{"id":19072,"date":"2020-10-01T07:46:39","date_gmt":"2020-10-01T11:46:39","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.colleges-fenway.org\/?p=19072"},"modified":"2020-10-01T10:31:53","modified_gmt":"2020-10-01T14:31:53","slug":"hamilton-actor-speaks-to-cof-community-about-diversity-in-the-arts","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.colleges-fenway.org\/hamilton-actor-speaks-to-cof-community-about-diversity-in-the-arts\/","title":{"rendered":"Hamilton Actor speaks to COF Community about Diversity in the Arts"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Hamilton<\/em><\/strong> Actor speaks to COF Community about Diversity in the Arts<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

By\nKristen Duffy Young<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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On Monday, September 21st, the Emmanuel\nCollege Theater Arts Program, in partnership with the Colleges of the Fenway\nCenter for Performing Arts, welcomed Broadway actor and Hamilton<\/em> star Austin Scott, for \u201cAn Evening with Austin Scott:\nDiscussing Diversity in Contemporary Theater.\u201d This Zoom event was moderated by Emmanuel\nTheater Arts Program Director, Scott Gagnon, and included questions from\nstudents.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The event drew over 50 students, faculty and\nstaff from Emmanuel College and the larger COF Community. Austin Scott engaged\nthe audience with his thoughtful responses and down to earth demeanor. He\nshared stories about what it was like to work on Broadway and the challenges he\nfaced as an artist of color. Scott encouraged students to speak up and advocate\nfor a more diverse representation not only in theater casts but also in\nleadership roles such as Director and Producer. He noted that while Hamilton<\/em> has made great strides for\nartists of color, the theater industry has a long way to go. One show with a\ncast of BIPOC artists does not make up for years of inequality.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The impetus for this event stemmed from a\ndepartmental discussion in June, when EC faculty and students gathered via Zoom\nto reflect on the Black Lives Matter Movement. They brainstormed ways in which\nthey could create change and many new initiatives emerged. One idea was to\ninvite BIPOC artists to speak about the challenges they face in professional\ntheater. Sophomore Kelly Kazorek immediately thought of Austin Scott and\nreached out to him via e-mail.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kazorek first made contact with Scott in 2018\nduring the Boston tour of Hamilton<\/em>.\nUpon meeting him she asked if she could conduct an interview for her high\nschool paper. Kazorek noted, \u201cAt the time I was a senior and was shocked that a\nknown actor agreed to be interviewed for my high school newspaper. I never\nimagined I would be able to reach out to him two years later during a global\npandemic, and help educate those of us looking to enter the professional\ntheater world, about social injustices. I was in shock when he responded\nmoments later!\u201d Scott was thrilled to accept the invitation and a date was set.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Students commented that the discussion with\nScott left them feeling inspired and empowered to advocate for change. Kazorek\nsaid, \u201cThis event will always mean a lot to me as it happened during one of the\nhardest times for our discipline due to the pandemic, but it also gave us as a\ncommunity time to reflect.\u201d She said Scott shed light on the fact that, \u201cWhile\nthe stage is empty, we can all use our spotlights to fix the issues we see in\nthe world. Our generation will follow those spotlights and maybe we can help\nmake right so many of the wrongs as we head back to the stage in the near\nfuture.\u201d \u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Hamilton Actor speaks to COF Community about Diversity in the Arts By Kristen Duffy Young On Monday, September 21st, the Emmanuel College Theater Arts Program, in partnership with the Colleges of the Fenway Center for Performing Arts, welcomed Broadway actor and Hamilton star Austin Scott, for \u201cAn Evening with Austin Scott: Discussing Diversity in Contemporary 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