Lin-Manuel Miranda Unveils Initiative to Foster Diversity in Theater Employment with RISE

NEW YORK (AP) — The creator of the award-winning musical “Hamilton,” Lin-Manuel Miranda, hopes to foster diversity on Broadway and theaters across the United States with a new initiative announced Thursday.

The Network for Representation, Inclusion and Support of Theater Employment (RISE) will publish a directory of non-acting professionals in the theater to make it easier for them to obtain employment, from stagehands to producers and managing directors.

“Since 2020 there has been a lot of talk about diversity and change,” Miranda told The Associated Press. The directory appears “in a really wonderful time in which the theater, as a system, has learned to say the right thing.”

“You have to support that,” he said.

According to a 2021 report from the Coalition of Asian American Performers, which studied Broadway’s 2018-2019 season, 100% of managing directors and 94% of producers were white. White actors played 80% of the leading roles in musicals and 90% in dramas.

Steps have since been taken to encourage diversity in theatre, most notably with a 2021 deal brokered by Teatro Negro Unido and Broadway shows and its traveling productions.

With RISE, Miranda wants to make it easier for productions looking for non-acting employees to find diverse applicants.

“The goal of “RISE is to make sure that that beautiful mosaic of people that you see—if you see a production of ‘Hamilton’ or a production of ‘MJ (The Musical)’ or ‘Fat Ham’ on Broadway—is also reflected behind the scenes. , which is not just the people in the spotlight,” Miranda said. “Because there are incredibly talented theater students and carpenters and makeup artists and wardrobe people who deserve that opportunity.”