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[0:00] Marjaun Canady: When I was a young person, I didn't necessarily, you know, see cinematographers or see directors, um, or know that those opportunities were very much available and alive um for me. So with my nonprofit, we try to bridge that. So, you know, young people are seeing, you know, people that look like them who are doing the creating. Um, and that's very important to me. So I feel like the young people are the ones that keep me motivated to keep doing the thing.

[0:38] Gennean Scott: Welcome to the Black Business of Broadway, a podcast brought to you by the Broadway League and Black to Broadway. Here we highlight the stories, how-tos, and successes of the black professionals and legends of Broadway. I am your host, Gennean Scott.

[1:03] Gennean Scott: Marjan Canady is a Broadway producer and award-winning Caribbean American artist, entrepreneur, educator, and mom. Her work spans theater, film, children's media, and literature. Canady is the 2023 DC Mayors Arts, Larry Neal Writers Award winner, and was also named as 2023 Woman to Watch on Broadway. Marjan's co-producing Broadway credits include The Wiz and Death of a Salesman. She was a 2021 inaugural front row fellow at Columbia University's MFA Theater Management and Producing Program. Her original work has been seen at the Kennedy Center, Sesame Street, the Smithsonian, the Lincoln Center, the National Theater, and Hooray Media. She is the founder of her production company, Cephia Works, and nonprofit Kennedy Foundation for the Arts. Canady is a graduate of Duke Ellington School of the Arts, Fordham University, and NYU Tisch School of the Arts. Welcome, Marjuan, and thank you for joining me today.

[2:01] Marjaun Canady: Thank you so much. Thanks for having me.

[2:04] Gennean Scott: So I want to begin right away. Okay, you are a native of Washington, DC with Trinidad African-American roots. You've shared about growing up in a culturally rich household full of storytelling. Was there a particular moment in your childhood when you realized you wanted to build a career in the arts?

[2:28] Marjaun Canady: That is a great question because I don't think there was an actual moment in my childhood. I have very vivid memories of inviting, you know, all my family members to come and watch me and my stuffed animals. So I feel like I have very vivid memories of that, um, and producing those little living room performances. But I think the shift really happened for me when I went to high school to Duke Ellington School of the Arts, um, which really just changed my life because I never knew you could be a professional artist. No one in my family um is in the arts. Um, I did grow up with so many rich opportunities. Um, and I was seeing a lot of art and having those experiences, but I never knew um professionally I could do that work. So um, high school was really the time for me to say, hey, like I can make a life out of this.

[3:51] Gennean Scott: You know, that is such a through line for most of our guests. They all have gotten on pretty much. I mean, nine times out of ten, they're like, I did not know that this could be a career. And I find that really interesting. I mean, and we'll get to this later on because you are doing stuff to promote this as a career for young people to kind of buck that, you know, buck that uh that notion or or lack of you know, of knowing out there within our community, and we'll get to that, but it is so interesting that you say that.

[4:34] Marjaun Canady: Yeah, absolutely. I feel like if you don't see it and you're not engaging with, you know, those professionals, it's hard for you to imagine yourself in those roles, and especially, you know, for us growing up, you know, we were in the analog age. So um, unless we were, you know, seeing it face to face, it was very hard for us or reading about it. It was hard for us to see what those possibilities were.

[5:03] Gennean Scott: Absolutely. That's all I can say. Absolutely.

[5:05] Marjaun Canady: Yes.

[5:08] Gennean Scott: But so I want to go back just a little bit because I want to talk about your literary work. So one of your works, uh Kalaloo, started off as a play before becoming a children's book. Can you talk a little bit about that initial inspiration behind the creation of this play and why you decided to make it into a children's book?

[5:33] Marjaun Canady: Absolutely. Well, this was back in 2011, I would say. And that piece really taught me everything about producing, investing. Um, you know, was the first creative piece that I um wrote myself. So um I was touring it and performing it all over the country for about two years, two or three years, and I had developed a small audience, and my audience just kept asking, like, what's next? What what are you working on next? And you know, this was my first time ever doing anything. I was uh 23, 24 at the time, and I just said, Oh, I I have to do something else. Oh, you guys really like what I'm doing. Um, mostly because I I was an actor. I I never wrote anything, I never produced anything, and I never knew again I could do those things.

