Gallatin first-year Madi Kaplan has always loved performing on stage, but she wanted to have a larger role behind the scenes. In high school, she decided to create a space where students could work on their own production as directors, choreographers, producers and more — all while fulfilling her goal of making a positive social change.
In 2022, Kaplan started Theater Leadership for Change, a student-run organization that partners with a different nonprofit organization each summer to produce a theater performance and then donates the show’s profits to that nonprofit. As the CEO and co-founder, Kaplan worked with a group of friends to build the company and come up with its mission.
In an interview with WSN, Kaplan described how she founded TLC, past productions and partnerships and how she aims to grow the organization in the future.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
WSN: What inspired you to create TLC?
Kaplan: I have always been really interested in entrepreneurship, theater and performing. I have performed my whole life, but I really wanted to combine it with doing nonprofit work and doing something to help the world. I had a not-so-great experience at a different playhouse, and I felt that the environment wasn’t amazing to be in — especially as a young actress — so I really wanted an environment where students feel heard and can have leadership positions like producing, directing stage managing and business management. They can have all those positions and work collaboratively to really make an impact.
As a sophomore in high school, Kaplan cofounded TLC in her hometown of Chatham, NJ with her friends Evie Dittmann, Julia Wilcox, Niamh O’Connor and Sydney Hnatov. She said that running the organization is what inspired her to attend the Gallatin School of Individualized Study so that she could combine her interests into one degree on performing arts, musical theater and social entrepreneurship.
WSN: How did you get your start partnering with nonprofits?
Kaplan: My friends and I were originally thinking about writing our own musical, but we did not end up doing that. Then, I saw a production at a nearby playhouse of “Urinetown,” and I really loved that there was a central issue of clean water preservation. While it is a comedy, the issue was really prevalent in the show. I thought, ‘It would be amazing if we could perform the show and partner with a clean water non-profit charity.’ So, that’s what we did. Then, we started fundraising.
The TLC team partnered with Mission Clean Water, a nonprofit based in New Jersey that works to provide clean water to underserved communities, to produce its rendition of “Urinetown” — a dystopian story about citizens who have to pay a fee to use the bathroom — at the Chatham Playhouse in the summer of 2022.
Kaplan said that partnering with MCW was an important step for the student organization, as the nonprofit’s Executive Director James Leitner gave her advice to get her new company off the ground. That summer, Kaplan added that TLC sold out three performances of “Urinetown” and donated $5,000 to MCW.
WSN: What were some of the challenges you faced with your organization?
Kaplan: It was definitely hard getting people to audition for our shows because there was a lot of doubt at first, especially from adults, because we wanted to be student-led. We originally wanted to perform in a different theater, but then they ended up charging us a lot of money and they weren’t very supportive of the whole process. Although there was a lot of doubt, throughout it all, I knew my friends and a lot of the cast members were creating something pretty amazing. That got us all really excited — the community really pitched in and we did a lot of fundraising that year.
The next summer, TLC decided to stage a production of “The Pajama Game,” a 1950s musical about pajama factory workers fighting for a salary increase. Kaplan said that her team decided to follow suit and work with a nonprofit that has similar themes as the show itself and chose the Pajama Program, which aims to fight issues such as housing insecurity and income instability by donating pajamas to kids and educating people on healthy sleep habits.
In line with her goal to give students the opportunity to be leaders, Kaplan passed her torch as director to another co-founder. Instead, she worked as a choreographer and producer of “The Pajama Game.”
WSN: What was TLC’s second production like?
Kaplan: Collaborating with the Pajama Program went very well because a big part of their company is providing resources — whether it be sleep resources, or food, or education — all relating to aiding children’s sleep. It went perfectly with a show and it was pretty amazing. I like how we got a lot more people to audition in the second year and it was great showing how other students could grow in leadership positions. Of course, our struggles are struggles every single year and it can be hard sometimes in terms of collaboration or miscommunication, or again getting people to take us seriously when I try to explain that we are an official company. But throughout it all, I just knew I had my friends with me and it was the most amazing thing I’ve ever done.
For its third annual production last summer, TLC put on “The Prom” — a musical following Broadway actors as they help a teenage girl after her high school prohibited her from bringing her girlfriend to the prom. TLC worked alongside the Hudson Pride Center, which provides sensitivity training for LGBTQ+ issues. Kaplan said that she loved seeing a different member of TLC’s team flourish as they directed this production, which she said resonated deeply with many of its cast members.
Kaplan said that she wants to continue expanding her company with franchises in more areas and schools, similarly led by students. She said that she worked with one student to produce a musical in Morristown, NJ with TLC’s brand and support. Kaplan added that she would love to see a franchise of her organization at NYU and beyond.
The team will start rehearsing for its next production, “Be More Chill” — a science fiction musical by NYU alum Joe Iconis — in April, ahead of opening night in late June. Kaplan said that she wants to collaborate with a substance abuse charity for the upcoming summer’s show.
WSN: What does this company mean to you, now that you’re away from your hometown and at NYU?
Kaplan: This company is what led me to realize I wanted to go to Gallatin at NYU, because I wanted to do entrepreneurship or social entrepreneurship, but I really wanted to continue performing. This year, I passed on the company to another new director who has been with us for a while and who is still in high school. I’m still assisting with getting the rights to shows and some business tasks that need to be done from here, but I’m really trying to pass on the company to other students to enable them to have these leadership opportunities.
Contact Amelia Hernandez Gioia at [email protected].
