Carnegie Mellon University at No. 4 and Point Park at No. 9 are once again among the Big Ten — the top 10 most represented colleges, universities and conservatories on Broadway — as chronicled in Playbill’s annual report.
The top three schools this year were New York University, the University of Michigan and the Juilliard School. Last season, CMU was No. 5 and Point Park, No. 8.
If you check your PNC Broadway in Pittsburgh and Pittsburgh CLO programs this year and from years past, you will find a bunch of the names listed below have appeared on Pittsburgh stages as professionals. Or you can check your college (and in some cases, high school) programs and brag, “I saw them here first!”
CMU: Daniel Bellomy, John Clay III, Marcus Gladney (“Choir Boy”); Denee Benton, Gregory Treco (“Hamilton”); Matt Bomer, Zachary Quinto (“The Boys in the Band”); Will Brill, Denver Milord (“Oklahoma!”); Michael Campayno, Emily Skinner (“The Cher Show”); Amanda Jane Cooper (“Wicked”); Kaleigh Cronin (“Summer”); Jesmille Darbouze (“Kiss Me, Kate”); James T. Lane (“Kiss Me, Kate,” “King Kong”); Leo Ash Evans (“School of Rock”); Gaby Gamache, Terry Leung (“Aladdin”); Molly Griggs (“Hello, Dolly!”); Ethan Hawke (“True West”); Grey Henson (“Mean Girls”); Michael Hollick (“The Lion King”); Ethan Hova, Thomas Jay Ryan (“The Nap”); Arica Jackson (“Head Over Heels,” “Waitress”); Rosena M. Hill Jackson (“Carousel”); Mitchell Jarvis, Manu Narayan (“Gettin’ the Band Back Together”); Cherry Jones (“The Lifespan of a Fact”); Andrew Kober (“Beautiful,” “School of Rock”); Emily Koch (“Waitress”); Kara Lindsay (“Beautiful”); Kate Marilley (“The Prom,” “My Fair Lady”); Christopher McHale (“Ink”); Pilar Millhollen (“Chicago”); Patricia Phillips (“The Phantom of the Opera”), Ben Levi Ross (“Dear Evan Hansen”); Susan Heyward, Nathan Salstone (“Harry Potter and the Cursed Child”); Jessie Shelton (“Hadestown”); and Matthew Stocke (“Pretty Woman”).
Point Park: Nili Bassman, Jessica Ernest (“Chicago”); Callan Bergmann, Jeff Kuhr (“Kinky Boots”); Stephanie Lynn Bissonnette (“Mean Girls”); Mike Cannon (“Aladdin”); E. Clayton Cornelious (“Ain’t Too Proud”); Jennifer DiNoia (“Wicked”); Conner John Gilloolly (“School of Rock”); Kali Grinder (“Frozen”); Jordan Grubb (SpongeBob SquarePants”); Gabrielle Hamilton (“Oklahoma!”); Neil Haskell (“Hamilton”); Rory Max Kaplan, Kirstin Tucker (“A Bronx Tale”); Marty Lawson (“King Kong”); Ross Lekites (“Frozen”); Sarah Meahl (“Kiss Me, Kate,” “Hello, Dolly!”); Alexandra Pernice (“Anastasia”); Katie Sexton (“The Play That Goes Wrong); Ahmad Simmons (“Hadestown,” “Carousel”); Gabriella Sorrentino (“Hamilton”); Tory Trowbridge (“The Cher Show”); Harris M. Turner (“Summer”); and Kaley Ann Voorhees (“The Phantom of the Opera”).
The lists comprise actors in Broadway shows from July 23, 2018, through May 29, 2019 — from the first opening of the 2018–19 season (“Straight White Men”) to the day before the first opening of the 2019–20 season (“Frankie and Johnny in the Clair de Lune”). College attendance data was pulled from publicly available sources, including Playbill and internet-accessible actor resumes.
Sharon Eberson: seberson@post-gazette.com or 412-263-1960. Twitter: @SEberson_pg. Sign up for the PG performing arts newsletter Behind the Curtain at Newsletter Preferences.
First Published: August 26, 2019, 7:29 p.m.