Um so it really was that that small group of followers that I I had, you know, developed over over my first piece. And um, I actually I just started, you know, thinking deeper about my own heritage and where I come from being a first generation Caribbean um woman, and if you all are familiar with uh Trinidadian folklore, we have uh Laja Bless, Sukuya, Bafabois, all these characters that are very much alive in the oral tradition of how the world functions. And um, and of course, being first generation, my interpretation of it is a bit different than from young people who grew up on the island. So it really was a um it was a really spiritual piece for me because it was connecting my childhood, um, a lot of a lot of uh coming to age um elements of of me recognizing, you know, what it means to be Caribbean American. And it was so much fun. I mean, honestly, like it I I started writing the piece um, let's say in a summer in in like May, and then by August had the entire story.

[7:35] Gennean Scott: Shut up.

[7:35] Marjaun Canady: Yeah, it was very easy for me because it really was, you know, my history, my experience. Um, so yeah, I mean, the the the creative part came very easy for me. The producing part was a bit unique and challenging over the course of the the 10 years after that.

[8:31] Gennean Scott: Oh my gosh. Okay, well, you know what? We're just we're gonna get into this because we're talking about storytelling, and I want to talk a little bit about your nonprofit as the founder and executive director of um the Kennedy Foundation for the Arts. Your whole goal is to empower youth of color to be change agents, right? And through their communities, through workshops, mentorships, and live performance. Can you discuss the importance of this organization and your motivations for founding it?

[9:11] Marjaun Canady: Yeah, well, the Kennedy Foundation for the Arts really just stemmed from my own creative work. I've always connected my work that I'm doing, whether it's commercially or in community to young people and um giving back in in some form. So it really was again very natural for me to move into thinking, you know, how can we better not only produce the works that I was I was making, but also connect this work directly to young people. And it actually came from my Kalaloo Kids project, which again started as a play, then turned into a book series and into live puppetry, animation, just working across a lot of different mediums, but the educational element was really the foundation of starting my nonprofit.

So it's grown so much since 2015 when we when I founded it. But you know, since then we've impacted close to 10,000 young people across the country this past season. Um we brought about 200 kids to see The Wiz that I'm co-producing. Um 200 DC kids. And you know, for me, it's it's just a way of bringing young people to the theater, allowing them to have opportunities to explore their own voices, connecting theater storytelling to social justice, um, activating their citizenship so they feel that you know they are part of the storytelling. We provide workshops, mentorship opportunities, um, and really uplifting and engaging black and brown um experiences on stage and off stage as well.

[11:16] Marjaun Canady: So again, like we go back to, you know, when I was a young person, I didn't necessarily, you know, see cinematographers or see directors, um, or know that those opportunities were very much available and alive um for me. So with my nonprofit, we try to bridge that. So, you know, young people are seeing, you know, people that look like them who are doing the creating. Um, and that's very important to me. So I I feel like the young people are the ones that keep me motivated to keep doing the thing.

[11:54] Gennean Scott: Well, you know, I was gonna ready to ask you that. I'm like, how do you stay motivated? But it really is, right? I mean, it sounds so hokey to say, you know, I believe that children are our future, but they really are. They're gonna be who keeps this art form alive, and they're gonna be the ones who help to shape and and and make this art that we love. And so to hear you talk about what you are doing through your nonprofit organization and how you are opening up the doors for these young people to see these other professions besides being um actors you know on stage but knowing that you can do it all you know and then teaching kind of like that business aspect I salute you I mean this this is what has to happen absolutely.

[12:20] Marjaun Canady: I mean I feel like there's nothing wrong with starting off on stage you know it's very natural um to to want to perform but to know that you know there are so many other opportunities in entertainment and theater specifically um and then when we talk about you know equity and more representation um diversity it it's it really starts with behind the scenes and more specifically producing so I think naturally like I fell into it because I cared about a lot of those issues and I saw as an actor how limiting it can be and instead of taking a passive approach to well I'm just gonna wait and wait and wait for the right job to come to me I ended up creating my own work and allowing the industry to bend more to um, you know, what I wanted to do and how I wanted to represent myself and and honestly like that motivation yes it's it's it's continued um by young people but it's also I think for me knowing my history and knowing where I come from and knowing that you know Ruby D and Aussie Davis did this you know um Lorraine Hansbury did this there were there've been so many before me that um have developed their own theater companies their own production companies that I'm just simply walking in continuum with them um and and knowing that knowing that you know they survived under even worse you know societal um conditions I think that for me it's it's that is the motivation you know that I I'm walking within you know my my ancestors um had to to continue that legacy right and it's important for those young people to know those names and to know whose shoulders we stand on as well.

