March 6, 2020
Lin-Manuel Miranda Charity Pledges $1 Million To Theater Scholarships For Students of Color
There is definitely plenty of Hamiltons to distribute to this cause. Broadway sensation Lin-Manuel Miranda has committed $1 million to provide scholarships for the Eugene O’Neill Theater Center’s National Theater Institute, according to Deadline.
Miranda will make a 10-year, $1 million commitment from his Miranda Family Fund to provide scholarships for the National Theater Institute, the Eugene O’Neill Theater Center’s six-semester program designed to prepare students for work in the theater industry.
“We see Lin-Manuel Miranda’s influence, inspiration, and artistry every day in our classrooms,” the Institute’s artistic director Rachel Jett told Deadline. “The Miranda family’s decade-long commitment ensures that NTI’s unique multi-disciplinary training is available to everyone. And that our ensembles—and the audiences that support their work—represent the multitude of voices that will keep this ever-evolving art form vibrant, relevant, and revolutionary.”
The Eugene O’Neill Theater Center announced the news on its Facebook account: “Exciting news for our National Theater Institute today! The Miranda Family Fund has made a $1 million dollar commitment to provide scholarships for students of color to attend NTI!”
“Access is an obstacle for many people looking to pursue a career in the arts, particularly those of color,” said Miranda, an alumnus of the O’Neill’s 2005 National Music Theater Conference “My time at the O’Neill was integral to me learning how to tell my story. My family and I hope that this financial commitment will help the O’Neill to continue incorporating an increasingly diverse pool of creators and performers to their unique and impactful programming for years to come.“
According to the theater, the 10-year commitment will ensure that the Institute can “advance access, opportunity, and representation in American culture,” and that the Miranda Family Fund is “helping to actively and permanently transform and diversify the American cultural landscape through investment in young artists and with the shared belief that the stories told and the artists who tell them should represent the diversity of the nation.”
The Miranda Family Fund, established in 2017, has to date supported the training of 40 students of color at the institute.