The winners of The Prince Fellowship were announced September 7 following a nearly six-month selection process. Osh Ghanimah will receive the newly named The Prince Fellowship, formerly known as The T. Fellowship, with Lawryn LaCroix selected for the Prince/TTLP Fellowship.
Fellows will receive a stipend and a budget for the development of a new theatrical production, access to courses in Columbia’s MFA Theatre Management and Producing Program, and mentorship from producers and industry specialists.
The Prince Fellowship selected two fellows this year, one funded through its new partnership with The Theatre Leadership Project, a new nonprofit working to install Black leadership in commercial theatre through three-year, paid fellowships. The TTLP founding members are producers Barbara Broccoli, Lia Vollack, Alecia Parker, Patrick Daly, and Travis Ballenger.
“Osh brings a fantastic energy and vibrant creativity to the work of theatrical producing,” said Prince Fellowship mentor Sue Frost. “I am so looking forward to his contributions to our community.”
Ghanimah is an associate producer at the Frederick Zollo Company and a co-producer of three upcoming Broadway musicals, including Sing Street. He is also a writing contributor on the multi-theatre collaboration American Dreams. In 2012, he founded Broadway For All, an equity, diversity, and inclusion national training program and movement for the arts and entertainment industry. A Teach For America alum, the producer holds a BA in Theatre and English Literature and a BS in Education from Loyola University Chicago and an MFA in Acting from Harvard University.
“TTLP is thrilled to be supporting Lawryn's journey over the next three years,” said program manager Leah Harris. “Lawyrn is a multi-talented artist who will add immense value to our field as a creative producer for years to come.”
LaCroix is a performer and producer, who recently appeared in Sinners at the Playground Theatre in London. She also recently produced the digital playwright fest Scranton Scratch Night. She is a graduate of the MA Creative Producing program at The Mountview Academy of Theatre Arts and the BFA acting program at Marymount Manhattan College. LaCroix’s work exists in and explores the female space; she started her production company Pinkhouse Productions in 2017.
In addition to Frost, the current Prince Fellowship Mentors are Kristin Caskey, Tom Schumacher, Jeffrey Seller, and David Stone. The program is managed by Columbia University School of the Arts with additional support provided by The Broadway League and The John Gore Organization. It is managed by co-directors Orin Wolf, Steven Chaikelson, and Aaron Glick.
The Prince Fellowship is also expanding its advisory group of industry specialists who will serve as additional resources for the fellows. The advisors group includes Victoria Bailey, Christopher Burney, Lisa Dawn Cave, Nina Essman, Kamilah Forbes, Robert Fried, Colleen Jennings-Roggensack, Brian Moreland, Julio Peterson, Lisa Poyer, Natasha Sinha, Donna Walker-Kuhne, Schele Williams, and Kumiko Yoshii.
The 2021 Prince Fellowship year runs from September 2021 through August 2022. Prospective applicants can click here for more information about the program.
