This piece was submitted by Sylvia Cassidy (10, J&C).

Arts Bureau Edge hosted a workshop where five students from duPont Manual and Floyd Central High School reviewed the Jan. 15 performance of “Something Rotten!” at the Kentucky Center For the Arts.

Arts Bureau Edge is a special multimedia publication for the youth that focuses on the arts.

The program has worked with the Kentucky Center and the PNC Broadway in Louisville series to allow students to cover productions of “Aladdin” and the “Dance Theater of Harlem” as well as a performance of “Newsies” across the river in Floyd Knobs, Indiana.

Arts Bureau Edge provides the students with free tickets to shows and a platform to showcase their work.

Upon writing the reviews, participants are required to attend a seminar on the musical’s history and on writing criticism.

They also must come to a writing session the day after the performance where they discuss the show and work on their pieces.

LEO Weekly is publishing the high schoolers’ articles on their website.

“This experience was really awesome,” said two-time participant of Arts Bureau Edge workshops, Maddie Hayden (J&C, 10).  “It helped me develop my writing skills, let me meet new people, and collaborate with other young journalists. Plus, it was really cool to get to see free performances.”

“The show was amazing,” Hayden said. “I’ve only ever seen one other Broadway show, Wicked. This was better than Wicked in so many ways. The music, the story, and the costumes really put you in the Renaissance.”

Students have to submit an application in order to attend the workshops.

Thus far, five Manual students have participated in the program, including two that reviewed “Something Rotten!.”

Arts Bureau Edge hopes to revive arts and entertainment reporting by introducing new generations and enabling them to think about it in new ways.

“I think that when it comes to arts journalism and arts reporting right now it’s really plummeted across the country and it’s only big in huge, huge markets.” said the director and co-founder of Arts Bureau Edge, Elizabeth Kramer. “The only way it’s going to survive is if it continues to evolve.”

Arts Bureau Edge is currently trying to extend its reach across the city. They have added new team members and volunteers to the project and are on the search for new art venues in the Louisville area.

“We’re doing these pilot projects right now and I am trying to figure out ways to expand the program,” Kramer said. “I want to start doing something in the visual arts. I would also like to approach Actors Theatre.”

The program has also begun applications for nonprofit status and is working on a new website that functions as an aggregator for arts new in Louisville.The dates and applications for the next workshop have yet to be released, but notifications about Art Bureau Edge’s upcoming projects and events, as well as links to the reviews, are announced on Kramer’s Twitter, @arts_bureau.