The nation’s first in-curriculum musical theatre writing class, with special emphasis on high school students in underserved areas.
2024 pathway
In 2024, Pathway ran three in-person residencies and were more ambitious than ever.
Teams from two General Music classes at the Girls Academic Leadership Academy met for eight sessions to reimagine scenes from Shakespeare's Romeo & Juliet set in places as different as a Los Angeles coffee shop and a palace in medieval Korea. You can watch a short compilation of some of their work here, or go here to watch the entire Standing Room Only showcase of some of their work.
2023 pathway
In 2023, Pathway residencies were in person for the First Time since March 2020.
20 middle school teams at the Girls Academic Leadership Academy created short musicals using myths for source material. Go here to watch the Standing Room Only showcase of some of their work.
Students today are concerned about the increasing gun violence in our country. During a one month residency, five high school teams created linked pieces about what happened at Borderline just a few miles from their school. Go here to watch the complete showcase.
In 2015-2016, the Foundation’s PATHWAY Program piloted the first in-school musical theatre show writing classes in Los Angeles high schools – LAUSD’s Verdugo Hills High School and the charter school iLead in Van Nuys – and an after-school program at the Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts under the umbrella of GRoW.
Numerous studies show a strong positive correlation between student participation in music or drama activities and increased academic achievement, reading and math skills, attendance and higher SAT scores.
FNAM Board Member Mina Bloom working with Pathway students. KPCC Article about Pathway
Bringing musical show writing classes to primarily underserved high schools was a key goal of FNAM’s commitment to help youth tell their stories to the rest of the world, to create and to collaborate. A testament to the pilots’ success, the following year the moving force behind the Pathway at Verdugo Hills, Principal Ed Trimis, took it to his new school VAPA, Legacy Southgate (98% minority students).
Since the pilot, Pathway has served more than 1,000 students with its standards-aligned curriculum.
The Foundation brought together some of the most innovative educators in the area to carve out a collaboration that offers students a progressive route from high school to university and beyond. Some results: FNAM is a multi-year LAUSD community arts partner and the USC School of Dramatic Arts now offers a BFA in Contemporary Musical Theatre.
Pathway students mid-session working on lyric writing.
In addition to a powerful learning experience for students, Pathway nurtures talented new storytellers – composers, lyricists and librettists – ready to contribute to creating the future heart and soul of the musical.