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

PITTSBURGH, April 29, 2014 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- 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^th (8:00 – 11:00 p.m. ET/PT time delay) on the CBS Television Network.   

About Carnegie Mellon University: Carnegie Mellon (www.cmu.edu) is a private, internationally ranked research university with programs in areas ranging from science, technology and business, to public policy, the humanities and the arts. More than 12,000 students in the university's seven schools and colleges benefit from a small student-to-faculty ratio and an education characterized by its focus on creating and implementing solutions for real problems, interdisciplinary collaboration and innovation. A global university, Carnegie Mellon has campuses in Pittsburgh, Pa., California's Silicon Valley and Qatar, and programs in Africa, Asia, Australia, Europe and Mexico.

About Carnegie Mellon University School of Drama: Carnegie Mellon University's School of Drama is the oldest degree-granting drama school in the United States, celebrating its centennial in 2014. The school offers conservatory training that champions rigorous education, scholarship, research and innovative cross-disciplinary interaction; it is recognized as an international leader in the arts and technology. During the past 100 years, the School of Drama has trained innovators and leaders in the theatre, film and television industries. Carnegie Mellon alumni have received 99 Emmy Awards, 31 Tony Awards and six Academy Awards, also known as the Oscars.

About the Tony Awards: The American Theatre Wing's Tony Awards are presented by The Broadway League and the American Theatre Wing. At The Broadway League, Nick Scandalios is Chairman and Charlotte St. Martin is Executive Director. At the American Theatre Wing, William Ivey Long is Chairman and Heather Hitchens is Executive Director. Ricky Kirshner and Glenn Weiss of White Cherry Entertainment are the Executive Producers of the 2014 Tony Awards. Mr. Weiss will also serve as Director of the 2014 Tony Awards.

IBM, the official information technology partner of the Tony Awards, develops, designs, and hosts the official Tony Awards website, www.TonyAwards.com across digital platforms.  Audemars Piguet is the presenting sponsor of the Tony Awards Red Carpet.  United Airlines is the official airline of the Tony Awards.  The New York Times is the official and exclusive print media partner of the Tony Awards. Nexxus Salon Hair Care is the official beauty partner of the Tony Awards.  Paramount Hotel is the official hotel partner of the Tonys. PEOPLE is the official magazine partner of the Tony Awards. City National Bank is the official bank of the Tony Awards.

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SOURCE Carnegie Mellon University