Tony Award nominee Christopher Sieber, currently on Broadway in The Prom, will host this year's Shubert Foundation High School Theatre Festival at the Music Box Theatre March 18. One-hundred and fifty New York City public school students will make their Broadway debuts at the 5th annual festival, performing selections from such iconic musicals and plays as Runaways; Caroline, or Change; and The Sound of Music.

Over the course of the day on March 18, the students from five NYC high schools (Curtis High School in Staten Island, Lexington School for the Deaf in Queens, Professional Performing Arts High School in Manhattan, Repertory Company High School for Theater Arts in Manhattan, and LaGuardia High School for Music, Art, and Performing Arts in Manhattan) participate in master artist workshops before spending the afternoon in tech and rehearsals on the Broadway stage.

The festival will kick off at 7:30 PM and run through 9:30 PM at the Music Box.

Sieber will be joined by Lisa Brescia (Dear Evan Hansen), Be More Chill's Joe Iconis, Isabelle McCalla (The Prom), Tony Award winner Tonya Pinkins (original star of Caroline, or Change), Tony nominee Lauren Ridloff (Children of a Lesser God), and Christina Sajous (SpongeBob SquarePants).

Students were selected from over 30 school productions presented throughout the 2018–2019 year.

"Look to the stage. These impressive teen artists from varied diverse cultural backgrounds, neighborhoods and creative points of view, collaborated with peers to produce inspired and relevant theatre for their school communities and now for Broadway," says Peter Avery, the festival's producer and the Director of Theatre for the NYC Department of Education. "As ensembles and individuals they serve as a wonderful reminder of the power of inclusivity on stage, in the classroom and beyond.”