership with the city’s alternative school district, where we work with young people who are pursuing a high school equivalency diploma in a formal educational environment because their education was disrupted by a life event.