Broadway stars host theatre training program in Sandy Springs

SANDY SPRINGS, Ga. - The coronavirus pandemic has been devastating for live theatre, as stages around the world have remained dark for months.  But a quartet of Broadway stars is using the time to give back, hosting a training program for middle and high schoolers in Sandy Springs this week.

Kristine Reese, Billy Tighe, Angelina Mullins, and Colt Prattes created the Winter Broadway Intensive, which is taking place through Wednesday at City Springs Theatre Company.  (Fun fact: Reese and Tighe are married, as are Mullins and Prattes!) 

"When else would we have time to be able to come back?" Prattes asks, referencing the lack of live productions due to the pandemic. "All four Broadway performers, none of us have shows, and we’re able to come back and give back to the community that gave us so much in the first place."

Tighe and Prattes are graduates of the Cobb County Center for Excellence in the Performing Arts at Pebblebrook High School, and say the intensive is a chance to pass on the lessons they began learning at the renowned performing arts school to current aspiring theatre artists.

"It’s really about expressing the things that we learned from the educators in our life that helped us to get to get to where we are," says Tighe.  "And then, now we have the time to sit back and think about, 'What were the things that worked for me to get to where I got today? And how can I give that back to a set of students so that they can avoid some of the mistakes that I made?'"

The instructors say they’ll be following CDC safety guidelines during the program, including requiring face masks, temperature checks, and social distancing.  But Tighe says it was important for organizers to make the intensive an in-person event:   "It’s all about training. And the reality of this world right now is, it makes it really difficult to do over Zoom or to do over anything virtual.  So, we are working really hard to try and provide a way for these students to continue to work for college auditions and for any sort of professional pursuit that they have in mind."

For more information on educational opportunities at City Springs Theatre Company and to keep up with the company’s production schedule, click here.