The cast of A Strange Loop. Photo by Marc J. Franklin.
The cast of The Music Man. Photo by Joan Marcus.
2022 Tony Award Nominees
On May 9, four Carnegie Mellon University alumni garnered nine Tony Award nominations during an announcement on the official Tony Awards YouTube Channel.
Jamie deRoy
Class of 1967
Best Play
Hangmen — Producer
The Lehman Trilogy — Producer
Best Musical
Mr. Saturday Night — Producer
Best Revival of a Musical
Company — Producer
Jamie deRoy is a an award-winning producer; cabaret, stage, film and TV performer, recording artist/producer and humanitarian. In addition to seven Tony Awards®, deRoy has won eight MAC Awards, eight Drama Desk awards, two Audience Choice Awards, eight Drama League Awards, four Back Stage Bistro Awards, 13 Telly Awards and CaB Magazine’s Lifetime Achievement Award. She has been honored by Theatre Works/USA, Primary Stages and the Ruth Kurtzman MAC Award. A frequent presence on the New York nightclub scene, Jamie has produced nine CDs in the “Jamie deRoy & friends” series on Harbinger and PS Classics labels. Her long-running shows benefit her favorite charitable causes, such as “The Actors Fund: Jamie deRoy & friends Cabaret Initiative,” a program to assist people in the cabaret industry with help for medical needs and concerns. She has co-produced 60 Broadway shows and 46 Off-Broadway shows.
Kevin Emrick
Class of 2007
Best Play
The Lehman Trilogy — Producer
Best Musical
A Strange Loop — Producer
Best Revival of a Musical
Company — Producer
Kevin Emrick is Co-Head of Theatre for Annapurna Pictures and a 2007 graduate of Carnegie Mellon's School of Drama. On behalf of Annapurna, he is currently producing "A Strange Loop," "Company," "Macbeth," and "The 47th" in London starring CMU alumna Tamara Tunie. Previous producing credits include the New York, London and Live Broadcast of "Fleabag" written and performed by Phoebe Waller-Bridge, "The Lehman Trilogy," "Home I’m Darling" (Olivier Award), "American Utopia" (Tony Award) and Lynn Nottage’s Pulitzer Prize-winning play "Sweat."
Sutton Foster
Drama Student in 1997
Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Musical
The Music Man — Marian
Sutton Foster is a two-time Tony Award–winning actress, singer and dancer, best known for her Tony, Drama Desk and Outer Critics Circle Award–winning performances in “Thoroughly Modern Millie” and “Anything Goes.” Foster currently stars as Liza in the critically acclaimed TV Land series “Younger,” created by Darren Star (“Sex and the City”). Previously, Foster starred as Michelle Simms in Amy Sherman-Palladino’s ABC Family series “Bunheads,” which garnered her a Critics’ Choice Television Award nomination for Best Actress in a Comedy Series. More recent credits include HBO’s comedy series “Flight of the Conchords,” USA Network’s “Royal Pains,” “Law & Order: SVU,” and “Elementary.” As a solo artist, Foster has toured the country with her hit solo concert, which featured songs from her debut album, “Wish,” as well as her follow-up album, “An Evening with Sutton Foster: Live at the Cafe Carlyle.” In June 2018, she released her third solo album, “Take Me to the World.” Foster made her feature-film debut in Phil Alden Robinson’s “The Angriest Man in Brooklyn” and appeared in James Roday’s comedy-horror film, “Gravy.”
Billy Porter
Class of 1991
Category
A Strange Loop — Producer
Billy Porter has won Emmy, Tony and Grammy awards and was nominated for Golden Globes for his work. The Pittsburgh native received his bachelor's degree from CMU's School of Drama in 1991. Porter won the 2013 Tony Award for Best Actor in a Musical for his role as Lola in “Kinky Boots” and also won the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Actor in a Musical and Outer Critics Circle Award for Outstanding Actor in a Musical. In 2014 Porter won the Grammy Award for Best Musical Theater Album for “Kinky Boots.” Porter starred in all three seasons of the television series “Pose,” for which he was nominated for three Golden Globe Awards and won the 2019 Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series, becoming the first gay black man to be nominated and win in any lead acting category at the Primetime Emmys. In 2020, he was included on Time Magazine's list of the 100 most influential people in the world. Porter released his first literary project, "Unprotected," in 2021. The memoir is described as "a powerful and revealing autobiography about race, sexuality, art and healing."