Working in partnership with the Broadway Advocacy Coalition, the scholarship will provide a group of undergraduate students with seminars on leadership, social justice and community building as well as the possibility of one-on-one mentorship from a leader in the field.
3 comments:
Cody Renard Richard rocks. He's a really great guy with a really strong career and its amazing to see him trying to uplift the educational side of stage management. Sure, you can definitely go into this business without any theater education let alone stage management education, but some of us spent a lot of time at institutions trying to prove that this is in fact a learned and scholarly skill. One of the biggest eye roll moments for me was when I saw this picture of almost all the NYC stage managers taking a picture and it really just looked it snowed in Times Square. The amount of gatekeeping that occurs in this industry is profound and I think that efforts like this can and should go even further to try and get more stage managers of color. One of my least favorite things to do in this business is the groveling style of networking that stage management thrives on. I personally don't like begging these type A, in love with their planner type of white stage managers for jobs. It's people like Cody who I would go to ask for a job- so thanks man for clearing the way.
I do not personally know Cody Renard Richard, but he seems like an amazing person. I remember my first introduction to him was a sort of Humans of New York post, but for Broadway. Him speaking about being true to oneself stuck with me and I am so glad that it did not seem to be just a thing to say for publicity. Following his social media and seeing him start this scholarship fund has been truly inspiring. It is so important that this exists because theatre is already a difficult career to break into partly because it is so expensive. It takes a certain amount of financial privilege to 1: study theatre, but also 2: to move to New York and work on Broadway or Off-Broadway. Any amount that a scholarship can give to a BIPOC student is 100% worth it to help make the theatre industry, especially within stage management which, as Shahzad said above, tends to be white/white passing people.
This is awesome! I always felt somewhat discouraged being an Asian-American woman plunging into an industry where there is so little representation. Although, apart from the kitchen, Asian-American women get no representation… Regardless, especially with my current interest in stage management, I’d love to be a trailblazer for my people. What Cody Renard Richard is doing is amazing. Every little bit helps, whether it be merely an advocate for BIPOC tech careers, or a scholarship like this. I never even considered how I probably won’t have a mentor that looks/lived a life like mine and has a similar cultural story. I would love to be that person for the next generation though, which is exactly why I think Cody Renard Richard is on the exact right page. I am interested in this scholarship myself. Maybe I should check it out…
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