- We are back with Alex Cooper,
give it up y'all. (hands clapping)
(audience cheering)
So one of the reasons I enjoy coaching on "The Voice"
is because we are able to give talented musicians
opportunities they may never otherwise get,
which I would know,
our next guest is doing the same in the world of theater.
He's a retired teacher who recently launched
a unique, affordable and intense college prep program
for kids of color who want to break into the arts,
and to date, he has a 100% college acceptance rate.
That's incredible- (hands clapping)
- [Alex] Okay! (audience cheering)
- And that's why we call him a rad human.
(upbeat music)
From Theater Gap Initiative, let's welcome Corey.
Everybody give it up!
(audience cheering) (audience applauding)
Hello. - How are you?
- Meet Alex.
- Hi. - So nice to meet you.
- Nice to meet you. - So nice to meet you.
- So you taught for 25 years?
- Yes.
- Dang, okay, so how did you get into that
and what did you teach?
- Okay, so I come from a long line of teachers.
My dad had 22 brothers and sisters,
He was, yes- (audience oohing)
- Ah!
- Slap dab in the middle,
11 older, 11 younger.
- Wow!
- And so most all of my aunts and uncles were,
my aunts were all teachers
and my uncles were most all truck drivers,
and you look at me,
I was not gonna be a truck driver. (laughing)
- You were like,
you were like, "No." - No, (laughing)
and so as a little kid,
I would love to do impressions,
I did impressions of Sammy Davis Jr.
and Carol Channing and all of that,
and then when I got into high school,
I was in dance and choir
and played the trumpet and band
and did theater- - Yes.
- And it just seemed like a natural progression
to go into education.
So, I spent 20 years teaching
at a performing arts high school in Charlotte
and had incredible, incredible kids
that have had careers in acting
and directing and all kinds of things.
- [Kelly] That's incredible- - Yes.
- The impact you've been able to have.
So, now you run Theater Gap Initiative-
- [Corey] Yes.
- Explain more about what that is
and why you wanted to start it in the first place.
- You know, I've, I said I spent 20 years teaching.
- [Kelly] Mm-hm.
- I taught over 3,000 kids
and directed over a hundred musicals in that time.
- That's a lot.
- [Corey] It is. (laughing) - Yeah.
- And what ended up happening
is that I had a number of kids
that I thought should be household names
but they didn't know how to navigate the system
and there are college coaches out there
that charge upwards of $20,000-
- Mm-hm.
- To help them get through that program.
- That lack of opportunity.
- Exactly, and I saw that as a gap,
and our program meets seven months,
five days a week,
seven hours a day
and I take them all the way through the paces
for getting into college and university programs.
- [Kelly] That's incredibly intense and probably so-
- [Alex] Wow, wow.
- Oh, my God, (audience applauding)
I can't even imagine how incredible that is.
I would've loved that as a kid!
Oh, my God,
so what's your goal for each student in the program?
- So I work from three principles.
I look at it as rigorous instruction to make them better.
- [Kelly] Mm-hm.
- Second part would be to put students
in front of as many colleges and universities
as I possibly can
and the third part, which is real important,
would be looking at their financial aid
because it doesn't make sense to get into a college
if they cannot afford it.
- Yeah, I wasn't gonna go (Corey laughing)
unless I got a scholarship, yeah.
- [Corey] Exactly- - Yeah.
- And so I offer classes in acting for the stage,
acting for the camera,
voice and diction,
music theory,
dance, private voice lessons,
all of these things
to take them all the way through all of this
and then we put them into different situations
of mock auditions and helping to,
and mock interviews,
all kinds of things like that.
- Giving them, emboldening them
and giving them the confidence
to actually tackle it in real life.
- Exactly! - Yeah.
- Because I want my kids to sing like you, Kelly.
I don't mean like your voice
but you have this incredible talent
where there is a pipeline
that goes from your heart to your mouth,
and I want those kids to discover themselves
in that and everything you say.
- Thank you. (audience applauding)
- You're welcome. - Gosh.
- You know what's interesting and you might know this,
is I actually grew up
and I was not gonna be able to go to college
unless I got a scholarship,
we didn't have the,
we were poor,- - Mm-hm.
- And so I had to do like Allstate Regions, you know,
all those kind of things- - Mm-hm.
- And sing opera,
and they, and it was the coolest thing
'cause you performed behind,
everybody was, a blind was in front of you,
like a big thing,
they couldn't see you,
a partition was in front of you,
so you really had to connect with the person
emotionally and vocally
for to get them to give you a great score,
and I think it was the greatest thing
that ever happened to me as a kid,
looking back now,
because I couldn't,
it wasn't about any kind of aesthetic appeal,
it was literally you had to move someone sonically
like, you know, it wasn't,
nothing else is involved
and I think that that helped me
and the teachers pushed me to do that,
and when I say pushed
I mean really pushed, (Corey laughing)
'cause I did not wanna do it. (audience laughing)
We have someone in the audience who took part
in the Theater Gap Initiative this year
and now he's getting ready to attend
the University of the Arts in Philadelphia.
Everybody say hello to Tommy.
(audience cheering) (audience applauding)
- Thank you.
- [Kelly] What's up, Tommy?
- Hello.
- So I have to ask you,
how did you hear about the program?
How did you get involved?
- Absolutely.
So, I've always been involved in the arts
ever since I was a little kid. - Yeah.
- You know, doing community shows
and junior shows and summer camps.
I actually wrote my own musical
based on the life of Malcolm X-
- What? - And wrote songs
and made short films with my friends,
and so as high school graduation came,
my mother started looking for the next step,
and as soon as we found what Mr. Mitchell was doing,
it seemed like it'd be a great fit.
