The Wall Street Journal - 09.08.2019

A9A| Friday, August 9, 2019 ** THE WALL STREET JOURNAL.

Aug. 11. It is a coming-of-age

story about a young teen ac-

tor named Alexandra who is

stuck between children’s roles

and adult roles.

Joshua wrote the book,

score and lyrics to “The Per-

fect Fit.” Seven adults and

nine children make up the

cast, all of whom have prior

Broadway or TV experience,

he said.

“The Perfect Fit” will run

five times during the festival

at Teatro LaTea. He said he

hopes to address young per-

formers’ challenges with his

debut musical.

“There needs to be more

shows that kids can actually

play kids and play their ages,”

Joshua said.

The inspiration for the

It is hard work breaking
into the theater scene in New
York City—and even harder
for young people.
Now, the inaugural Rave
Theater Festival aims to
showcase the next generation
of theater makers.
The festival—which will be
held Friday through Aug. 25
at the Teatro SEA and Teatro
LaTea theaters at the Clem-
ente Soto Velez Cultural Cen-
ter on the Lower East Side—
will feature 20 new
performances.
Joshua Turchin, a 12-year-
old singer, actor and com-
poser who lives in Midtown
Manhattan, will debut his mu-
sical “The Perfect Fit,” on

BYALEXAST.JOHN

New Theater Festival

Shines a Spotlight

On Fresh Talent

LESLIE BRODY/THE WALL STREET JOURNAL

plot, he said, comes from his

own experiences and chal-

lenges as a young actor and

musician.

“All of the characters have

a piece of me,” he said.

He also draws inspiration

from Alan Menken, director,

composer and songwriter best

known for his scores for Dis-

ney films, including “The

Hunchback of Notre Dame”

and “The Little Mermaid.”

Joshua has been working

professionally in New York

City for nearly five years,

starring as Flounder in “The

Little Mermaid Live-To-Film,”

and had roles in “Forbidden

Broadway Salutes Carol Chan-

ning,” and the national tour of

“A Christmas Story.”

In addition to rehearsing,

writing and composing,

Joshua is enrolled in online

school through George Wash-

ington University, in which he

is taking high-school freshman

and sophomore-level courses.

Veteran Broadway producer

and festival lead Ken Daven-

port said the event is part of

his goal to help get 5,

unique shows produced for

Broadway, off-Broadway or

community theaters by 2025.

“They dream about having

their shows produced here,

but it’s very challenging for

them to do that,” Mr. Daven-

port said, as less experienced

producers face difficulties

such as finding a venue and

getting marketing support at

the beginning of their careers.

Joshua’s musical aligns

with the Rave Theater Festi-

val’s ambitions, and seeks to

introduce more opportunities

to up-and-coming producers

and actors in the New York

City’s theater community, Mr.

Davenport said.

“There’s really not much

that this kid doesn’t do if he

wants to do it,” Mr. Davenport

said.

While some of the other

shows in the Rave Theater

Festival are uniquely immer-

sive, or feature an all-female

cast, Joshua is the youngest

writer.

“Throughout this process,

everyone’s treating me like

I’m any other writer or com-

poser,” Joshua said. “I just

happen to be 12 years old.”

Joshua Turchin, top left, wrote the book, score and lyrics to the musical ‘The Perfect Fit,’ set to debut at the Rave Theater Festival.

Above, Daniel Dunlop rehearses for the show, which is based on 12-year-old Joshua’s experiences as an actor and musician.

GREATER NEW YORK

Two Metropolitan Transpor-

tation Authority employees

saved a woman’s life when they

stopped a Manhattan-bound Q

train just feet from where she

had climbed onto the tracks.

Anthony Mannino said he

was working on routine track

maintenance Wednesday when

he noticed a woman about 90

feet away from him on the

tracks at the Newkirk Plaza

subway stop in the Flatbush

neighborhood of Brooklyn. The

54-year-old ran toward the Q

train and signaled for the op-

erator to stop. At that point,

the train was about 300 feet

away from the woman, he said.

