Just ahead on "Black Issues Forum," we celebrate the beauty of what happens when students are supported, and we confront the reality of what's lost when they're not.

Purple Dreams is an award-winning documentary that follows a group of gifted high school students as they bring the color purple to life.

But behind the music and choreography are stories of resilience, determination, and a fight to be seen in a world that too often overlooks black youth in the arts.

Coming up next, stay with us.

Quality public television is made possible through the financial contributions of viewers like you, who invite you to join them in supporting PBSNC.

[upbeat music] ♪ - Welcome to Black Issues Forum, I'm Kenia Thompson.

When the curtain rises, we often see the talent, the polish, and the brilliance of young artists in their moment, but what we don't always see is the struggle behind the spotlight, especially for black students navigating both their creative passions and real-life challenges.

Today, we're diving into Purple Dreams, a powerful documentary that will be seen here on PBS that follows a group of high school students from Northwest School of the Arts in Charlotte as they stage the color purple.

Before we go any further, I want you to experience a glimpse of what these students poured their hearts into.

Let's take a moment to step into their world, hear their voices, feel their challenges, and witness their joy.

Here's the trailer for Purple Dreams.

[choir singing] - Hey guys, we're in places, quiet!

[upbeat music] - We've got gay, straight, black, white, Hispanic.

- This is what glee looks like in real life.

I'm gonna audition for Mister.

- I would love to try out for Sealy.

- I'll be a floor piece in the show.

I just wanna be in it.

- Do you mind if Albert sleeps with me?

- I got what you call a passion for.

[cheering] - I came to Northwest to have a new start.

I needed that real bad.

- People, when they see me, they don't know I do musicals.

They just see a black male in a hoodie, and they're like, "Oh, I don't wanna walk "on the same side of the street as him."

♪ When I throw my mold you down on you ♪ - My dad, he wasn't around when I was younger.

He was shot.

- My father is in prison.

He went away when I was two.

It's become a lot harder to forgive him for what he's done.

- All my life I had to fight.

I had to fight my daddy.

I had to fight my brothers.

- I'm actually in a hotel right now, and I hate it so much.

- There is such a drive, but Brittany is the one who is going to have to do it against all odds.

- Struggling, it hurts, but it's like, I can't be going through this for nothing.

I have to be going through this to get somewhere.

- I think these kids are just as much at risk, but they've tuned into something that they really love.

- Any harsh realities that we deal with at home, the arts and the stage is an escape.

It allows us to express ourselves.

If we didn't have that, God knows what we'd be doing.

- Five, six, seven, eight.

- We never do a show this fast.

You don't have time to be lazy.

Every day, all day, just the color purple.

- Okay, I need to fix this.

- How can you retain anything when you're so caught up in yourself?

- We had the show adjudicated for the International Thespian Festival.

We got straight superiors.

[crowd cheering] - After starting where they started and enduring what they endured, once they've done this, there's nothing they can't do.

♪ You never stop me from being myself ♪ ♪ You pick me back up whenever I fell ♪ ♪ I'll always write my name in the sky ♪ ♪ So thank you for the chance of a lifetime ♪ - And joining me today is the founder of the Theater Gap Initiative and the instructor that you saw there in that trailer, Corey Mitchell.

He helps shape the very stage these students stood on, and he's here to talk about the magic, the obstacles, and the truth about what's at stake when we invest or fail to invest in the creative futures of black youth.

Welcome.

- Hi, thank you so much.

- You know, I've seen that trailer multiple times now, but it still brings tears to my eyes.

I mean, it's just amazing to see the passion, the drive, the desire and want, but then also the crosshairs of the realities that these kids live.

Before we dig into that, I wanna know who Corey Mitchell is, and how did you get to this space?

- Oh my goodness.

Well, I was born in Baltimore, but when we were very small, really when I started kindergarten, my parents moved us to Harmony, North Carolina, just outside of Statesville in Aridale County.

And so I grew up a country kid on a farm with cows and pigs and chickens and a huge vegetable garden.

We used to raise sweet potatoes, and I was in 4-H.

But the amazing thing about how I grew up is from kindergarten, I had a choir teacher, Ms. Creech.

- You still remember her name?

- I still remember Ms. Creech.

She was wonderful because she ended up being my high school choir teacher.

