Developing Artists, in a new partnership with Vineyard Theatre, brings its REBEL VERSES Youth Arts Festival to a new home at Vineyard Theatre (108 E. 15th St.) with performances Thursday, July 27th through Saturday, August 5th. Since the festival’s inception, REBEL VERSES has provided youth companies with the opportunity to collaborate and network with their peers and prominent artists, encouraging the development of new works in theatre through this two-week event. Stage and screen star Daphne Rubin-Vega is the spokesperson for the festival. 
Born out of a need in New York City for new voices in theatre, REBEL VERSES Youth Arts Festival is a journey into the unapologetic, un-restrainable creativity of the next generation. This two-week festival brings together student ensembles from all five boroughs of New York City and Pennsylvania. Students develop their artistic skills in workshops led by working artists by day, and by night, perform their own original works. Each evening culminates in a collaborative piece devised by all ensembles involved, intended to represent the group and their experience within REBEL VERSES Youth Arts Festival.
“There is a void in our community that Developing Artists fills by establishing a creative home for young people and instilling in them a sense of confidence and freedom of expression. Growing up in the New York public school system, I wished for an artistic outlet that would give voice to my culture and experience,” says spokesperson Daphne Rubin-Vega, who also serves on Developing Artists’ Advisory Board. “The positive impact Developing Artists has on both the performing arts community and our city as a whole is immeasurable. REBEL VERSES Youth Arts Festival is a hotbed of new forms of learning through the arts, empowering young people to become successful artists and allowing them to recognize that their stories are a part of the fabric of this world.”
The 2017 incarnation of the festival sees a shift from its usual springtime slot to an extended summer experience, which subsequently provides more youth companies from outside of the New York City area the opportunity to participate in REBEL VERSES Youth Arts Festival. Joining Developing Artists are: Vineyard Theatre Student Ensemble, MCC Youth Company, PRY SAFE Theater Group, The Door, and Alumni Theatre Company of Pittsburgh.
Additional participants are soon-to-be-announced.
Now in its 13th year of empowering students’ voices through the performing arts, Developing Artists’ REBEL VERSES Youth Arts Festival finds not only a new home, but a partner in presenting and expanding their reach with Vineyard Theatre. Developing Artists, which launched in 1999, led by Artistic Director Jill DeArmon and Executive Director Jinn S. Kim, began their relationship with Vineyard during the 2015-2016 season when DeArmon and Kim were brought on as Education Directors for Vineyard’s Arts-in-Education program. Developing Artists and Vineyard are theatre are thrilled to pair up to synergize and support their combined Arts-in-Education efforts to focus on student empowerment through writing and the creation of new works, coinciding with Vineyard’s co-presentation of REBEL VERSES.
“We have long admired and felt a kinship with Developing Artists and their mission to empower young artists to create original work and have their voices be heard,” says Sarah Stern, Artistic Director of Vineyard Theatre. “Working with Jill and Jinn over the past two years has been a gift to our theatre and to the students in our program. They are inspiring teachers and guides, and we are thrilled to expand our collaboration with them and Developing Artists and to host the incredible REBEL VERSES Youth Arts Festival.”
As a home for young artists and an incubator for new voices in theatre, both Developing Artists and REBEL VERSES Youth Arts Festival boast a roster of alumni who are now working professionals in the performing arts. Among these artists are Alex Flores (Winston in The Maze Runner), Concetta Rose Rella (starring as the title character in off-Broadway’s Tony n’ Tina’s Wedding), Lexi Lawson (Eliza in Broadway’s Hamilton), and writer/director Ben Snyder (Vineyard’s History of the Word).
Performance schedule for REBEL VERSES Youth Arts Festival is as follows: Thursday, July 27th; Friday, July 28th; Saturday, July, 29th; Thursday, August 3rd; Friday, August 4th; and Saturday, August 5th at 7pm. Tickets from $20-$25. To purchase tickets and for more information, visit www.developingartists.org
Developing Artists is a nonprofit organization dedicated to providing opportunities for underdog teens to reach their full potential through a practical application of the performing arts. Since 1999, Developing Artists has helped kids find their place and their connection to their community through participation in the arts. Developing Artists’ signature innovation is the creation of REBEL VERSES Youth Arts Festival that unites an underserved segment of the theater community; one that celebrates the voices of young artists by inviting the best youth performing arts companies around to participate in an annual two-week festival. Developing Artists’ Board of Directors includes David Zayas (Fox: “Gotham,” Showtime: “Dexter”), Ana Ortiz (ABC: “Ugly Betty,” Lifetime: “Devious Maids”) and Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Stephen Adly Guirgis (Between Riverside & Crazy, CCo-CCreator & Executive Producer of “The Get Down”), who all believe passionately in the organization’s mission. (www.developingartists.org)
Dedicated to the creation and production of daring new plays and musicals, Vineyard Theatre has consistently premiered provocative, groundbreaking works, including Paula Vogel and Rebecca Taichman‘s Indecent, now on Broadway; Branden Jacobs-Jenkins‘ Pulitzer Prize finalist Gloria; Colman Domingo’s DOT, Nicky Silver‘s The Lyons; Marx, Lopez and Whitty’s Tony Award-winning musical Avenue Q; Kander and Ebb’s The Scottsboro Boys; Bell and Bowen’s [title of show]; Paula Vogel‘s How I Learned To Drive (1998 Pulitzer Prize); Edward Albee‘s Three Tall Women (1994 Pulitzer Prize); Tarell Alvin McCraney‘s Wig Out!; Becky Mode‘s Fully Committed; Jenny Schwartz‘ God’s Ear; Will Eno‘s Middletown; and many more. The Vineyard’s productions have been honored with two Pulitzer Prizes, three Tony Awards, and numerous Drama Desk, Obie, Outer Critics Circle and Lucille Lortel Awards.
REBEL VERSES Youth Arts Festival is made possible in part with public funds from Creative Engagement/Creative Learning, supported by the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council and the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Andrew Cuomo and administered by Lower Manhattan Cultural Council. LMCC.net.