We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Dwayne P. Mitchell. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Dwayne below.
Dwayne, thanks so much for taking the time to share your insights and lessons with us today. We’re particularly interested in hearing about how you became such a resilient person. Where do you get your resilience from?
I am resilient, because my mother is resilient. From as early as I can remember, my mother has sacrificed so much for my siblings and I to be what we are and to have what we have, today. Growing up in a single mother household and being the oldest child, I often helped my mother take care of my siblings (as much as I could at that age) with things like cooking, helping them get dressed for school, and homework; while my mother worked two and three jobs sometimes to provide for us. Being the oldest also meant I got a small glimpse of the weight of what raising children as a single parent really meant. It meant sacrificing time, money, and even sleep to balance being the provider, the perfect mother, our number one supporter, our first teacher. There were so many moments where I saw my mother tired, stressed over bills, and even ( at what I thought was) her breaking point. From being forced out of homes to having to figure out where our next meals were coming from, my mother made sure we never missed school or made to feel like we lacked anything. Watching my mother overcome adversity time after time is what built her resilience and in return, mine. In a world that sometimes feels like it was never created for us (the others) to succeed in, her strength, faith, and determination are the values that make me who I am.
You see, resilience is defined as “the capacity to withstand or to recover quickly from difficulties; toughness”. The race is not given to the swift or to the strong but to the one who endures to the end. Today, I am humbled to be able to say that I am professional actor and performer, but even this does not come without its challenges. Resilience is what I carry with me everyday in a field that is predominantly made up of white spaces. Having to continually navigate these spaces and people – while understanding my presence is so much bigger than me – is what continues to fuel my purpose. Not only am I my mothers wildest dreams, but I am the wildest dreams of so many who overcame adversity before me in order for me to continue to do the work for those who come after me.
Great, so let’s take a few minutes and cover your story. What should folks know about you and what you do?
As mentioned before, I am an actor, artist, and activist, originally from Atlanta, GA. My passion for bridging art and activism has been the foundation of my artistry since my younger years. I am a first-generation college graduate holding a Bachelor of Arts in Music, Vocal Performance – from the Historically Black institution, Fisk University; and a Master of Fine Arts in Musical Theatre from the Boston Conservatory at Berklee.
While attending Fisk University I had the incredible opportunity to expand my training as a professional performer, as a member of the Fisk Jubilee Singers. This opportunity allowed me to experience so many incredible things like being able traveling internationally for the first time, being a Grammy award-winning ensemble member on the GRAMMY® winning Album: CELEBRATING FISK —winning the 2020 GRAMMY award for “Best Roots Gospel Album”; and being able to perform with incredible artists like India Arie, Mariah Carey, Keith Urban, and CeCe Winans.
Fisk University chose me. It was one of the only schools that took the time to find a young mind like mine who’s exposure was limited because of his environment, and showed me what was possible with help and opportunity. Fisk became the place where I continued to learn how to cultivate my leadership, activism, and my dare to dream. My senior year, I served the student body as Mister Fisk University and continued to use my platform to highlight the next generation of leaders and artists who were determined to create space and opportunity for us, by us. In 2018, I received my Bachelors of Arts in Music, but obtaining this degree did not come without its challenges. There were so many moments where I wanted to quit. There were people who didn’t believe I would not be good enough, and I was also fighting through the knowledge that I was away from my family who was once again facing the threat of homelessness. I remembered that this dream and this goal was bigger than me. I remembered the strength and resilience of my mother who fought against all odds to make sure we had the opportunities she was not afforded. With the grace of God, I persevered.
The same year leading to me graduating undergrad, I decided to take another leap of faith and applied for the Graduate program at the Boston Conservatory at Berklee; which was at that time only accepting 9 students for the program. After a tedious audition/ application process, I received my acceptance and became the only African American admitted into my program that year. I picked up my life in Nashville, TN and moved to Boston, MA that fall to continue to dream the impossible (or what.I thought was impossible). While attending the conservatory, I became a professional theatre actor and became a member of Actors Equity Association- while being a student at the conservatory. I was motivated to apply the techniques I learned in the classroom to the professional field in real time; gaining regional credits like ‘Choir Boy’ (SpeakEasy Stage) ‘Fences’ (Umbrella Stage Company), ‘Ragtime’, and ‘Little Women’, The Broadway Musical (Wheelock Family Theatre), ‘La Cage Aux Folles’ (Reagle Music Theatre). I was also ale to continue my passion for pouring into young artists in the performing arts, and served as a Teaching Artist – working with students at Boston Arts Academy, Gann Academy, Wheelock Family Theatre, SpeakEasy Stage Company, and Berklee College of Music.
