Austin P. McKenzie (born August 24, 1993) is an American actor and singer, known for his role as Melchior Gabor in Deaf West Theatre's 2015 Broadway revival of Spring Awakening.
[7] Soon after graduating from Columbia College Chicago, McKenzie sent 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 company's ASL-inclusive run of Spring Awakening.
[11] The show ran two weeks past its intended run due to its positive reviews, and garnered three Tony Award nominations including Best Revival of a Musical.
He starred in the feature film Speech & Debate, adapted from the hit 2007 off-Broadway play of the same name by Tony-winning playwright Stephen Karam and released by Sycamore Pictures and Vertical Entertainment on April 7, 2017.
A number of theater names including Darren Criss and Lin-Manuel Miranda cameo in the film and Kristin Chenoweth sings an original song.
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.