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The 'Unbreakable' Tituss Burgess in town

Broadway veterans help teach kids the path to stardom this week at the Kimmel.

THE "FAAAABULOUS" Emmy-nominated Tituss Burgess, from "The Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt," and Alex Newell, from Fox's musical comedy "Glee," are at the Kimmel Center this week teaching young Broadway aspirants the "Great White Way" forward.

The Broadway Dreams Foundation, in partnership with the Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts, is in the midst of a week-long musical theater "intensive," during which Philly's most promising young performers will receive guidance from Burgess, Newell and others, including some of the industry's top directors and choreographers, all under one roof.

"What a great opportunity to combine all my love [for theater] and offer young hopefuls a glimpse into what I've been able to do," Burgess told me yesterday.

"There are a lot of things that you just will not learn in college that students need to hear - like how to be an adult and what it means to be living paycheck to paycheck," he said. "Very real information where the pink smoke is removed from the mystique of the coveted role on Broadway and we get down to the nitty-gritty and talk about where to live, and living below your means, etc."

Annette Tanner, executive producer of BDF, called the Kimmel Center a "second home" to the foundation. She said the Philly program is the largest of all their summer initiatives, which provides students with first-rate training in acting, dance and vocal technique.

Prepare to do 'Da Butt'

The Nicetown Community Service Development Corp. will host its 13th annual "Give Back" community festival and concert this weekend, featuring the '80s and '90s hit band EU, as in Experience Unlimited.

"Prepare to do 'Da Butt,' " said Gregory "Sugar Bear" Elliot, frontman for EU.

That song charted at number 35 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1988, following Spike Lee's putting it on the soundtrack of "School Daze" that same year.

The "Give Back" community festival is a celebration of economic development, arts and culture in the Nicetown community. The free festival runs tomorrow from 3 to 10 p.m. and Saturday from noon to 9 p.m. at Nicetown Park (4300 Germantown Ave.).

CBS3 newbie and oldies

Welcome Alexandria Hoff to CBS3.

The blonde beauty is the latest to join the Eyewitness News team as a permanent general-assignment reporter. She's been freelancing at the station since March.

Hoff most recently worked as a reporter and anchor at WHTM-TV, the ABC station in Harrisburg, and at WHAG-TV in Hagerstown, Md.

A native of South Jersey, Hoff is a 2010 graduate of Quinnipiac University, in Hamden, Conn., and holds a bachelor of arts degree in journalism and political science. She may be part of a new round of hires at the station.

And two CBS3 alumni have made it to news reporting on a global scale.

Oren Liebermann, who joined CBS3 and the CW Philly's Eyewitness News team in 2010, will be working as a correspondent for CNN International, based in its Jerusalem bureau. Matt Rivers, whose last day is today, will be based in CNN International's Beijing bureau.

Scholly creator a total Geek

A local guy who appeared on ABC's "Shark Tank" in March has earned another notch in his belt by being named a nominee for the 2015 Philly Geek Awards.

Chris Gray is the 23-year-old entrepreneur and designer of Scholly, a mobile app that helps students quickly search for college scholarships.

Gray was recently named one of the Startup of the Year nominees by the local blog Geekadelphia, and the Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel University (1900 Ben Franklin Parkway).

Tickets went on sale Monday for the fifth annual Geek Awards, which are celebrated during a black-tie, red-carpet affair at the Academy on Aug. 15. Purchase tickets at the Philadelphia Geek Awards official website, phillygeekawards.com.

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