Benanti, Colella, Fitzgerald White, Hilty, Pasek, Paul Sign on to Be with Theatre Students—
Joining Tina Fey, Dolly Parton, Stephen Schwartz
Tony, Oscar, and Grammy winners Benj Pasek and Justin Paul will chat with students participating in the Virtual International Thespian Festival (ITF) about their path to success, from Dogfight to James and the Giant Peach to the enormously popular Dear Evan Hansen. The dialogue will be moderated by Timothy Allen McDonald, Founder and CEO of iTheatrics.
SiriusXM On Broadway’s Seth Rudetsky and his husband, producer James Wesley will host the debut of the International Thespian Excellence Awards live showcase on the June 26 evening episode of Stars in the House at starsinthehouse.com. The awards program, also known as the ThespysTM, honors the year’s best high school students in performance and technical theatre.
The special guest list is being continually updated and now includes:
- The Lion King’s Alton Fitzgerald White will give the keynote address for the student leadership training;
- Miss Peppermint of RuPaul’s Drag Race will perform and address the students;
- Come From Away’s Jenn Colella and My Fair Lady’s Laura Benanti will inspire students at all-festival special events;
- Megan Hilty of the musical-drama series Smash will host the student Q&A with Stephen Schwartz;
- And as previously announced, Mean Girls writer Tina Fey will have a Q&A with students.
Virtual ITF is open to all Thespians and theatre students from around the world; their teachers, parents, and families; and colleges, industry leaders, and artists. Registration is open now.
“The International Thespian Festival has been the pinnacle of high school theatre since 1941,” noted Julie Cohen Theobald, Executive Director of the Education Theatre Association, which is producing Virtual ITF. “Now we are making that happen in a virtual environment. While you can certainly find some great performances and workshops online, no one else is pulling together a cohesive five-day program especially for the tens of thousands of teen theatre students in the U.S. and around the world.”