I was in band from sixth grade on with Mr. Calabrese, and was taking drama and dance all through.

And then through 4-H, I performed all across the state with other people.

And so meeting other students from across the state instead of just at home, kind of opened up my perspective.

And I ended up going to UNC Wilmington and majoring in theater.

And I did cruise ships and performed.

And always through that, my dad had 22 brothers and sisters.

And it seemed like all of the men were truck drivers, and almost all of the sisters were teachers.

And these hands don't look like truck drivers.

So I ended up becoming a teacher.

And taking what I love, because that was the thing I noticed about all of my teachers is, most all of them, you could tell which ones loved what they were doing, and which ones were exhausted.

- Or, yeah, you're right.

Or doing it as a job.

- Yeah.

And I decided to pursue teaching what it was that I loved.

And so that's how I ended up in the performing arts.

- Wow, and then you ended up at Northwest and Charlotte.

And obviously you were tasked with production and creating.

- Yes.

It was a magical place.

And I grew up watching "Fame."

I loved Debbie Allen.

And to be at a performing arts high school where I could challenge and choose material that challenged me was just the great joy of what it was.

- Yeah, what did you do?

- My entire career.

- Speaking of choosing material, "The Color Purple" is one of my favorite movies.

And some people are like, really?

Because of all the things that happened in it, right?

But I think it was just such a beautiful depiction of reality for so many people during its time.

How did you choose that, knowing that there are some sensitive areas in "The Color Purple" that may be tough for kids to portray on stage?

- Well, I read the book when I was in 10th grade.

I remember sitting in class, anatomy class specifically, and hiding the novel behind my textbook.

And I could identify with it when I was in 10th grade.

And sometimes what we do is we feel like we're sheltering students.

We're protecting them from what it is that they see every day and that they experience.

And if we're pretending like it doesn't exist, still doesn't mean that it's not there.

And so taking on a show like this head on was pretty audacious.

But I had been working with a company, the licensing company, Theatrical Rights Worldwide.

And for three years, I kept saying, I wanna do it, I wanna do the show.

And we did get special permission.

So we were the first high school in the country to produce it.

There were three that they ended up, while it was still on tour, to do it.

So in Detroit, in Atlanta, and in Charlotte.

So it was really special to do that.

- Now in the documentary, we see the parallels of kids being really excited to be at school, to be on the stage, but then after school, going to the realities of what home life looked like.

And how do you as an educator, and I'm also an educator, I just teach the older kids, the young adults.

I find though sometimes that it's hard to not cross the line of being there for your students.

Because in today's age, we know that there's a lot of sensitivity around that.

How do you not dig in too deep when you see students encountering the things that the students in the documentary encountered?

- I don't run from it.

I had an amazing mentor named Lydia Wilson, who said to me, always show them your heart, and they will show you your heart right back.

Now I know that I can't rescue every student, but I do know that I can provide a sounding board for them, I can be an advocate for them with administrators, I can sometimes be an advocate for them for their parents, and things like that, and very clearly tell them, listen, baby, I cannot solve your problems for you, but I can be here to listen.

And then also understand when a problem is bigger than what I can listen to.

So I don't avoid it, I just have to set some boundaries with them to help them understand that I'm not always the person.

- Right, but it is also important for them to recognize that there is a safe space for them to go to.

- Precisely, and sometimes that's all they need.

You know, you don't have perspective when you're going through it.

You get perspective when you're on the other side of it.

And so I often tell people all around me, like, you're experiencing this right now, and I am here to love you while you're experiencing it.

And then when you get to the other side, I want you to look back and think about what it is that you overcame.

- Yeah, and I know people are like, all this through the arts, but the arts is just a vehicle.

- It is.

- And we'll talk a little bit later about the importance of these programs in schools, but first, you know, there were so many students that I wanted to highlight, 'cause I was like, I wanna talk about this kid, and this kid, and this kid, but Makai was one that stuck out so much to me, and I wanted to take a look at the first moment where I kind of fell in love with Makai's story.

So here's a look at that.

- It's been me, my mom, and my sister really against the world for a very long time, so my dad wasn't around.

I feel like if I didn't have the arts, I probably would be off doing some God knows what, you know?