[12:20] Marjaun Canady: So salute to you for that. You're talking about producing, which is a perfect segue. You know, I want to talk a little bit more about your journey as a producer. You made your Broadway debut as a co-producer on Death of a Salesman, and you talked a little bit about what inspired you. And now you are doing the same with The Wiz. What are you hoping to do next? I mean, you know, what got you there, and what are you looking to do more of in that area? Yeah, well, I'm very honored to be part of these two Broadway productions that are celebrating Black storytelling and two very historic productions. So I think with Death of a Salesman, I originally got was part of that project as I was finishing up a producing fellowship at Columbia University, which was all centered in commercial producing.

It was started by two of my mentors, incredible producers, Steven Bird and Aaliyah Jones Harvey, who spearheaded that fellowship to support and train emerging Black producers in the commercial sector. So many people don't know that Aliyah is the only Black or actually woman of color lead producer on Broadway.

[16:43] Marjaun Canady: So I mean for her to mentor me and to support me, um, and Steven as well, um, on my journey it has been incredible, um, for them to, you know, not only assist me with like all of those connections, which really that is how the business functions through, um, opportunities through networking, through, you know, who's in the room watching as you develop. Um, so that entire experience, that year-long experience of being both in the classroom at Columbia but also, um, doing the work in the industry, um, was life-changing for me.

[17:26] Marjaun Canady: Um, this was in 2021. So just finishing up that, uh, fellowship, I had the opportunity to join the co-producing team of Death of a Salesman, and it was the first time I had to raise serious money.

[17:43] Marjaun Canady: And I had, um, I had no clue how to do it because part of co-producing is raising money. Um, and I really just pushed myself. I leaned into my mentors and, um, my community, and I was able to do it, and from there, um, the way it came and other opportunities commercially, and I've just been learning, you know, as I've been going. But also, you know, I've in the last couple of years being in the commercial space, I've also acknowledged that commercial producing isn't that much different from independent producing or community producing.

[18:28] Marjaun Canady: Um, so everyone who wants to get into commercial producing, I would say continue to keep doing that work, um, wherever you're producing, because a lot of the skills that I've developed in the last 15 years of producing my own work or being an independent producer has translated into the commercial space, and I think has given me a bit more edge on how I approach the business. Um, whereas traditionally in the Broadway space or touring space, there is a model to make money, and that's it.

[19:04] Marjaun Canady: Um, and yes, that is important, but there's also impact, there's also education, there's also building diverse audiences, um, creating diverse teams, both on stage and off stage. So I think a lot of that work I've been doing grassroots for a long time that I can bring that to the commercial space. So it's very exciting to, you know, like work on these bigger productions and have, um, bigger impact, but it's also important for me to stay rooted and focused on who I personally want to be coming to the theater, which are young people, young people of color, communities of color to have those experiences. So I'm very much involved in, um, strategy and community building, um, and some producers just want to raise the money and that's it, and that's fine, but I think for me, like I really, um, am dedicated in that way of making sure our communities are in those spaces and are actually having positive experiences.

[20:17] Gennean Scott: You know, two things: one, love Aaliyah, love Steven Bird, like fabulous, you couldn't have two better mentors, and I, and they are giants, and I mean, oh my gosh, so much respect, so much respect. But one of the things that I'm also seeing is a surgence of us, of Black folks coming in this producing as co-producers and then working their way up to become lead producers, and you talked about equity, and that is, I couldn't agree more, that's where it starts. That is where it starts. It starts at that table when you're putting together those teams and being a part of the strategy on how these shows are promoted and what's going on, you know, um, I couldn't agree more.

[21:13] Gennean Scott: This, that is, that's an important role, and I think people forget about how important a role producing, co-producing is in this industry, especially in the commercial sector. So I thank you for calling that out.

[21:29] Gennean Scott: Um, you were named 2023 Woman to Watch on Broadway.

[21:35] Gennean Scott: What does that mean to you to be featured among such a talented group of women in the Broadway industry?

[21:42] Marjaun Canady: I was, first of all, I was so surprised. I was calling up like all of my Broadway friends and mentors. I'm like, did you recommend me for this? How did this happen? I am so honored to, um, be recognized and to, um, to stand with really my peers, um, you know, folks that I've been collaborating with and working with for a long time and, um, to be celebrated at this high level.

