{"id":223689,"date":"2026-05-07T19:34:18","date_gmt":"2026-05-07T19:34:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/223689\/"},"modified":"2026-05-07T19:34:18","modified_gmt":"2026-05-07T19:34:18","slug":"at-wicked-150-bronx-students-experience-broadway-for-the-first-time","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/223689\/","title":{"rendered":"At Wicked, 150 Bronx Students Experience Broadway for the First Time"},"content":{"rendered":"

Playbill has partnered with Inspired to create and amplify stories of inspiration that advocate for access to arts and cultural experiences for young people across the country. The following article is written by the team at Situation Project and adapted from their online publication Inspired. Click here to learn more.<\/a><\/p>\n

The subway car is loud in the way middle schoolers tend to be\u2014half conversation, half anticipation. Someone near the door is already humming a song they half-know from the movie.<\/p>\n

For many of the 150 students traveling from the South Bronx that morning, this is not just another school trip. It\u2019s their first time heading to a Broadway theatre of this magnitude, their first time stepping into a space as large and storied as the Gershwin Theatre.<\/p>\n

They are on their way to see Wicked<\/a>.<\/p>\n

For students in New York City public schools, access to live theatre is often limited, not by interest, but by opportunity. Funding for arts education continues to shrink, and trips outside the classroom can be difficult to coordinate, especially when costs add up quickly.<\/p>\n

That means many students experience stories primarily through screens, not stages. They know the characters, the songs, the arcs, but not the feeling of a live orchestra vibrating through the floor, or the collective energy of an audience reacting in real time.<\/p>\n

The gap isn\u2019t about curiosity. It\u2019s about access.<\/p>\n

And when that access opens, even briefly, it can shift how students understand both the story and their place within it.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

(Situation Project)<\/p>\n

Inside the Gershwin<\/p>\n

For students in New York City public schools, access to live theatre is often limited, not by interest, but by opportunity. Funding for arts education continues to shrink, and trips outside the classroom can be difficult to coordinate, especially when costs add up quickly.<\/p>\n

That means many students experience stories primarily through screens, not stages. They know the characters, the songs, the arcs, but not the feeling of a live orchestra vibrating through the floor, or the collective energy of an audience reacting in real time.<\/p>\n

The gap isn\u2019t about curiosity. It\u2019s about access.<\/p>\n

And when that access opens, even briefly, it can shift how students understand both the story and their place within it.<\/p>\n

Watching, Listening, Responding<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve been trying to get our students to this show for a few seasons. After the movie\u2019s release it was the hottest seller in town,\u201d said Vincent Gassetto, Principal of MS 343. \u201cWe\u2019re so excited to share this with our kids today.\u201d<\/p>\n

That excitement moved through the group as the performance began. Students leaned forward, reacting in real time, laughing, whispering to each other, tracking the story as it unfolded in front of them.<\/p>\n

For many, it was an active kind of watching. They were not just observing; they were processing.<\/p>\n

\u201cExposing our students to characters and stories they\u2019re familiar with in a new medium is thrilling,\u201d said Samara Berger, Executive Director of Situation Project. \u201cTheir anticipation, delight, confusion, etc. are all part of their processing and finding their place in the story. I think we can all relate to that.\u201d<\/p>\n

That process continued through the final moments of the show.<\/p>\n

When the cast took their bows and the curtain fell, the response from the students was immediate and full. The applause was epic, layered with cheers that carried well beyond the theatre.<\/p>\n

Students filed out practicing Elphaba\u2019s battle cry, some on pitch, some not so much, but laughing, belting, making it their own. They were sharing in her unapologetic expression, emotion, and energy that comes with such a powerful release.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

(Situation Project)<\/p>\n

What It Means to Be Seen<\/p>\n

The impact of a day like this doesn\u2019t rest on a single moment. It builds through a series of small recognitions: seeing a character who feels familiar, hearing a story that resonates, sitting in a space that once felt out of reach and realizing you belong there.<\/p>\n

Wicked offers a narrative that centers on difference, not as something to hide, but as something powerful. For students navigating their own identities, that message lands in different ways. Some may see themselves in Elphaba\u2019s defiance, others in Glinda\u2019s journey toward understanding, and others still in the relationships that shift and deepen over time.<\/p>\n

What matters is the possibility of connection.<\/p>\n

When students encounter that kind of story in a live setting, the experience expands. It becomes not just about what they are watching, but about how they are watching\u2014and who they are watching it with.<\/p>\n

Programs like Situation Project\u2019s ticket initiative don\u2019t change the systemic challenges that limit access to arts education, but they create moments where those limitations are interrupted. They offer a different entry point, one that allows students to engage with the arts as participants rather than observers from a distance.<\/p>\n

And those moments accumulate.<\/p>\n

Carrying It Back Home<\/p>\n

As the group made its way out of the Gershwin Theatre and back onto the subway, the conversation picked up where it left off, favorite characters, favorite scenes, questions about how the show was made.<\/p>\n

The volume stayed high. The performance had ended, but the experience was still unfolding in real time.<\/p>\n

Back in the South Bronx, the day would settle into memory, into classroom conversations, into the quieter process of reflecting on what they saw and how it felt.<\/p>\n

But for now, it was still immediate. Still shared.<\/p>\n

And somewhere between the theatre and the train ride home, the story of Oz had become something closer, something they could carry with them, long after the curtain came down.<\/p>\n

Inspired<\/a> was created by Situation Project<\/a> 501(c)3.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"Wicked<\/p>\n

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