So I feel like the arts keeps me grounded, and it gives me motivation to stay out of trouble, and it gives me motivation to do the right thing, and to make sure that college and academics is a priority.

I don't even know what I would do if I didn't have Northwest.

Me and Phillip talk about it sometimes, because I don't even know what I'd be going just straight into the workforce, you know?

I mean, like, surviving, but not completely happy.

I know I wouldn't have, I wouldn't feel like I had a purpose.

It would just be a completely different life for me right now.

♪ So tell me how a man do good ♪ ♪ When all he do is bad ♪ I was important to show as Mister that he's not evil.

He's been hurt, and I think that's what I see in my family.

Hurt people who have to try harder to give love.

People only lash out or show hatred when they've been hurt, you know?

There are some serious issues that our students face, and when we go into theater, and you talk about emotional memory, you talk about sense memory, you talk about all of those elements of acting that where you're trying to tap into yourself and become more of yourself through this other character.

As a director, I walk a tightrope.

I'm trying to get their best without it tearing them to pieces.

I have to hate casting in the face, and I really don't like that part.

I don't, when I go off stage, I'm conflicting with myself.

I'm like, you know, Makai, you gotta understand, it's just acting, but I get mad at myself 'cause I hate it when I see stuff like domestic violence.

I don't like that, so having to do it myself as a character is definitely a trial and a process.

♪ I'm a bad, I'm a bad, bad, bad ♪ ♪ Say it right to me ♪ ♪ I'm a bad, I'm a bad, bad, bad ♪ - Mister didn't have the father that he needed, and it really shows in how he treated the women around him.

So I felt like that's what I drew on for Mister, the missing father figure.

Mister and I had something in common.

[sad music] - Why you do this?

- Theater is not instant.

You do have to dig deeper.

You have to find that, and there is a lot of pressure, and I do apply a lot of pressure to say, dig deeper.

Mister Mitchell gives us a thick soul and thin skin so that we can be affected by what we're doing, but still be able to withstand it.

- Thick skin is what he said that you gave.

How do you give them that thick skin?

- Ooh, I wish I knew, 'cause then I would write a book.

[laughing] But it really is support.

It's setting high expectations for everyone.

I truly believe that people live up to what you expect out of them, and if you expect very little, they give very little.

But if you expect big things, then they also dare to dream and to try to achieve big things.

And this young man, I'm so in awe of him.

He did graduate from UNC School of the Arts.

He is now a filmmaker.

He wrote this gorgeous film called That's God is Own, as in God Bless the Child that's Got His Own, and it's about a young woman who is deaf and is at the funeral of her grandmother, and her father comes home from prison for the funeral, and he offered me a part in his movie.

- Oh, you did it!

- It was, it was really lovely.

- That's rewarding.

- Yes.

- Wow, so you said something earlier about, oh, I wanna quote you correctly, but essentially, if you believe in them, if they don't believe in themselves, then you see that fall.

- In another clip that I want to show, there was a moment where Makai didn't think that he made the cast.

- Yeah.

- So I wanna show that clip because of the reaction afterwards.

- Okay.

- We're gonna do callbacks Wednesday, so you can either check Facebook or check before school Wednesday morning, okay?

- I checked Facebook last night and I saw the callback list at about 10.30, and I was kinda disappointed, I haven't seen my name on it.

I inadvertently left Makai's name off the list.

So this morning when I posted the list, he seemed very crestfallen.

Where's Makai?

Come here.

So I had to tell him personally.

Yes, I do need you, actually, I definitely need you right now.

[Makai laughs] Okay.

[Makai screams] All right, don't be funny, you stupid boy.

Okay.

[Makai screams] Okay, yes, I do need you on call.

- Okay.

- Okay?

- Yeah, all right, that's great.

Yeah, I'm here, I'm here.

- All right, go ahead.

- I mean, I've, again, I've watched every piece of this like over and over and over, but tears come to my eyes every single time, because you saw the defeat, and then you saw the triumph in his face, you know?

And he was so grateful, he was so appreciative, and that hug, describe that moment.

- Oh my gosh, that's one of the best hugs I've ever received in my whole life.

I am not going to lie, because it genuinely was an accident.

It genuinely was, and I try to have other people double-check behind me to make sure, and that was a missed moment, and they just happened to be there that day.

And Makai wears his heart on his sleeve.

