Lin-Manuel Miranda Family Fund Commits $1M To Theater Scholarships For Students Of Color

Greg Evans
·3 min read

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Lin-Manuel Miranda’s Miranda Family Fund has made a 10-year $1 million commitment 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.

The Miranda Family Fund supports scholarships to further the inclusion of artists of color across all disciplines of theater, and also has been active in post-Hurricane Maria relief and rebuilding efforts in Puerto Rico.

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“We see Lin-Manuel Miranda’s influence, inspiration, and artistry everyday in our classrooms,” said the Institute’s Artistic Director Rachel Jett. “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.”

According to the announcement, the 10-year commitment will ensure that the Institute will be able “to 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 was established in 2017, and to date has supported the training of 40 students of color at the Institute.

In 2005, Miranda held a workshop of In the Heights at the O’Neill’s National Music Theater Conference. “My time at the O’Neill was integral to me learning how to tell my story,” the Hamilton creator said. “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.“

Said Miranda, “Access is an obstacle for many people looking to pursue a career in the arts, particularly those of color.”

In addition to the playwright, the Miranda Family Fund is operated by his wife Vanessa Nadal, parents Luis A. Miranda, Jr. and Dr. Luz Towns-Miranda, sister Luz Miranda-Crespo and her husband Luis Crespo.

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