CIBOLA COUNTY, N.M. — For the second year in a row, Grants High School drama students have been selected to attend a Broadway show at Popejoy Hall in Albuquerque through the “Broadway for Teens” program.
GHS drama instructor Anissa Shaver announced this week that her students will travel to see MJ, the Musical at the University of New Mexico’s Popejoy Hall. The school was awarded 65 tickets and plans to send 58 students along with seven adult chaperones.
Broadway for Teens, launched in 2023, provides free Broadway tickets to students from New Mexico’s Title I public high schools. The program covers tickets and related costs so schools and families do not have to pay, with funding coming entirely from donors who want to expand access to the arts. Since its start, the initiative has welcomed more than 600 high school students from urban, rural, and tribal communities across the state.
This year’s selection marks a continuing partnership between Popejoy Hall and Grants High School. In 2023, GHS drama students were chosen to see the touring production of Clue, an experience that included a campus visit and time with university staff.
Program leaders at Popejoy have emphasized that Broadway for Teens is about more than just a field trip. “We wanted to give [teens] a chance to dream, to see what’s possible,” Development Director Maryellen Missik-Tao said when the program was introduced to GHS students last year.
As part of the experience, students not only see a professional Broadway production, but also spend time on the UNM campus, engaging with faculty and students and getting a closer look at college life at New Mexico’s flagship university.
For GHS, the repeat selection is a sign that rural students in Cibola County continue to be included in statewide efforts to keep the arts within reach.