Carnegie Mellon University
April 29, 2014

Press Release: Give Our Regards to Broadway: Carnegie Mellon Celebrates Six 2014 Tony Award Nominees

CMU Alumni Received Eight Tonys in 2013; School to Partner with Tonys on 2015 Educator Honor

Contact: Ken Walters / 412-268-1151/ walters1@andrew.cmu.edu

Tony Awards PartnershipPITTSBURGH—Carnegie Mellon University congratulates its six alumni who were nominated for Tony Awards this morning in New York. This follows the university's announcement yesterday that it will partner with the Tony Awards as its first, exclusive higher education partner. As part of the collaboration, the two organizations will jointly create and launch the first, national recognition program to honor kindergarten through high-school theatre educators.

Last year, CMU stole the spotlight at the Tony Awards, with alumni taking home eight awards across six categories. Celebrating its centennial in 2014, CMU's School of Drama is the oldest drama degree-granting program in the United States. Recognized as an international leader in the arts and technology, CMU's drama school consistently ranks as one of the world's best and has produced hundreds of Tony nominees and 31 Tony winners.

2014 Tony Award Nominees

The following CMU alumni have been nominated for a 2014 Tony Award. The awards show will be broadcast live from Radio City Music Hall in New York City on Sunday, June 8, on CBS.

Paula Wagner (alumna)

Wagner has been nominated for Best Play as a producer for "Mothers and Sons." She is best known for launching Cruise/Wagner Productions with Tom Cruise, which led to the highly successful Mission Impossible movie series and many other films. She has received numerous awards and recognitions for her contributions to entertainment. Currently, Wagner is developing films, theatre and television through her production company Chestnut Ridge Productions.
      
Jamie deRoy (A '67)

Nominated as a producer for Best Musical, "A Gentleman's Guide to Love and Murder," deRoy won the 2013 Tony as a producer for "Vanya, Sonia, Masha, and Spike." She has won eight MAC Awards, four Back Stage Bistro Awards, 10 Telly Awards and CaB Magazine's Lifetime Achievement Award for her extensive work on both stage and screen.

Cherry Jones (A '78)

Jones has been nominated for Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Play for her work in "The Glass Menagerie." Recently inducted into the Theatre Hall of Fame, Jones has received nearly a dozen awards, including Tony, Obie, Joseph Jefferson, Drama Desk, Outer Critics Circle, Sidney Kingsley, Lucille Lortel, Elliott Norton and Drama League.

Sutton Foster (alumna)

Foster has been nominated for Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Musical for her work in "Violet." Best known for her work on the Broadway stage, Foster has received two Tony Awards for Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Musical in 2002 for the role of Millie Dillmount in "Thoroughly Modern Millie" and in 2011 for her performance as Reno Sweeney in "Anything Goes."

Peter Hylenski (A '97)

Hylenski has been nominated for Best Sound Design of a Musical for "After Midnight." A Tony and Olivier Award nominated sound designer, he has designed Broadway productions such as "Shrek, the Musical," "Rock of Ages," "The Wedding Singer" and "Sweet Charity." He has also designed shows for Radio City Music Hall, Carnegie Hall and Madison Square Garden.

Leigh Silverman (A '96)

Silverman has been nominated for Best Direction of a Musical as a director for "Violet." Her previous Broadway credits include "Kung Fu," "Chinglish" and Lisa Kron's "Well." Silverman's production of David Henry Hwang's "Wit" was featured at the Vaudeville Theatre at the West End in London.

The 2014 Tony Awards, hosted by Hugh Jackman, will be broadcast live from Radio City Music Hall in New York City, on Sunday, June 8 (8 - 11 p.m. ET/PT time delay) on the CBS Television Network.    

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