[22:16] Marjaun Canady: It really is a joy for me. So I welcome it, and I am so thrilled to be part of, um, the Woman to Watch list. And I'm still trying to figure out who nominated me, but I'll take it.

[22:36] Gennean Scott: Well, it's deserved. Looking at what you've already accomplished and how successful those endeavors have been, of course you are going to succeed in this industry on Broadway, like no doubt.

[22:55] Marjaun Canady: Absolutely no doubt. So I concur that you deserve that award of 2023 Woman to Watch on Broadway.

[23:05] Gennean Scott: And I am excited to see what more things you know you have in store. Can you talk a little bit about the raising of the capital in order to put works on Broadway or in order to produce independently?

[23:26] Gennean Scott: What does that look like? And what does that look like specifically for people who look like you and I? Raising capital is hard.

[23:37] Marjaun Canady: It's very hard. And I think the first step is for Black and brown folks to look at our relationship to money and how we feel about money, which I remember going into Death of a Salesman. That was the first thing I had to do because I was legitimately getting sick with the feeling of, hey, I have to ask people for $25,000 up front. Like, who do I even know?

[24:06] Marjaun Canady: And I mean, it was a process of, um, building, you know, knowing that I had the skills, I had everything, all the materials prepared, I had practice, I knew I know how to pitch, I know how to talk in front of people. Um, I was a little shaky on the numbers, but you know, I was confident. It was more so of, um, accepting that, hey, I deserve this, you know. Hey, this is a project I'm part of, and I am capable, you can trust me.

[24:45] Marjaun Canady: And the truth of the matter is, yeah, yes, Broadway, you know, has that name, has, you know, the sparkly lights, but even in independent producing, it's your approach. It's you saying, hey, you're gonna come for, come on a ride with us and you're gonna be part of a team.

[25:05] Marjaun Canady: Um, and I think when that, when I started to embrace that approach of whether you're writing me a check for $25,000 or $50 or $500, um, you're still gonna get an experience with me with this project, and, um, it's relationship building at the heart of it.

[25:27] Marjaun Canady: That's what it is. Um, and yes, you do need to have like your proposal and your numbers and all of that together, but it's also you really really digesting that hey, I deserve this, my project deserves this, you know, it takes money to make a thing, um, and not shying away from it.

[25:52] Marjaun Canady: And I think um the more for myself, the more opportunities that I had that came after Death of the Salesman, um, I felt more comfortable. So it was a thing of just doing it. You know, just do it, set a goal for yourself, say, hey, I want to raise five thousand dollars for this project and come up, and I think that's the creative part about producing, come up with different ways to do it.

[26:18] Marjaun Canady: So, not necessarily in the Broadway space because there's a lot of rules and regulations, but independent producing, you know, you can go through grants, you can find private donors, you can do um community fundraisers you can do online um like the Kickstarter so there's so there's so much that you can do in in terms of reaching your goal that I think that's what makes producing fun or raising money fun because raising money is never fun it's not ever really fun but the approach and the creativity in in building a group of people to invest in you that is exciting and then when you sit back and think like hey I was able to get you know 30 people to give me $50 or continue to rise with um producing and raising capital then you sit back and say hey I was able to get five people to give me a hundred K.

[27:22] Marjaun Canady: That's incredible that um with without a product or without anything tangible someone believes in your vision and and and that's why I think it takes time it takes time and and producers have to just keep doing you have to keep keep at it because you're working those muscles all the time and you're and you may not even be aware of it. So yeah I mean raising capital is never easy I know like some producers who are in their 60s and 70s and there's they're still you know it's it's hard for it's hard for everyone but I think you have to be creative you have to really use your community use your resources your network and um you know just flip your flip your approach on how you raise your money and do some internal work on how you feel about money and how how to um how to create a project that may not use traditional methods so it's exciting though you know what you so now you sparked another you've sparked another question okay because you you mentioned doing theater and you know and it not necessarily having to be Broadway because we know theater is not just in New York it's it's everywhere you know can and you talk about building community um with with your work can you talk about how and why that's important to you why is it important to you to showcase that theater is everywhere and not just Broadway in New York and how you go about building um and why is it important to build community.

[27:48] Marjaun Canady: Well it's important to build community first because I'm a human of the world and I think um that centers me first that I am a human I'm a citizen I um I have neighbors I'm a mother I'm a sister I'm a daughter and my art is just a reflection of all those experiences so I'm I think I've I struggled a long time, um, you know, as a young artist, just trying to fit in into the commercial world and wanting to be seen and celebrated and to be recognized and um to do all the things that we are trained and taught to do, especially if you go to art school.

