Austin P McKenzie born August 24 1993 is an American actor and singer known for his role as Melchior Gabor in Deaf West Theatres 2015 Broadway revival of Spring Awakening His performance as Melchior has garnered significant critical acclaim and multiple theatrical award nominations for both Los Angeles runs and its run on Broadway The show ran two weeks past its intended run due to its rave reviews and garnered three Tony Award nominations including Best Revival of a Musical Starting at age fifteen McKenzie spent six summers assisting at a summer camp for children and adults with mental and physical disabilities called Lions Camp Tatiyee It is where he first came in contact with people who are deaf or hard of hearing The camp inspired him to enroll at Columbia College Chicago where he studied American Sign Language and Childhood Education with the intention of becoming a special needs teacher He graduated in 2014 with a Bachelors degree in American Sign Language and Vocal Performance Soon after graduating from Columbia College Chicago McKenzie sent in a tape to director Michael Arden and the creative team at Deaf West Theatre with hopes of obtaining a job as an interpreter during the companys ASLinclusive run of Spring Awakening However the Deaf West team saw his potential and requested he audition for the leading role in the productionthe radical atheist Melchior Gabor He was given the role it was his professional theatre debut He starred in the feature film Speech Debate adapted from the hit 2007 offBroadway play of the same name by Tonywinning playwright Stephen Karam He also starred in the ABC miniseries When We Rise He portrays the young LGBT activist Cleve Jones in the period piece which chronicles the struggles of LGBTQ people who helped pioneer an offshoot of the Civil Rights Movement in the 20th century He then portrayed Fred in the film Unhinged starring Russell Crowe
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