Theater for Young Audiences was established at 92Y to create professional productions geared toward children — to introduce families to the joy of musical theater and inspire the next generation of dancers, singers, and theater-loving dreamers in an intimate setting. Theater for Young Audiences gives families up-close access to the magic of the art form that can be lost in the large-scale spectacle of a Broadway musical.
Starting in the fall, Theater for Young Audiences will present musical theater productions for kids every single week — all in a beautiful new performance and rehearsal space. We talked to Musical Theater Director Megan Doyle about the importance of creating theater for young people, how community theater she saw growing up on Long Island inspired her, and more.
How did Theater for Young Audiences start? What is its guiding purpose?
I’ve always been driven by storytelling, and shared meaning. For me, that exchange of meaning is so human that it requires the breath, sound, and energy of live art. While I love the accessibility of art that exists on the internet, it can never replace the magic that happens when we are in a room together.
I wanted to create a place where we could make art through full-bodied, three-dimensional expression. The first show we did was Velveteen Rabbit, which was almost completely focused on dance — the goal here was to show the story, rather than having a whole chorus erupt into song and then move on with the action. It was wildly successful. Parents wanted to come to it because they were nostalgic for the story, and the kids were taken by the whole texture of it, and the fact that they got to be so close to the actors who were telling the story. It took off. It kept selling out. And that’s when we decided that this was in demand and we needed to be able to invite everyone in New York City, not just families who are involved in our classes. A Broadway show doesn’t offer the same kind of intimacy or actively engaged experience.
The program is undergoing some exciting new changes. Tell us about them.
The biggest change is that there will be a show every single weekend. If you want to experience a musical theater event, you will be able to do that at 92Y every single week. We are creating new titles and new shows and bringing some of our favorites back. And then we will have some 45-minute or hour-long shows for our slightly older kids. We have some amazing shows coming up. Alice in Wonderland, Dorothy’s Adventures in Oz, and more to be announced.
We’re also getting a whole new dedicated space for rehearsal and class — both in our current building and a new space in a building a couple of blocks away. The new space will make it possible for us to have a company of artists — not just our steady performers and teachers, a steady venue for actors who will be working with us regularly. And this means that the kids will be able to rehearse in the same space where professional actors are working. It’s going to be beautiful.
Why do you think giving kids access to musical theater is so important? What does it unlock for children? What does it make possible for families? Why is this new investment in musical theater at 92Y so important?
Most of our productions address in some way the power of the imagination, and I think that’s half of it — we want to foster the ability to dream. To think outside of where we currently are. These kids face a world that is fractured and threatened in many realms. We are counting on them to change the world — to make it better. A child watches a story about someone being brave and thinks: maybe I can be brave. They learn to look at what can be, and not be stilted by what has always been.
And the other half of it is the power of teamwork. We see so many people, be it in politics, or academia, or science, unable to agree on a story. So I have to ask: how can we take our multiple stories and collaborate on meaning and expression and creation? It doesn’t mean silencing anyone’s story. It means working together to figure out what role each person will play in that story.
When you were a child around the age of the audiences you’re trying to reachhere, what did musical theater mean to you?
Theater was just it for me. I grew up on Long Island and was very lucky to be exposed to a lot of Broadway shows early on. But the community theaters on Long Island that I grew up with — the one that put on the Christmas Carol productions that I saw every year — were so intimate and meaningful. The big, splashy Broadway productions were spectacular, but the smaller productions made me eventually see how this whole thing worked. It made me wonder: how does this get made? And there were people right there to answer that question. You don’t get to meet the director when you go to see Frozen on Broadway, but you do at smaller community theaters. And I realized that this was a job that you could have, and it made me want to make it. And that’s the kind of creative energy that I want to foster here.