Denee Benton

Denee Benton was from what state?

• New York

• Florida

• California

• Pennsylvania

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Which answer best describes the social media project Benton started after playing the role of Natasha?

• She started a photo blog of her work

• She produced a series of videos of the history of the Tony awards.

• She started a hashtag to feature photos and stories of black royalty.

• She posted a memorial to Whitney Houston featuring her own childhood preformances

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Which selection best describes the environment in which Benton was raised

• a home with supportive parents

• an orphanage

• a military base just below the arctic

• a suburb with very little access to arts and culture

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Benton discovered what she wanted to be when she grew up mainly when she...

• When she was cast in a school production of Wicked

• When she performed in Hamilton

• When she imitated Whitney Houston

• When she went to NY and saw Wicked

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Colorblind casting—a practice that favors talent over racial typecasting—placed Benton on equal footing with other actresses vying for the role. From there, all the rising star had to do was display how her incredible talents could enliven the role of Natasha, an impressionable 19th-century aristocrat torn between her love for the man to whom she’s betrothed and another man who woos her while her fiancé is away at war.During the show’s Broadway run, Benton noticed that her performance inspired a number of young black girls who saw the musical. Benton recalls fans who told her they realized they could be perceived as princesses, too. “That messaging is so important and to be able to rewrite that narrative for little black girls about what we can and can’t do, means everything to me.”

• Colorblind casting is controversial

• Young black girls like Benton are not always used to seeing themselves represented as royalty.

• Denee Benton’s role as Natasha was the first time she’d ever acted on stage.

• Audiences didn't understand how a young black girl was cast as a Russian Aristocrat.

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Which sentence from the passage best supports the correct answer to last The question

• “Benton recalls fans who told her they realized they could be perceived as princesses, too.”

• During the show’s Broadway run, Benton noticed that her performance inspired a number of young black girls who saw the musical.”

• “From there, all the rising star had to do was display how her incredible talents could enliven the role of Natasha, an impressionable 19th-century aristocrat torn between her love for the man to whom she’s betrothed and another man who woos her while her fiancé is away at war.”

• “Colorblind casting—a practice that favors talent over racial typecasting—placed Benton on equal footing with other actresses vying for the role.

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What is most closely the central idea of Benton’s advice in the passage below (paragraph 13)? “Get a good education,” she tells young fans. “Get good training and when and if you can afford to go to a conservatory, go. Just get in front of the right teachers. You just never know who you’re going to meet and what wisdom they have to share. Once you do that and you’ve done your best, just be yourself. Don’t feel like less than you are. Especially as kids of color, you can feel so limited based on the stereotypes and the media and what we can represent. But the truth is, you are exactly enough as what you are and there is a story for you to tell.”

• Students should open themselves up to opportunities without denying their identities or experiences

• There is no secret to finding success because most things in life happen randomly and without warning.

• Students who do not get into an conservatory will have a very difficult time finding a career in the arts.

• Everybody should take an acting class at least once in their lives.

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Which sentence from the passage most strongly expresses Benton’s central advice to her young fans?

• “‘Get a good education,’ she tells young fans.”

• “‘You just never know who you’re going to meet and what wisdom they have to share.’”

• “‘Especially as kids of color, you can feel so limited based on the stereotypes and the media and what we can represent.’”

• “‘But the truth is, you are exactly enough as what you are and there is a story for you to tell.’”

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Which are examples of advocates? Choose 3.

• Martin Luther King Jr.

• Ursula

• Denee Benton

• Richard Tulere

• Evelyn Serrano

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What is the primary theme of Denee Benton's portrayal of Natasha in the Broadway musical?

• Overcoming racial stereotypes

• The complexity of love and relationships

• The importance of education

• The struggle for power

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