[30:07] Marjaun Canady: Um, and I often found myself um, you know, just being just being in challenging situations and um not fully being present in who I am and what I represent because I I wanted so badly to be accepted. When the truth is that, you know, we all come from different communities, backgrounds, and you know, as an artist specifically, are I believe our um our reason for making art is to tell our specific truth, um, whether you are embraced or not.

[30:54] Marjaun Canady: So again, for a long time I worked outside of the New York theater scene, um, mostly because I was not inspired by the work um and also the methodology of doing the work. Um so I was very much doing solo theater for a long time, experimental work, working in the um in the mediums of film, animation, literature, and very much a free spirit moving where I felt it felt good for me and bringing my community along and and really getting exciting about getting excited about entrepreneurship, um, social justice, um, doing a lot of international work. And I still do a lot of that work.

[31:43] Marjaun Canady: And to me, like having that balance of yes, I'm gonna do Broadway, but I'm also gonna be, you know, on the front lines protesting and doing street theater, and I'm also gonna be working in the education space and building a youth ensemble at the same time, like those things, those are the things in my community that motivate me to keep doing the work because Broadway comes and goes and it's exciting and it's fun to be a part of a big production like The Wiz or Death of the Salesman. Um, but after that, you go back to your community, you go back to your home.

[32:21] Marjaun Canady: And I have learned through many experiences over the last 15, 20 years that we cannot, as artists, as creative um entrepreneurs, we cannot just pour our whole selves into a project. We have to have the balance and um the work-life balance, the project, community balance, and um we have to firmly ground ourselves and root ourselves in something because the industry is changing so much. It's you know, one one week you're up, the next week you're down. You can have very dry periods, very exciting, winning periods, and um you just have to take what you can, um, but also think about you know what is the thing that really grounds you to keep doing the work.

[33:16] Marjaun Canady: And for me, it's community and it's storytelling in general. It's not, I love Broadway, but it's not necessarily commercial. It is I am a storyteller and I'm going to leave my impact wherever I go. I love it.

[33:36] Gennean Scott: So one question we like to ask all of our guests at the end of our episode is what is one piece of advice you'd like to offer to the black future leaders of Broadway.

[33:52] Marjaun Canady: So one piece of advice I would give to future Black Broadway leaders is to really tap into your resources, your community, the folks who are standing next to you as you elevate. I think it's very easy to look towards those who are outside of our circles to praise us, to give us opportunity. Again, going back to the mentality, you know, I had as a young actor, like I'm waiting for an agent, I'm waiting, I'm waiting, I'm waiting. When actuality you're building and creating within your circle, and to not forget those people that have been creating and working with you.

[35:13] Marjaun Canady: And in the Broadway space where it's very easy to only think about the dollars and what will sell. I think we have to think deeper about what is the art there, what is the craft, and that comes from a producer's my my producing perspective from bringing folks who don't traditionally work in that space into that space on the creative team, um, on the production side, as well as performers. So I think as as leaders, we have the unique opportunity to shape and shift the culture of Broadway, and we have to have courage to do that.

[35:21] Marjaun Canady: We have to think beyond, you know, this is what sells, this is what Broadway looks like, this is what's been done over and over again. But how can we leave an impact? How can we shift the culture? How can we make history? And that comes with risk. You might get it wrong, you might hire the wrong person. Um, but you're trying and you're challenging yourself. So I definitely would say lean into your community, lean into your culture, um, where you come from and bring that into those spaces.

[36:35] Gennean Scott: I almost jumped out my seat. I'm like, yes, yes, yeah, yes. Where is my fan? Yes, yes, and yes. Thank you so much for talking with me today. It was inspiring, it was affirming, it was confirming, and all the other ing words that are out there that are positive. Uh, but seriously, I really appreciated chatting with you and getting to know a little bit more about your story. And I like I said, looking at your past successes and looking at at who you have, you know, surrounded in your circle. Uh the sky is the floor. How about that?

[37:25] Gennean Scott: I want to thank our guests and you our listeners. You could have been doing anything else, but you chose to spend your time with me, and I am grateful. Be sure to subscribe at bpn.fm slash bbb so you'll never miss an episode. While you're at it, tell a friend. I'm your host, Gennean Scott, and we at the Broadway League hope you enjoyed this episode of the Black Business of Broadway.