Friday, March 18, 2016
USITT Names Gateway 2016 Class
Stage Directions: USITT selected 12 theatre artists from groups underrepresented in live entertainment production for their Gateway mentorship program at USITT 2016 in Salt Lake City. Part of USITT’s Diversity and Inclusion Initiative to foster diversity, equity, and inclusion in the backstage arts, the Gateway Program pairs 12 emerging artists with professional mentors from similar backgrounds and career paths to maximize each mentee’s experience at the USITT Conference & Stage Expo and beyond.
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This is fantastic. AS I have previously said almost every week over the past several months, diversity is a monumental challenge that the theater industry faces today. "Hamilton" is celebrated for it's monumental strides in displaying racial diversity onstage. The latest revival of "Spring Awakening" by Deaf West Theater brought Deaf and hard of hearing actors onstage, as well as an actress who uses a wheelchair. It is extremely important today to represent everyone on stage and screen. But, diversity is also a huge problem backstage. The vast majority of theater professionals are white. Most IATSE members are male. At CMU, we just had a production of Anthony and Cleopatra, re-imagined as an illustration of a black woman's life, which had an entirely white creative team. This is a problem, and since we're not on stage, it isn't always seen. Needless to say, I am thrilled that this program exists and is doing its best to change the state of diversity backstage.
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