The earlier young people can be exposed to theater, the sooner they can be inspired and see creative possibilities for themselves. It is about to be that time of the year again—Kids’ Night on Broadway—when young people ages 18 and under get to attend a Broadway show free of charge with an adult paying full price for a ticket.
This Broadway League program will mostly take place during 18 shows on Tuesday, August 20, in New York City. (One additional show, “The Great Gatsby,” will offer it on Wednesday, August 21.) The list of 19 Broadway shows total
includes: “Aladdin,” “& Juliet,” “Back to the Future: The Musical,” “Chicago,” “The Great Gatsby,” “Hadestown,” Hamilton,” “Harry Potter and the Cursed Child,” “Hell’s Kitchen,” “The Lion King,” “MJ,” “Moulin Rouge! The Musical,” “The Notebook,” “Once Upon a Mattress,” “SIX,” “Suffs,” “The Outsiders,” “Water for Elephants,” and “Wicked.”
To learn more and be the first to know when tickets go on sale, sign up for the Broadway Fan Club at www.kidsnightonbroadway.com. (You have to be at least 13 years old to join the free Fan Club.) By visiting the site, you’ll get additional information about this marvelous event.
Kids’ Night on Broadway is celebrated with in-theater special activities, including talkbacks, singalongs, art projects, Kids’ Night on Broadway activity books, and more. Select restaurants will offer exclusive discounts as well.
Audience members attending their first Broadway show can let the world know with “My First Broadway Show” stickers, available at participating theaters. Everyone attending Kids’ Night on Broadway must have a ticket to the show they choose. The offer is applied as 50% off each ticket when purchased as a pair; no additional “free” tickets are added to orders.
Kids’ Night on Broadway is a year-round national audience development program of the Broadway League, presented by the New York Times. Since 1996, more than 200,000 kids and teens have attended Broadway shows through this program.
I recently had the pleasure of speaking with some of the Black stars in various musicals currently running on Broadway about how important it is to see shows at an early age. It was wonderful to receive responses from Noah J. Ricketts (“The Great Gatsby”), Nikki M. James (“SUFFS”), and Stan Brown (“Water for Elephants”) about how young they were when they first experienced theater.
“I think [I was] about 12 or so,” Ricketts recalled. “I was shipped off to theater camp after a skateboarding incident left me with a broken arm. Up until that time, I was a sports kid like most boys my age. When I entered theater camp, my entire world changed. I was suddenly thrust into a world with endless possibility and adventure. The turning point for me was playing Joe in ‘Schoolhouse Rock Live.’ I’ve never looked back.”
James remembered that “my parents took me to see ‘Cats’ when I was in kindergarten. This was around the same time I sang on stage for the first time—at my kindergarten graduation.”
Brown said, “I was 8 years old. I remember having a fixed (but very real) smile the entire time. I was hypnotized.”
Sharing how theater made them feel, Ricketts admitted, “It was a terrifying yet gratifying experience. For the first time, I was able to express myself using my body as the instrument. It made me feel powerful. For the first time, the audience got to see all of me.”
James said, “I remember being totally enthralled and dancing down the mean streets of 1980s NYC, thinking ‘I can’t believe people get to do this for their job!’”
Pondering that role that early exposure played in what they do today, Ricketts said, “I’m constantly tapping into the joy I had as a young kid in theater. I think it’s important. Now that it’s become my profession, I find it even more important to tap into the why—why I started in the first place and why I continue with it today. I think it’s because behind the veil of a character, you’re able to reveal so much truth.”
James proudly proclaimed, “Of course, this experience directly influenced me being able to see performing as a career path. The bonus was how exciting it was to be transported to a magical place in a way that only live theater can do.”
The show that inspired Brown was the Radio City Christmas Spectacular: “I still say (at 61) that it was the moment that lit the possibility within me of being on stage.”
Considering the importance of this generation getting to experience live theater, the actors proclaimed theater’s value. “In this age of AI, Instagram, and TikTok, I think we are more isolated than ever before,” Ricketts said. “Theater is a communal experience. You’re experiencing the highs and lows of the human condition with an audience of strangers…and for those couple of hours, you’re tethered to the people around you. That’s something that can’t be replicated. That shared experience brings us together like no other medium.”
For James, “Live entertainment is one of the last places in our world where we can really put down our phones and connect with other people. The stories we tell can be transformative and transporting, but I think it’s also valuable to remember that we can create community with each other.”
“Experiencing live theater invites young people into the present moment,” said Brown. “It offers a break from technological distractions and fosters genuine human connection and self-awareness. More than ever, immersion in storytelling is needed in developing a reliable sense of ‘now’ and enhancing emotional and intellectual presence.”
Thinking about what they want young people to take away from seeing a Broadway show, Ricketts said, “I want the audience to use the show as a mirror. In what ways are you like or unlike the characters you’ve seen?…and with that information, how can you make the world a slightly better place?”
Hoping to inspire, James said, “We are capable of great things, and we can also celebrate the small things!”
Brown wants young people to have “a greater sense of presence and connection, the power of being fully engaged in the moment, and how it enriches their interactions and understanding of the world around them.”
Take a young person to Broadway for free—you’ll be glad you did!
