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The Prince Fellowship Announces 2024-2025 Fellows
George Strus has received The Prince Fellowship and Eric Emauni has received the Prince/TTLP Fellowship.
By: A.A. Cristi Aug. 13, 2024
The Prince Fellowship, in association with Columbia University School of the Arts, has announced that George Strus has received The Prince Fellowship and Eric Emauni has received the Prince/TTLP Fellowship.
The late Broadway producer and director created the program, originally known as the T. Fellowship, to usher in the next generation of creative producers. Selected fellows receive a stipend and a budget for the development of a new theatrical production, access to courses in Columbia's MFA Theatre Management & Producing Program and mentorship from prominent producers and industry specialists.
Additional support for The Prince Fellowship is generously provided by The Organization and The Broadway League.
Current Prince Fellowship Mentors are , , , and . The program is managed by Columbia University School of the Arts.
The Prince Fellowship also utilizes an expanded advisory group of industry specialists who serve as additional resources for the fellows, by sharing their expertise and perspective and complementing the existing mentorship and academic curriculum.
The Fellowship was founded in 2005. Shortly thereafter, and John Pinkard were awarded the first two T. Fellowships in 2006. Other past recipients are (2013), Jen Hoguet (2015), (2016), Allison Bressi (2017), (2018) and (2019), (2021), Lawryn LaCroix (2021), Jamila Ponton Bragg (2022), Cynthia L. Dorsey (2022), (2023) and Amy Marie Haven (2023).
The 2024 Prince Fellowship year will run from September 2024 through August 2025. For more information on the program and to sign up to receive notifications about future application deadlines, please visit https://princefellowship.com/apply/.
The Prince Fellowship is managed by Co-Directors (President of ), (Head of the MFA Theatre Management & Producing Program at the Columbia University School of the Arts), (Producer, Former T. Fellow) and (Producer, Former T. Fellow).
The Prince/TTLP Fellow is funded through its partnership with The Theatre Leadership Project (TTLP), a nonprofit working to install BIPOC leadership in commercial theatre through three-year, paid fellowships. TTLP founding members are producers , , , and .
ABOUT THE PRINCE FELLOWSHIP
The goal of the Fellowship is to support the development of gifted emerging creative theatrical producers. The Prince Fellowship is committed to sustaining the finest traditions of producing by exposing new talent to the producing process in a manner that supports creative involvement. Although the environment in which theatre is produced continues to change, many of the underlying challenges and principles remain and must be understood and adapted if the art form is to thrive.
The Fellowship is a project-based program that supports the development of the chosen fellow and their project over the course of one year. Each fellow is given access to a selection of courses in the MFA Theatre Management & Producing Program at Columbia University School of the Arts. The specific courses are chosen to best support the fellow's growth. In addition, each fellow receives structured mentorship from a handful of industry leaders who specialize in creative producing and related fields. The goal is to provide consistent mentorship tailored to the needs of the individual fellow. Through these academic and professional support systems, the program aims to empower the fellows as they begin exercising their new skills in all the creative and business areas of development.
The philosophy is that which is good for the art form is good for business. The Fellowship emphasizes that the creative producer's role is to be the instigator, the collaborator, and the leader who gets art on the stage and to the public. The program neither wishes to turn back the clock to 1950 nor settle for the status quo. The Prince Fellowship is looking to empower new producers to reinvent the wheel themselves, on their own terms.
HISTORY
The original T. Fellowship grew out of an idea that T. Edward Hambleton first had in the mid-1990s. He imagined a program that would help foster a new generation of creative theatrical producers who would stand apart from those who were strictly financiers. He worked with , Geraldine Stutz, and the Theater Development Fund and the idea for the fellowship took shape.
The Founders believed the program would be best served under the umbrella of one of New York's top level educational institutions and approached Columbia University. The University, through at the Columbia Arts Initiative and in the Theatre Program at Columbia University School of the Arts, who further developed the vision and structure for the fellowship, provides the Fellows access to the extraordinary academic and cross-disciplinary strengths that Columbia University offers.
MENTORS AND ADVISORS
The Prince Fellowship resides in the Theatre Program at Columbia University School of the Arts. A Committee of Mentors and Advisors, including working theater professionals and members of the Theatre Management & Producing faculty, guide the activities of the Fellowship. The committee members select the Fellows and make themselves available to the Fellows on a one‐on‐one basis; additionally, they are a resource to the broader Columbia student population through participation in seminars and panel discussions.
