Maaz Ahmed receives prestigious scholarship award for future BIPOC theatre-makers
Senior Maaz Ahmed has been named one of ten recipients of the Broadway Advocacy Coalitions’ Cody Renard Richard Scholarship. Dedicated to “honoring, uplifting and supporting the next generation of Black, Asian, Latinx, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) theatre-makers working behind the scenes,” this award includes a financial grant of $8,000, mentorship, and an all-expenses paid trip to New York City to meet mentors and experience the vibrant theater scene in person.
My name is Maaz Ahmed, a senior in the College of Comm double majoring in Theatre Arts and Digital Media. I’m originally from Bettendorf, IA, one of the five Quad Cities (I don’t get it either) between Iowa and Illinois.
This scholarship is genuinely game-changing. Like, regardless of my receiving of the scholarship, the fact that this opportunity exists now would have been unheard of even five years ago. The theatrical design field, while immense and somewhat diverse, lacks the ability to support early career designers, especially early career BIPOC designers. Our current era has forced visionaries already established in the industry to discover new programs and support networks for the next generation of theatremakers — to be selected as a part of this exciting and necessary initiative is a huge honor. Programs like the Cody Renard Richard Scholarship, programs that actively support young BIPOC artists, are few and far between, so when I got word that I was selected, the only thought in my brain was “this kind of stuff doesn’t happen to people like me”. For my hard work to be affirmed by professionals in the industry I hope to join post-graduation was extremely gratifying, and I hope this program can continue to succeed and bring opportunities to other students like me.
My real favorite Marquette memory probably wouldn’t be appropriate to post on an official Marquette account (it’s really funny though!), but another great memory was at the end of the Fall 2019 semester. I had been taking the Theatre Management course offered, and our final culminated in the class fully producing an event for the public to see. We opted to put together an all female musical theatre cabaret entitled “Leading Ladies,” as we hadn’t done a full musical that semester, and our peers were itching for a chance to perform and sing. The project came together beautifully; within ten minutes of the house opening, we had filled the seats and audience members were beginning to stand against the back wall, sit on the floor, or share seats with their friends. The show was a huge success, and seeing how gratified everyone on the team was at the end of the night has stayed with me.
I hope to be in New York within the next five years, hopefully building the foundation of my career as a lighting designer- but I’ll be happy with a place to sleep and some good pals!
