Tallahassee, May 22, 2012—It’s that time of year again that fans of live theatre love—awards season. The Tony Awards live broadcast is June 10 and Florida State University is well represented again this year in theatre’s highest national honor. 2012 has been a good year for School of Theatre alumni who have been involved in productions that represent over half of all award categories.
“The Tony Awards are Theatres highest and most prestigious honor. We are thrilled to have so many School of Theatre alumni involved with shows that have been nominated this year,” said Cameron Jackson, Executive Director of the School of Theatre. Named for Antoinette “Toni” Perry, actress, director, producer, and the dynamic wartime leader of the American Theatre Wing, the Tony Award has become theatre’s most coveted prize.
The 2012 Tony Awards will be broadcast live from Radio City Music Hall on Sunday, June 10, 2012 at 8:00PM EST.
Darren Bagert (BFA Music Theatre, 1992), president and producer of Infinity Stages, has led a number of Tony Award-winning productions to Broadway. Darren’s current property, Gore Vidal’s The Best Man starring James Earl Jones, has received two nominations: “Best Revival of a Play” and “Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Play.” The Best Man also received nominations for “Outstanding Revival Of A Play” from the 2012 Drama Desk Awards and the Outer Critics Circle Awards for 2011-2012.
Darren’s previous producing credits include the highly acclaimed 2005 Tony winner Sweeney Todd by Stephen Sondheim and starring Patti LuPone and Michael Cerveris. His producing work on Eugene O’Neill’s Long Day’s Journey Into Night starring Vanessa Redgrave and Brian Dennehy won him a Tony in 2003 for “Best Revival of a Play.” Darren’s 2010 project, Enron, was nominated for four Tonys and one Drama Desk Award that year.
Christian Delcroix (BFA Music Theatre 2003) performed as Young Buddy along with Leslie Flesner (BFA Music Theatre, 2008) in the Tony nominated Follies starring Bernadette Peters, Jan Maxwell, Ron Raines, Danny Brustein and Elaine Paige. Follies received 8 Tony nominations, including “Best Revival of a Musical.” In addition, Follies leads the nominations for the Drama Desk Awards, notching 10, and has received two 2012 Outer Critics Circle Awards, one for “Outstanding Revival Of A Musical” and the second, “Outstanding Actor In A Musical.”
The play, One Man, Two Guvnors, has racked up an impressive 7 Tony nominations. Chris Zaccardi (BA Theatre, 2000) is the stage manager for the show, which was heavily nominated for it Design elements – Scenic, Costume, and Sound – and for Best Direction. The play was also nominated for 3 Drama Desk Awards and received 4 Outer Critic Circle nominations, winning three of the latter, including “Outstanding New Broadway Play.”
Newsies has been a popular pick for the three major awards organizations this season. Michael Fatica (BFA Music Theatre 2011) is performing in the show that has been nominated in 8 Tony categories, including “Best Musical.” The show received 5 Drama Desk nods, one of those being for “Outstanding Musical,” and 7 Outer Critics Circle nominations, receiving awards for “Outstanding New Score” and “Outstanding Choreographer.”
Jessica Patty (BFA Music Theatre, 2001) is currently performing in the new musical Evita, starring Ricky Martin and Michael Cerveris. Evita has received 3 Tony nominations including “Best Revival of a Musical.” Evita has also garnered 5 Drama Desk nominations, including “Outstanding Revival Of A Musical,” and 5 Outer Critics Circle nominations, including again, “Outstanding Revival Of A Musical.”
Tiffany Howard (BFA Music Theatre) performed in this season’s Leap of Faith, which earned a Tony nomination for “Best Musical.”
The Outer Critics Circle Awards is the official organization of writers who review for out-of-town newspapers, national publications, and other media beyond Broadway.
OCC has traditionally been the first to announce its awards-nominees and winners, before the Drama Desk and the Tony Awards.
Montego Glover (BFA Music Theatre, 1996), the 2010 Outer Critics Circle winner for Outstanding Actress in a Musical (Memphis) will serve as a presenter at the organization’s 62nd Annual Award ceremony on Thursday, May 24 at Sardi’s Restaurant in New York City.
The Drama Desk is an organization of theater critics, writers and editors, which honors excellence in all areas of New York theatre, including Broadway, Off Broadway, Off-Off Broadway and not-for-profit theater. The 57th awards ceremony will be held on June 3.