Taye Diggs’ Nov. 11 Mayer Talk Launches Sinatra 2018-19 Residency
"Explorations of your Passions" showcases actor, artist, innovator
Santa Clara, CA — Acclaimed performer Taye Diggs kicks off his year-long appointment as 2018-19 Frank Sinatra Artist-in-Residence at Santa Clara University with a performance on November 11 at 7 p.m. at the Louis B. Mayer Theatre.
Diggs’ talk, “Explorations of Your Passions,” will examine how he has managed his theatre and television career, navigated Hollywood and Broadway as a man of color, and remained passionate about his ongoing projects.
Diggs will center his 2018-19 Residency on working with students on performance practice. In addition to leading master-level acting classes, the All American star could potentially help with auditions for campus shows, perform with the SCU choir, and give an on-campus reading from Mixed Me! and Chocolate Me!, his latest children’s book.
A seasoned and talented actor, singer, choreographer, author, and co-artistic director of the dance company Dre.dance, Diggs is perhaps best known for his role as Benjamin “Benny” Coffin III in the 1996 Tony Award- and Pulitzer Prize-winning musical RENT. He also starred in Hedwig and the Angry Inch, which won the Outer Critics Circle Award for Best Off-Broadway Musical. Diggs starred in the TV series Private Practice and the films How Stella Got Her Groove Back, Brown Sugar, and The Best Man.
About the Frank Sinatra Chair in the Performing Arts
The Frank Sinatra Chair in the Performing Arts was established in 1980 and funded initially by the 14th Annual Golden Circle Theatre Party, at which Frank Sinatra headlined. Since 2016, in association with the College of Arts and Sciences Center for the Arts and Humanities, the Sinatra Chair in the Performing Arts has hosted several artists-in-residence with the goal of providing new opportunities and avenues for student learning. For more information about the Frank Sinatra Chair in the Performing Arts, please contact Christina Zanfagna and Dennis Gordon, co-directors of the Center for the Arts and Humanities.