One of the New York City’s top performing arts schools — which counts The Bear’s Jeremy Allen White, the singer Alicia Keys and The Social Network’s Jesse Eisenberg among its alumni — is at risk of losing its longstanding theater program.
Professional Performing Arts School in Hell’s Kitchen has worked with the professional theater company Waterwell for 13 years to offer drama classes for up to two hours during the regular school day. Students can also participate in afterschool training through the program.
But Waterwell is facing a 20% budget cut for the remainder of this school year at PPAS, prompting the company to cancel its classes after April 12, according to an email obtained by the Daily News.
“As you all know, the city budgets have been incredibly stretched since the pandemic,” read the memo, which students and families received at close to midnight on Sunday, “and the impacts on the school budgets continue to have ripple effects.”
“This is a devastating amount of money for our small organization, and because of this cut, we are left with no choice than to end the program early for this school year,” it said.
Waterwell — which was co-founded Succession actor Arian Moayed, who still teaches classes today — employs many active theater professionals and connects students with people in the industry. Its training, described as “Artist as Citizen,” provides students with a conservatory-style theater education that focuses on the importance of changing society through their work.
“We’re really challenging our students to think about the role their art plays in the world,” said Heather Lanza, education director at Waterwell. She was uncertain of what comes next for the program in September.
PPAS principal Leah Dyer told families at a virtual meeting Tuesday night that the program would need $80,000 to $90,000 to continue through the end of the school year. Lanza, however, said Waterwell was shortchanged upwards of $102,000.
An online fundraiser had already been pushed out by Jeremy Allen White and reached close to $20,000 in donations by Wednesday evening.
“This is where I went to highschool [sic],” he said on Instagram, “it’s an incredible program with some incredible teachers. Please help IF YOU ARE ABLE. I have donated.”
Some parents blamed Dyer for sitting on the budget fall since January, when they could have used the last couple of months to fundraise. During the Zoom call, the principal, who is new this year, booted at least a mom and a student separately who were trying to voice their concerns, they said.
Dyer said Waterwell notified her Friday that the organization could not make do with the budget provided, though she has been working behind the scenes.
“The intention was never a crisis. The intention was to be able to get more money from the DOE, and they did not provide it,” said the principal. “Every person I turned to told me no, there is no money, there’s no money available for your school.”
The school has two teachers on its own payroll who can step up over the next couple of months, Dyer said. Some activities, which receive non-school funding through the nonprofit Manhattan Youth and the city’s Department of Youth and Community Development, are expected to continue, according to the memo.
But the majority of programming is still at risk. The email said all final acting scenes will be canceled, though the principal committed to trying to restore them. The school’s drama showcase and middle school spring concert are also on hold, it said.
“I was really excited to do my final acting scenes — they call it our ‘juries,’” said Johnny Hamilton-Janak, a senior at PPAS, who through theater has gotten scholarships to top arts colleges including Fordham, The New School, and Marymount Manhattan. “Now I don’t get that.”
“It’s just so infuriating. That’s the only reason why I go to PPAS,” he said.
Another student in the drama program wondered what she would do for the last two hours of every school day.
“We haven’t heard anything. It’s really absurd,” said Adolta, a sophomore. “It’s really heart-breaking because I was really looking forward to juries. We didn’t get to work on scenes yet.”
Above all, many parents and teachers directed their frustration at systemwide budget cuts, as the public schools brace for the loss of federal pandemic aid and redirect some funding to support migrant families.
“I have very mixed feelings about communities doing these fundraisers to make up the gaps that they shouldn’t have to make up,” said Tracey Scronic, parent of a junior at PPAS.
“When you cut a program around which the whole school is focused, you’re basically destroying that school — and removing what has been a magical experience.”