ABOUT THE FELLOWS
George Strus (they/them) is a Tony Award-nominated and Obie Award-winning non-binary Latiné producer and dramaturg based in New York. They were a proud co-producer of the 2023 off-Broadway world premiere production of 's final musical, Here We Are, and the Broadway premieres of , , and ' Illinoise (2024 Tony Nomination) and 's Oh, Mary! Upcoming co-producing credits include 's Romeo + Juliet. Other producing projects in development include Moisés Kaufman and Sasha Velour's Velour: A Drag Spectacular, 's Bigfoot, 's The Frogs (UK), and others to be announced. Additionally, they founded Breaking the Binary Theatre: a new work development and community building hub for transgender, non-binary, and Two-Spirit+ theatermakers. They also currently serve as the Project Director at Meena Harris' Phenomenal Theatre Fund and Producers Cohort Program Facilitator at The Tank. www.georgestrus.com
Eric Emauni (he/him) is a Tony nominated producer, world builder, and Founder of Iconic Vizion Productions; creating transformative spaces for artists and fueling truth. Originally from Milwaukee, WI, he has been fortunate to work with esteemed cultural institutions such as Harlem Stage, , Manhattan Theatre Club, LAByrinth Theater Company, The TEAM, National Black Theatre, And PAC NYC. He has also worked with several commercial producing offices including Productions. Eric is an alum of TedxBroadway Young Professionals, Theater Producers of Color, and Producers Academy. He is also the recipient of the AKA 500 Hour Producers of Color Initiative, the I AM SOUL Producer in Residence at National Black Theatre, Petri Project Artist with The TEAM and a Fellow Member of the Broadway League. Eric graduated from Morehouse College with a BA in Psychology and Theater and earned an MFA in Acting from LIU Post. Credits: Off-Broadway: Kinky Boots. Broadway: Is This A Room, Dana H (2 Tony Awards️), A Beautiful Noise: The Musical, Fat Ham (Pulitzer-Prize Winner, 5 Tony Nominations). For more please visit www.iconicvizion.com; IG: @iconicvizion
About the II Center for Theatre Studies at Columbia University School of the Arts
The II Center for Theatre Studies at Columbia University School of the Arts is collaborative, international, and interdisciplinary. It defines itself by its location in New York City and thrives on the extensive network of Columbia alumni and faculty who work in prestigious theatres at every level, who direct and perform in award-winning productions, and who engage with our students far beyond the classroom. The Theatre MFA programs in Acting, Directing, Playwriting, Dramaturgy, Stage Management, and Theatre Management & Producing seek students who have the talent, vision, and commitment to become exceptional artists. At the School of the Arts, students interact with the leading creators, practitioners, producers, and analysts of today's theatre, acquiring rigorous training rooted deeply in the classics, while exploring new forms and the cutting edge of theatrical art. Among the program's leading faculty are , , , , Peter , , David , Maria José Contreras Lorenzini, , David Klass, Sita Mani, , , Michael Passaro, Blair Singer, , , and W.B. Worthen. Visit arts.columbia.edu/theatre-arts for more information.
About Columbia University School of the Arts
Columbia University School of the Arts awards the Master of Fine Arts degree in Film, Theatre, Visual Arts, and Writing and the Master of Arts degree in Film and Media Studies. The School of the Arts also offers an interdisciplinary program in Sound Art and maintains a strong commitment to undergraduate education in the arts by offering majors in Creative Writing, Film and Media Studies, and Visual Arts that lead to Bachelor of Arts, awarded by Columbia College and the School of General Studies. The School is a thriving, diverse community of talented artists from around the world and a faculty comprised of acclaimed and internationally renowned artists, film and theatre directors, writers of poetry, fiction and nonfiction, playwrights, producers, critics, and scholars. In 2015, the School marked the 50th Anniversary of its founding. For more information, visit arts.columbia.edu.
ABOUT THE THEATRE LEADERSHIP PROJECT
Founded in 2020, The Theatre Leadership Project works to counteract the systematic exclusion of Black professionals in the theatre industry by creating pathways to employment at the highest levels. TTLP partners with entertainment and key organizations to fund and manage fellowship programs working to advance Black commercial theatre leaders. The TTLP advisory council includes , , , , Aaliytha Stevens, , Robert Fried, Stefan Schick and Olivier Sultan. For more information about TTLP, visit www.theatreleadershipproject.org
The Theatre Leadership Project is a fund of the Entertainment Industry Foundation (EIF), a Charity Navigator 4 Star Charity that meets all 20 Better Business Bureau charity standards and carries the GuideStar Platinum Seal of Transparency.
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