Applause, Applause

Carnegie Mellon President Jared L. Cohon sent the following email to the university community regarding this year's Tony Awards, in which a record-high six alumni were selected to receive Broadway's highest honor.

Dear Members of the Carnegie Mellon Community:

I'm writing to you today to brag a little, well, maybe more than a little.

As you may know, the Hollywood Reporter, the famed publication of the entertainment industry, recently rated Carnegie Mellon's School of Drama among the world's best drama schools with a No. 4 ranking in its top 25. That ranking proved to be a little low Sunday as no less than six of our esteemed alumni won Tony Awards in five categories at the 67th annual ceremony recognizing the best on Broadway. Our graduates were acknowledged for their acting, lighting design, costume design and sound design. It's the most Tonys won by CMU alumni in a single year.

Our alumni winners are:

• Jules Fisher (A, 1960) and Peggy Eisenhauer (A, 1983) for Best Lighting Design of a Play for "Lucky Guy";
• Judith Light (A, 1970) for Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Play for her role in "The Assembled Parties";
• Patina Miller (A, 2006) for Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Musical for her role in "Pippin";
• Billy Porter (A, 1991) for Best Performance in a Leading Role in a Musical for "Kinky Boots;" and
• Ann Roth (A, 1953) for Best Costume Design of a Play for "The Nance."

I also want to recognize Stephen Schwartz (A, 1968) whose "Pippin," which he wrote while he was a student, won for Best Revival of a Musical. While he was not a recipient (or a nominee) on Sunday, he was quite aptly called "a treasure to the American musical theater."

In addition, I applaud our seventh Tony Award nominee, Peter Hylenski (A, 1997), who was nominated for Best Sound Design of a Musical for "Motown The Musical," as well as several alumni who presented awards and performed during the ceremony, including "Newsies" lead Corey Cott (A, 2012), Zachary Quinto (A, 1999), Andrew Gehling (A, 2005) and Megan Hilty (A, 2004).

Congratulations to our alumni and the School of Drama for their amazing award-winning work!

Bravo!

Sincerely,

Jared L. Cohon