WINSTON-SALEM – Two alumni of the North Carolina School of the Arts received Tony Award nominations on Monday. The Tony is Broadway’s highest honor.  

NCSA School of Drama alumnus Joe Mantello is nominated for Best Direction of a Musical for “Assassins,” which received a total of seven Tony nominations. Mantello also directed “Wicked,” which received a total of 10 Tony nominations.  

Last year, Mantello won Best Director for the play “Take Me Out,” which won Best Play, and also directed “Frankie and Johnny in the Clair de Lune,” which was nominated for Best Play. Mantello, who returned to NCSA for a class reunion on April 30, studied acting at NCSA, where he received a College Arts Diploma in 1984. 

NCSA School of Drama alumnus Edwin Schloss is one of the producers of “Wonderful Town,” which is nominated for Best Revival of a Musical. “Wonderful Town” received a total of five Tony nominations.  

Schloss received NCSA’s Giannini Society Award, one of the School’s highest honors, on March 6. He studied playwriting (a program that has since been discontinued) at NCSA, where he received a Bachelor of Fine Arts in 1972.  

Several NCSA alumni are involved on stage or behind the scenes of other Tony-nominated shows. These include:

• Timothy R. Mackabee, School of Design and Production '03, is assistant set designer for "Frozen," which received four Tony nominations, including Best Play.
• Eric Trader, School of Drama ’01, is assistant to the director on “I Am My Own Wife,” which received three Tony nominations, including Best Play and Best Direction of a Play.
• Paul Tazewell, School of Design and Production ’96, is the costume designer for “Caroline, or Change,” which received six Tony nominations, including Best Musical, as well as “A Raisin in the Sun,” which received four Tony nominations, including Best Revival of a Play. 
• Austin Sanderson, School of Design and Production ’89, is the associate costume designer for “A Raisin in the Sun” (see above).
• Michael Sharpe, Visual Arts Program ’87 and School of Design and Production ’94, is the associate costume designer for “King Lear,” which received two Tony nominations, including Best Revival of a Play.
• Michael Jones, School of Design and Production ’91, is the assistant lighting designer for “The Boy from Oz,” which received five Tony nominations, including Best Musical, and “Little Shop of Horrors,” which received one Tony nomination.
• Mark Dendy, School of Dance ’83, is the choreographer of “Taboo,” which received four Tony nominations.
• Daniel Stewart Sherman, School of Drama ’98, is in the Ensemble of “Henry IV,” which received six Tony nominations, including Best Revival of a Play.
• Bill English, School of Drama ’02, is in the Ensemble of “Twentieth Century,” which received two Tony nominations.                                                                                               
• T. Oliver Reid, School of Music ’93 (voice), is one of the Rome-Tones and in the Ensemble of “Never Gonna Dance,” which received two Tony nominations.

Last year, two NCSA alumni also received Tony nominations: Joe Mantello (see above) and School of Dance alumnus Keith Roberts, for “Movin’ Out.” Four NCSA alumni have won Tony Awards in the past: Joe Mantello, Best Director, for “Take Me Out,” 2003; Mary-Louise Parker, Best Actress, for “Proof,” 2001; Gary Beach, Best Featured Actor, for “The Producers,” 2001; and Jennifer Ehle, Best Actress, 2000, for “The Real Thing.”  In addition, other NCSA alumni have been nominated for Tonys in the past; they include Tom Hulce (“A Few Good Men”), Terrence Mann (“Beauty and the Beast” and “Les Miserables”), Celia Weston (“The Last Night of Ballyhoo”), and K. Todd Freeman (“The Song of Jacob Zulu”). Mary-Louise Parker was also previously nominated for “Prelude to a Kiss”; and Gary Beach, for “Beauty and the Beast.”  

The Tony Awards will be broadcast live on CBS from Radio City Music Hall in New York on June 6. 

Media: For more information, contact Marla Carpenter at 336-770-3337 in the public relations office at NCSA.

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