- [Kelly] Mm-hm.
- You know, he really does have a lot of connections
to, you know, get you in front of the schools
and as a former homeschooler,
the opportunity to move
from central Florida to Charlotte, North Carolina
and have a little bit of independence
and learn under him for seven months,
that was an amazing opportunity.
- Ah, that's incredible.
So, what was your experience like
with the Theater Gap Initiative?
- I had an amazing experience.
We had weekly classes acting for the stage,
acting for the camera,
which was my personal favorite,
we took yoga,
we did physical and mental therapy
to keep us grounded as artists and as humans,
and after that-
- [Kelly] Okay. - Sounds great.
- Yeah, right? (laughing)
- That's incredible.
- Yeah, and after the foundational work was put in,
we moved into actually applying and auditioning
for the programs,
and Corey and all of the team members
were there with us,
side by side and they helped us.
You know, he has an amazing network
and so, you know,
he set up Zooms with the colleges
so we could talk with the colleges
and get one-on-one feedback
and hear what their programs had to offer,
and so it was really an amazing experience for me.
- Wow! (audience applauding)
It's almost like you're a partner,
like you're a partner
in trying to help them achieve
what you see in them
and they see in themselves- - Mm-hm.
- But that's an incredible gift.
You, Alex, you went to Boston University,
what kind of support did you get as you, you know,
set off for college? - Yeah.
- [Kelly] That's a big move.
- Yeah, I got a soccer scholarship.
I worked so long and hard to get that
and it really was to allow me to go to a school
that I know had a good film program.
I loved soccer, but it really was like,
I knew to go to that school-
- That's the best school that helped you.
- Yeah, I needed to get that scholarship and get there
and I had a lot of support from my family,
but I think having the tools from high school
and having people support you,
it makes the transition that much easier
because then once you get there,
you're on your own,
you gotta be an individual,
and so I think my parents did a good job
of giving me responsibility in high school
to understand like,
once you're out there, it's on you,
and so that perfect balance of, like, trying to help
but also being, like, you have to be an individual
and you have to figure out how to do it on your own,
but once I got to college,
yeah, it was off to the races.
It was a lot, it was a lot.
- Yeah, but you're right though,
that key thing is support,
like, way before then- - Yeah.
- To embolden them like you're doing,-
- Exactly.
- Give them the confidence they know empower them,
that they can do it
and they can achieve it,
whatever they're dreaming.
- And you know, Kelly,
I swear that's what I want to do,
and if any kids-
- It's what you are doing.
- Well, that's what I- - Yeah! (laughing)
- You know, and I keep trying
and if there are any kids out there
that have that dream,
because I find that kids have the same dreams,
they don't always know the pathways to achieve those.
- Absolutely,
that's why great partners are helpful.
So you, uh, Tommy, I'm gonna say,
you got into the University of the Arts,
but that's not all, right?
- I officially applied to about 10 colleges
and got accepted into seven.
- Okay! (audience applauding)
- All right! (audience cheering)
- [Kelly] That's incredible!
- Yeah. - Yeah.
- Of course, you know,
U Arts in Philadelphia was the school,
ever since my Zoom with them,
they were where I wanted to go,
and so I was really excited to be accepted there
and not only accepted,
but I'll be attending this fall as a freshman
on a full ride scholarship as well, yeah.
(audience cheering) (audience applauding)
- [Kelly] Wow. - Okay, yeah.
- See, that hard work is paying off.
- [Tommy] Absolutely.
- 'Cause now you have the scholarships,
now you can like really focus on what you wanna do.
- Exactly, you know,- - Yeah.
- And all of that was, you know,
thanks to the Theater Gap Initiative.
I really have to say to you, Mr. Mitchell,
thank you so much for the work that you are doing
with Theater Gap Initiative,
you know, for supporting me
and guiding me through,
not just me, everyone in the program,
you really have our backs to this day.
You know, our phone conversations,
the mentorship that you have to me is really a special,
you hold a special place in my heart,
and so thank you for taking the call to action,
thank you for doing what you're doing
and this program is having an impact on students-
- [Kelly] Here, I've got your back.
- Thanks. - And I am living proof,
so, thank you,
I love you, Mr Mitchell.
- Oh, thank you. (audience applauding)
- Oh, I love your heart!
- (laughing) I'm just so,
I don't know- - I know.
- [Kelly] I heard,- - Yes.
- Tommy, I heard him over here going (gasping),
he was trying to take deep breaths
so I was like, "Let it go, let it go!"
Tommy, we know that you have dreams of being on Broadway
and to help give you some inspiration,
we want you to visit New York,
so we are hooking you up with a three-night's stay
at the Westgate New York Grand Central-
- [Corey] Wow! (audience cheering)
- [Kelly] In the heart of Manhattan.
This hotel is classic and modern with luxury rooms,
great breakfast and views overlooking the city,
it's gonna be amazing.
Do you love New York?
I love New York. - I love New York City.
- Okay, you're gonna have a good time,
I love, I love seeing shows there.
- [Tommy] Thank you,
thank you so much. (audience applauding)
- I love the energy of the city.
- [Tommy] Yes!
- That's not all, though.
Theater Gap Initiative is such a cool program
and we want to see it grow,
so we are giving you $5,000
just to help out with the program itself.
(Corey laughs) (audience cheering)
We love what you're doing,
it's so beautiful. - Oh, thank you! (laughing)
- Ah, and look at this individual,
I cannot wait to see what Tommy does.
Ah, I'll see you in New York, man.