“All I saw is Tony, he was

running across the tracks to-

ward my train, so right away I

knew something was wrong,”

said Larry Moreno, 50, who has

operated subway trains for six

years. The two MTA employees

spoke at a news conference

Thursday outside the station.

Mr. Moreno said he instantly

pulled the train’s emergency

brakes. The train, which was

going about 35 miles an hour,

screeched to a halt. “The train

was stopped like 2 or 3 feet

away from the lady,” he said.

While he said he has been

in similar situations before,

“this was too close for com-

fort,” he said.

This year to date, 103 peo-

ple have been hit by subway

trains, almost identical to last

year’s pace.

Mr. Mannino, who helped

bring the woman safely onto

the platform, said she ap-

peared confused. “She had a

blank look on her face,” he

said. “I don’t know if she was

trying to retrieve something,

she didn’t really talk much.”

He said he attempted to

further assist her, but she

walked away. The New York

Police Department and MTA

officials have been unable to

identify the woman.

If he hadn’t noticed her at

the moment he did, Mr. Man-

nino said, it was likely she

would have been hit by the

train. “If you’re not wearing a

vest, the motorman is not

gonna see you until it’s too

late,” he said.

Tim Minton, an authority

spokesman, thanked the men

for their quick instincts. “We

at the MTA are very, very,

grateful that they followed

training, instinct and just good

will and their character, to

stop what could’ve had a very

different ending,” he said.

BYTYLERBLINT-WELSH

MTA

Workers

Rescue

Woman

have expressed a range of

views. “We want to hear from

all communities,” she said.

Schools Chancellor Richard

Carranza has called for more

integration in one of the most

segregated school systems in

the U.S.

District 15 went through a

similar debate last year, when

the department approved a di-

versity plan that bars middle

schools from using students’

academic records to rank chil-

dren for admission, in favor of

a new lottery system.

The issue affects some of

Brooklyn’s most popular ele-

mentary schools and one of its

lowest-performing. P.S. 29 in

Cobble Hill and P.S. 58 in Car-

roll Gardens are high-achiev-

ing, overcrowded and mostly

white, with about 13% of chil-

dren facing economic hard-

ship, according to city data.

At P.S. 676 in Red Hook, by

contrast, nearly all the stu-

dents are poor and black or

Hispanic. About 13% of its chil-

dren passed state tests in read-

ing and 12% did so in math in

spring 2018, the data show. It

also has many empty seats: Its

121 students last school year

used only 28% of its capacity.

P.S. 676’s principal, Priscilla

Figueroa, said she has ushered

in better curricula, more activi-

ties and social-emotional learn-

ing, including the “Mutt-i-

grees” program that brings a

dog to class to foster empathy

and teamwork. “We’re moving

in the right direction,” she said.

“People who know about this

work are rallying behind it.”

Some parents say the de-

partment should give more time

for input than the fall schedule

allows. Antonia Ferraro, a co-

vice president of the Commu-

nity Education Council, resisted

calls to slow down because an

addition to P.S. 32, an elemen-

tary school in Carroll Gardens,

will add 436 new seats in fall

2020 that need to be zoned.

She sought to alleviate con-

cerns about possible changes.

“The elementary schools in Dis-

trict 15 are all good schools with

great teachers,” Ms. Ferraro

said. “Parents don’t know, and

they’re operating off of assump-

tions or outdated information.”

Other schools affected by the

potential rezoning include P.S.

15, P.S. 38 and P.S. 261. If a rezon-

ing happens, younger siblings of

children at the seven schools

would get priority to join them.

Some community-based or-

ganizations have called on the

department to ensure that low-

income parents of color, who of-

ten juggle multiple jobs and

child-care constraints, get as

much of a voice on the issue as

wealthy parents who may find it

easier to attend public meetings.

Some also want more resources

to improve the neediest schools.