When he loves, he loves big.

When he's angry, he's angry big.

And when he's sad, he's sad big, yeah.

- He's a performer.

- He is, he is, but he's also an empath.

And it's so beautiful to have someone like that in your life who feels all of it, because we build walls around ourselves, and we try really hard not to let people see the cracks.

And it's beautiful to have someone that will show you those cracks, yeah.

- You know, some people will say the school did it, the program did it, and some people say, no, it was the student, it was their talent.

What do you feel?

Is it the school creating the kids, or is it the kids creating the program?

- You know, two things can be true.

Two things can be true.

It's wonderful, we all have so much potential inside of us, but it really is dependent upon how much we can allow and how much we can push to let some of those things out.

Of course, that inherent talent was there.

He was a sophomore during those auditions, because we held the auditions just before school was out, cast the show, and then we brought the students back in two weeks before school started at the end of the summer to start rehearsing the show.

So he was a sophomore in that moment.

I could see the talent already from his freshman year, yes.

- Well, this was recognized, the program and department was recognized.

You got a Tony Award, which is crazy.

So I wanna relive that moment.

We see you accepting the first ever in excellence in theater education Tony Award.

So let's take a look at that.

- We're just outside of the red carpet at Radio City Music Hall, and I'm about to walk into the 69th annual Tony Awards.

- The first ever winner of the excellence in theater education award presented by Carnegie Mellon University and the Tony Awards from Charlotte, North Carolina's Northwest School of the Arts, teacher Corey Mitchell.

[audience applauding] [audience cheering] - Thank you.

Thank you all.

I don't accept this just for me.

I accept this on the behalf of every theater teacher and every young student out there who aspires to this stage and to Broadway.

Thank you for legitimizing us.

Theater education matters and art matters.

And we thank you.

Good night.

[audience applauding] - Theater education matters, art matters.

But let me first say, you got a kiss on the cheek from Angela from "Who's the Boss?"

[laughing] I was like, oh my gosh.

[laughing] But it does, it matters, right?

So quickly, let's talk about what happens when arts aren't supported in our school systems.

- I say this often.

Arts is the heart of, it's the heartbeat of our country, is the conscience of our country.

It is the way that we connect to each other.

We're disconnected because we don't understand each other's stories.

And theater is one of those great connectors, not only because we're sitting together in a room experiencing the same thing.

I mean, we can go to a football game and experience the euphoria together, or the defeat, depending on which team you support.

We can experience that together.

But in much the same way, we experience this in theater.

Those evenings at the Color Purple, the audience, it felt like church.

Because they're with us so much.

And when we ignore that, that's where the disconnection comes.

That's where our disparate and, and weird and sad lives come into play.

Because we're not aspiring for something that is on a different astral plane.

The arts are like that.

Sports are visceral.

They're physical.

And so it is that base reaction that we have.

We love wrestling because we want the fight.

But we also need the ethereal part, the brainy part of that to balance us.

And that's what the arts does.

- Well, I'd be remiss if I didn't give you an opportunity to talk about the Theater Gap Initiative.

'Cause you are no longer an instructor at Northwest, and you started the Theater Gap Initiative.

- Well, that happened in 2020, after George Floyd.

And the unrest after that.

All of these, okay, yes.

We experience a lot of looking at industries.

And what I was thinking about is how we're, there's a pipeline that's missing from high school to college for our young artists.

And that's what the Theater Gap Initiative does.

They work with students in their gap year to get them into BFA acting and musical theater programs.

It is unique.

There's nothing like it in the country.

- And folks can go to the theatergap.org.

- And look us up.

We always need support.

We're just like UNC-TV.

(laughing) - Thank you.

- Thank you.

- Corey, thank you so much.

That was, I mean, make sure you catch the documentary on PBS to watch the full thing.

But that was such an experience.

And I'm just grateful for you being a person in this space.

- Thank you.

- Thank you.

And I thank you for watching.

If you want more content like this, we invite you to engage with us on Instagram using the hashtag #BlackIssuesForum.

You can also find our full episodes on pbsnc.org/blackissuesforum and on the PBS video app.

I'm Kenia Thompson.

I'll see you next time.

[upbeat music] ♪ - Quality public television is made possible through the financial contributions of viewers like you who invite you to join them in supporting PBS NC.