Once again, this process did not come without its challenges. In 2020 we were all faced with the Pandemic, and I was faced with having to complete my last semester of Grad school online. in May of 2020, I received my Master of Fine Arts in Musical Theatre in a field that was completely closed. Although it was extremely scary and frustrating moment in life, this pause gave the whole world time to reflect and really ask ourselves what things really become important to us, when you lose everything. When you lose everything you have nothing more to lose, and when you have nothing to lose, you have everything to gain, This became my mindset post-pandemic. I was even more determined to just do it.
Currently I am on the First National Broadway tour of ‘AIn’t Too Proud: The Life and Times of the Temptations’ playing the role Dennis Edwards. As I do this interview from the birthplace of Motown, Detroit, MI, I can’t help but to be grateful for full circle moments and to be telling this story of a group that overcame adversity and graced the world as the Top selling group in Motown’s history – in the place where it all started for them.
Today, I share my story not for anyone to pity me, but to be inspired to keep going. That everything we go through is all a part of the process of becoming who we are, of finding our purpose. When we get to places where we can look back at how we overcame adversity, it makes us that much more prepared for what is to come. As I continue my journey as a performer and artist, I pray that my work will not only continue to open doors for me, but those who share my same journey and dreams.
Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?
1.) Trusting YOUR journey, and not comparing yours to others.
Understanding that your journey is your journey, and you always end up where you are exactly meant to be. In an industry where actors/ artists constantly feel compared, you have to trust that what you bring into the room or any process is unique.
2.) Having a great work ethic.
Hard work will always pay off. I remember hearing all the time at Fisk University, “What can you do today, that yourself 1 year from now would benefit from?” Even in the hardest times, your work will always speak for you and in some cases it is the only thing that can speak for you. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve been able to create future opportunities for myself just by giving the best of myself in each project.
3.) Keep Creating.
There is always room for your uniqueness. Don’t stop being who you are or relishing in what make you, you. The pandemic really opened my eyes to how creative artists are and can be when the world needs it most. You never know who you are impacting with your art. The world needs it.
Thanks so much for sharing all these insights with us today. Before we go, is there a book that’s played in important role in your development?
There is one particular book that has truly impacted me incredibly most recently over the past year and a half, and that book is “Feeding the Soul” by Tabitha Brown. Not only is Ms. Tab known for being the vegan queen, but her journey and light has truly impacted me in a way that has allowed to me to reflect on ways that I can improve how I spread light and love. Since my youth, I was always taught to move in love with everything I do, and I was reminded about this as an adult from reading “Feeding the Soul”. The world truly becomes a better place when we are operating in love not only with our peers who are likeminded but for those who we consider ‘enemies’ as well. When we have love in our hearts It allows room for things like empathy, forgiveness, trust, and control over our joy.
As a performer and theatre artist, I am often charged with sharing stories of a character(s) and dissecting the characters’ emotions and backstory, so that I can tell it in a way that rooted in truth. We are taught not to judge our characters (if we happen to play a villain or a character that does something we personally wouldn’t do in real life, for example). Most of the time to find the truth of the character we have to find what they want want in each moment or what is possibly missing? Most of the endings of these stories find their way back to love- whether that be in someone else or in themselves. The same can be true for everyday people; most of the time we react to things a certain way or make the same mistakes over again, because we don’t allow room for empathy, forgiveness, or trust. Living in a state of forgiveness and love is how we feed our souls, it’s how we spread light during some of the darkest times, and its how we find our way to Joy.
I try to carry this notion in everything I do, because you never know what anyone is going through and just by sharing a little love, even if that means sharing your story, you never know whose life can be impacted.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.dwaynepmitchell.com
- Instagram: @dwaynepmitchell
- Facebook: @dwaynepmitchell
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=dwayne+p.+mitchell
- Other: @dwaynepmitchell
Image Credits
VLKaiser Photography Michael Tullberg (Getty Images) Emilio Madrid (Aint Too Proud ‘action shot’)
