Fidelity Investments®, in partnership with Billy Elliot the Musical, the Viertel/Frankel/Baruch/Routh Group and LeAp (Learning through an Expanded Arts Program) today announced that two-time Academy Award® Winner Hilary Swank will host the 2010 Fidelity FutureStage® Finale on Monday, June 14. The gala event will be held at Broadway’s Imperial Theatre, home of the Tony Award winning hit production of Billy Elliot the Musical.

After months of intensive playwriting and production development, the Fidelity FutureStage Finale marks the Broadway debut of six student-written plays, showcasing the work of over 1,000 NYC area students who participated in the 2010 Fidelity FutureStage theater education program.

“Fidelity FutureStage is giving these students a once in a lifetime opportunity to become Broadway’s youngest playwrights,” said Hilary Swank, special guest host of the Finale event. “I am thrilled to help them celebrate a night they’ll always remember.”

Five of the six plays to be featured on June 14 were selected from among the 10 New York City middle and high schools participating in the year-long Fidelity FutureStage school program. These five plays are cast with students from their respective schools. The sixth play included in the Finale is the winner of second annual Fidelity FutureStage Playwriting Contest, a joint city-wide initiative of Fidelity and Billy Elliot the Musical to encourage young people throughout the NYC metro area to express their creativity through playwriting. All of the student plays – both from the FutureStage 10-school program and the city-wide FutureStage Playwriting Contest – represent themes found within Billy Elliot the Musical including pursuing a dream, discovering a special talent or overcoming an obstacle.

While all six of these student playwrights will soon get to list ‘Broadway Playwright’ on their resumes, one student in particular stands out. Luis Ramierez – just 11 years old, and a sixth grader at Philippa Schuyler JHS 383 in Brooklyn – will soon to get to call himself the youngest playwright on Broadway.

Source :http://www.broadwayworld.com/