“There should be equity, but

it shouldn’t be only about mi-

norities going to predominantly

white schools, but also vice

versa,” said Edwin Pacheco, a

pastor, volunteer at P.S. 676 and

parent at P.S. 15.

New York City officials are
floating ideas for rezoning ad-
missions for seven public ele-
mentary schools in Brooklyn,
in an effort to relieve over-
crowding in sought-after
schools and foster integration.
One approach would redraw
zone boundaries that deter-
mine where students get seats
in western District 15, which
includes the affluent brown-
stone neighborhoods of Cobble
Hill and Carroll Gardens, as
well as public-housing com-
plexes in Red Hook. Another
idea would create a shared
zone for these schools, allow-
ing parents to rank choices and
assigning children by lottery.
The city Department of Ed-
ucation aims to submit a draft
proposal this fall and will
schedule public hearings. If a
plan wins approval from the
Community Education Council
for District 15, a body of par-
ent representatives, the de-
partment says changes would
affect children entering pre-
kindergarten and kindergarten,
starting in the fall of 2020.
Similar efforts in the city
have stirred emotional de-
bates, with parents who moved
to zones of desirable public
schools worrying that their
children might be assigned
elsewhere. Some parents see
lotteries as more fair than ty-
ing enrollment to a street ad-
dress, which can segregate
children by race and income.
Both approaches pitched by
the department would give
first dibs for about 25% to 35%
of open seats at each school to
children who are low-income,
homeless or learning English
as a new language.
Anita Skop, superintendent
of District 15, said parents

BYLESLIEBRODY

City Considers School Rezoning

The move would

affect admissions at

seven public grade

schools in Brooklyn

cal health departments that

carry out the state’s lead-pre-

vention program to ensure

that children receive proper

treatments and intervention.

“This is a serious issue, and

the department needs to make

sure all lead-poisoned children

get the services they need,”

Mr. DiNapoli said in a state-

ment.

Local health departments

are responsible for identifying

and tracking children with ele-

vated blood lead levels.

A spokeswoman for the

New York State Department of

Health said it strongly dis-

agrees with the comptroller’s

findings that a number of chil-

dren with elevated blood-lead

levels didn’t receive follow-up

services.

The department “works ag-

gressively with local health de-

partments to reduce the risk

of lead exposure and deliver

key services to children with

elevated blood-lead levels,”

she said.

The report looked at the

population of children who

had elevated blood-lead levels

during a nearly four-year span

beginning in January 2014, but

didn’t include children resid-

ing in New York City, where

there are increased worries

about lead poisoning in public-

school classrooms.

Of a random sample of 400

cases of children with elevated

blood-lead levels, there were

43 cases among five local

health departments where fol-

low-up services weren’t pro-

vided or weren’t documented.

The state Department of

Health spokeswoman said fol-

low-up services were provided,

but in some instances not

properly documented by the

local health departments. That

issue already has been recti-

fied and the department is re-

vising its on-site review pro-

cess, she said.

During the period reviewed

by auditors, roughly half of the

56 local health-department re-

views hadn’t been done, and

one in four departments

hadn’t been reviewed since

2010.

The New York state comp-
troller is calling for improved
oversight of a state program
that works to prevent lead poi-
soning and help children with
elevated blood-lead levels, a
major health risk to children.
In a report released Thurs-
day by New York state Comp-
troller Thomas DiNapoli, audi-
tors found that the state
Department of Health regional
offices didn’t consistently con-
duct on-site reviews of the lo-

BYMELANIEGRAYCEWEST

Comptroller Pushes Lead-Prevention Oversight

Education officials

want to promote

integration and ease

overcrowding.

CAITLIN OCHS FOR THE WALL STREET JOURNAL (2)

A dog made an appearance at P.S. 676 in May as part of a social-emotional learning program to foster confidence and teamwork.

NY

wsj_20190809_a009_p2jw221000_2_a009a0_1____ns2019.crop.pdf 1 09-Aug-19 06:04: