Texas Performing Arts Give a Glimpse of Professional Theater to K-12 Students

If UT Austin had a metaphorical front porch, a program through which the public could experience a true Longhorn welcome, would it be through sports? Admissions? Research partnerships? Texas Performing Arts (TPA) fits this role, delivering a warm welcome to the UT community and the public. ¶ As the largest campus-based arts program in the country by total audience, budget, and number of  activities offered, TPA dazzles audiences with concerts, dance, comedy, and Broadway touring productions, all the while extending the magic of the stage through accessible educational programs aligned with state K-12 curriculum. This mission is why Bob Bursey, executive and artistic director of Texas Performing Arts, likes to think of the program as “one of the University’s front porches.”  

Responsible for programming Bass Concert Hall (Austin’s largest theatre), among other venues, TPA offers a place where students can attend performances that align with what they’re learning in their classrooms. After the recent expansion of its educational programming, TPA will reach more than 30,000 K-12 students this year, Bursey says.

Children from as far away as Victoria (more than 120 miles from Austin) visit campus to attend school day performances of Broadway musicals and discover the arts. For many of these students, it’s a first chance to set foot on a university campus, take a seat in a professional theater, and form lifelong impressions about the value of education and the arts.  

When TPA offered a school day performance of The Outsiders—a touring Broadway musical based on the 1967 S.E. Hinton novel assigned in many Texas seventh grade English classrooms—Dailey Middle School teacher Ben Brumbelow-Montero, BFA ’20, saw an opportunity to bring students from his musical theatre class, a new offering at his school. TPA’s donors provided the school with free tickets, eliminating any barrier the regular $10 price for a student ticket could pose. Students responded with curiosity. “My techies were geeking out about the technical design for the show,” Brumbelow-Montero remembers. “They were really fascinated with the strobe lighting, especially when the actors were fighting in the rain.”  

Brumbelow-Montero noticed that his students paid attention to the performers’ inflection, exaggerated choreography, and enunciation as they sang—skills he regularly works on in class as part of telling a story, not just hitting the notes.  

Shortly after their TPA field trip, Brumbelow-Montero’s students began rehearsing The SpongeBob Musical: Youth Edition, the school’s first musical. “Seeing them make connections and take that context of what it means to be an ensemble, to tell a story, commit to it, and then see it translated to the production, it was something I’ve never seen from those kiddos before,” Brumbelow-Montero says.  

At TPA, the visiting artists make special connections with students too. Bursey recalls hearing from performers that the shows for school audiences are among their favorites. “There’s such an energy … like, rock concert energy, from these students who are so excited to have the experience to be in a professional environment and to be on the UT campus,” he says.

That energy continues to drive growth for TPA’s educational programs. “We’re really focused on doing more as the flagship university of the state,” says Bursey. His push for more K-12 programming is fueled by demand. “Everything that we’ve done has sold out,” he says. “We get amazing response from the educators in our region, and so we’ve really wanted to increase the amount of programming that we offer in order to meet that need and interest.” At the same time, Bursey says, TPA prioritizes accessibility, working to remove barriers for educators participating in K-12 programs by providing curriculum guides aligned with testing standards and, in some cases, transportation for schools that want to attend but lack the resources to get there.  

Board chair-elect Kristen Alexander, BBA ’03, Life Member, says outreach to young audiences is especially important because it exposes students to new forms of expression and shows them how much larger the world can be. “Participating in the arts fosters greater creativity for problem-solving, instills greater confidence, and facilitates empathy and understanding—all qualities the next generation of leaders needs,” Alexander says. “Unfortunately, many young people grow up without exposure to this world. That’s why it’s so important to us that everyone growing up in Austin has the opportunity to peak behind the curtain—to get a glimpse of the performing arts, so they can learn more about themselves, and others.”  

At TPA, that glimpse extends behind the scenes, illuminating the wide range of careers in the performing arts, with tours of the scene shop, dressing rooms, and rehearsal studios. As home of the Heller Awards for Young Artists, TPA invites students to step onto the Bass Hall stage to celebrate their achievements, with top performers advancing to the national Jimmy Awards, known colloquially as the “Tonys, for Teenagers.”  

“Thanks to our supporters,” Bursey says, “We do everything we can to make sure that there aren’t any obstacles to students being able to have these amazing artistic experiences.” 

CREDITS: Matthew Murphy; Texas Performing Arts