Young at Arts Presents "A Night at the Tonys" in Bronxville

Future Broadway stars will join some of American theater’s most talented performers tonight for a fundraiser for Young at Arts, a Bronxville-based performing arts organization that services students in southern Westchester.

The organization will present “ Tickets for the fundraiser are $100 and the event will take place at 7 p.m.

“A Night at the Tonys” will feature students  in Young at Arts' after school theater program performing alongside Broadway and opera stars such as Soprano Adrienne Danrich (Carmen, Turandot, Don Giovanni); Tenor Glenn Seven Allen (Caberet, Pirates of Penzance, The Light in the Piazza); and Pianist / Conductor James Lowe, Music Director of Broadway's Hit Revival of "Anything Goes!"

Sharyn Pirtle, founder and executive director Young at Arts (YAA), said she hopes tonight’s event will raise $20,000 for the organization.

YAA, which was founded in 2005 and currently services students in Mount Vernon and the surrounding area, is currently grappling with budget cutbacks and a loss of grant funding. The Mount Vernon school district has cut many of its fine arts programs and bus service for students to travel to Bronxville for YAA’s programs. YAA also has lost funding because a grant it previously received will now only fund arts programs in New York City, Pirtle said.

Students who attend YAA's programs receive training in acting, dance, singing and music. Pirtle said the organization has serviced more than 500 students since it began, and 130 students attend its programs each year. The money raised will help YAA maintain its level of service and will be used to provide scholarships and subsidize tuition costs for students who attend the program. A family making more than $75,000 a year, for example, currently pays $600 annually for a child to attend. For a family below that threshold, tuition is $200 a year, significantly less than the $1,000 a year it typically costs for students to attend an after school arts program, Pirtle said.

“Young at Arts is truly one of the only after school, high level theater training programs where a family can walk in the door and say I can’t afford the program, and we make it work for them,” she said.

Pirtle said YAA also creates a positive environment where kids can learn and be entertained during a part of the day when their parents are at work. Many of the program’s graduates and attendees are currently pursuing arts such opera and creative writing. One student, a graduate of Mount Vernon High School, recently received a full scholarship to attend the creative writing program at Hunter College.

Tonight’s fundraiser will help to ensure the organization continues to fulfill its mission and provide a service that is being diminished at local schools.

“It truly is a program that relies upon funding in order to provide what the schools have cut out for many of these children,” she said.

For more information on YAA or to find out how you can donate, visit http://www.youngatartsny.org/. Tickets for “A Night at the Tonys” are  for $100 Reserved Seating. Tickets may be purchased by cash or check, in person or by mail at 17 Sagamore Road, Bronxville, NY, 10708. Please include your name, # of tickets, address and email address with your order. All tickets will be sent via email, unless mail is specified. Tickets purchases are tax-deductible.