As the largest, most comprehensive university system in the United States, the State University of New York has the unique opportunity to enrich some of the most influential people across all industries. As the Tony Award nominations are revealed this week, the world is reminded how talented SUNY alumni are in Theatre.
It was recently announced that University at Albany alumna Carolee Carmello has been nominated for her role in the Broadway musical “Scandalous“. Ms. Carmello, who has appeared in a dozen Broadway musicals and four national tours, is up for a Tony Award for “Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Musical” joining industry colleagues, Patina Miller in Pippin, Valisia LeKae in Motown The Musical, Stephanie J. Block in The Mystery of Edwin Drood, and Laura Osnes in Rodgers + Hammerstein’s Cinderella. Last year, Judy Kaye won the award for her part in Nice Work If You Can Get It.
Ms. Carmello joins SUNY Purchase College alumnus Kenneth Posner, who was nominated for three Tony Awards for “Best Lighting Design of a Musical” for Kinky Boots, Pippin, and Cinderella. This would be Posner’s second Tony; he won in 2007 for Best Lighting Design in a Play for The Coast of Utopia, for which he also won the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Lighting Design in a Play that same year. He’s been nominated for numerous Tony, Drama Desk, and Outer Critics Circle Awards since 1991.
The Tony Award nominees join a strong list of successful SUNY alumni who have impacted the art:
Lisa Brescia, an Empire State College alumna who has played parts in six Broadway productions, including Mama Mia!, Wicked, and Jesus Christ Superstar.
Donald Margulies, a SUNY Purchase College alumnus and professor at Yale University, who received the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 2000 and John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation Award in 2002 for his talent as a playwright.
- Cheryl Mintz, a Stony Brook University alumna who studied theatre arts and has served as a stage and floor manager for dozens of Broadway productions.
Wayne Cilento, a SUNY College at Brockport alumnus, who is a well-known Broadway choreographer, has won seven Tony Awards for his work.
- Jeff Croiter, Purchase College ’93, won the Tony for “Best Lighting in a Play” for his work on Peter and the Starcatcher in 2012. Three of the four nominees that were along side Croiter were Purchase College alumni. Brian MacDevitt ’80 was nominated for Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman and Kenneth Posner ’87 was nominated for Other Desert Cities.
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You can explore hundreds of successful SUNY alumni who have excelled in their areas of interest on our website. You may also check back here on the SUNY Blog, where we dedicate every Tuesday to highlighting our extraordinary alumni!