- [Beatrice] They have dreams of Broadway and the theater.

- It's way deeper than just singing and dancing.

It's about the emotion and the passion that you have to create that art on stage.

- [Beatrice] Dreams of the process of the dance and singing on stage.

- I ended up doing chorus and dancing.

That was like my main two until I got out of high school and I wanted to continue my path into just acting, performing arts and everything.

- [Beatrice] They aspire to higher heights to be a part of actual Broadway productions like the ones emulated by the High School Blumey Awards.

But what happens to students who want to go on to be on that stage professionally?

How do they approach the college life?

The answer?

The Theater Gap Initiative.

- What it really is, is... an opportunity for a shot at having a life in the arts.

What TGI does is we not only build their skills, we build their artistry.

And those are two different things.

- [Beatrice] A lifelong teacher, including an extended teaching stint at Northwest School of the Arts in Charlotte, Cory Mitchell has also been a performer in the arts field.

Four years ago, he began this nonprofit program as a way to aid students who want bachelor of fine arts degrees in college, but did not know what path to take to achieve their goal.

- Some of the schools that they aspire towards only have about a 2% acceptance rate into their programs.

It is literally happening in their gap year.

So they take a year off between high school and college to work this.

- [Beatrice] The gap year, when many students take time between high school and college, is a time these students are now honing their fine art skills.

It's during the seven month Theater Gap Initiative program that they receive training from Working Professionals Weekly in addition to individual training sessions.

Students are dually enrolled in TGI and CPCC, where all classes take place.

(bluesy music) Dancing, acting, voice work, pre-screens for auditions.

Students also earn college or continuing education credits in music from Central Piedmont.

For Elana, TGI provided the additional artistic lift that she needed.

- I'm not really getting the extensive training that I really need and really want in order to get further into my career.

And so when I heard about this, it was way more beneficial for me as like a student and a person.

- [Beatrice] Yet they know the road they've chosen is not easy.

In 2017, an Actor's Equity study showed that under 8% of principal contracts went to African Americans and less than 2% to Asian Americans.

The goal is to increase the number of working minority professionals.

- My whole life I've been doing theater in Dayton, Ohio, I've been doing different organizations.

And when I heard about this program, I was like, this could be my next step of becoming who I want to be, who I'm destined to be, or who I'm called to be.

So this is like another home for me.

- [Beatrice] Students like Ka'Vaughn come from across the country for this program.

It lasts from August to March at a cost of just over $7,000.

That covers Central Piedmont's tuition, the TGI program and trips to the CAP auditions in St. Louis, as well as attendance to the National Unified Auditions in New York City.

- 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7.

And one.

- One of the reasons why I think it's very important for students in the gap year to take this course is because this is teaching for the camera, acting for the camera.

- [Beatrice] Students also train with noted Hollywood talent.

This session, singer and actress Maria Howell from "The Color Purple" and other movies and television productions.

Lessons in voice and movement for the actor on camera are all in her toolbox for the students.

And her advice make the most of the options they have.

- There are lots of auditioning opportunities and even when they're trying to do, they're auditioning for the performing arts schools, to make the audition process and maximize the effectiveness of that audition, it really helps a lot for them to know the techniques of camera work as opposed to just regular stage work.

- Beatrice Mitchell has done a TEDx talk, says he wants students of color to not be left out of the art scene in college.

And he points out these students bring something with them to this program and to the arts.

- There is a great leveler, which is talent.

You can't buy talent, you can't.

And so there is a mutual respect among the students because the unifying factor is talent.

- [Beatrice] The point of this program is to foster diversity and inclusion within the performing arts industry.

And in case you were wondering just how many have been successful in getting to college.

- Every single student that we've had every year has been accepted and had multiple acceptances to college.

- [Beatrice] If the proof is in the pudding, the Theater Gap Initiative is serving up a first class meal.

For "Carolina Impact," I'm Bea Thompson.