Carnegie Mellon alumni, former faculty win big at Tony Awards

Carnegie Mellon University alumni and faculty had a strong presence at this year’s Tony Awards, which recognized excellence in Broadway theatre for the 78th year in a row.

Throughout the night, two CMU alumnae received a Tony. Natalie Venetia Belcon received one for her role in “Buena Vista Social Club” after graduating from CMU’s School of Drama in 1991, and Jamie deRoy received an award for Best Revival of a Musical “Sunset Blvd,” after graduating from CMU’s College of Fine Arts in 1967, according to a CMU news release.

Former Carnegie Mellon faculty member Paul Tazewell also won an award for Best Costume Design of a Musical for “Death Becomes Her.”

CMU alumni were not only among the award show performers but also had roles as presenters, nominees, winners and advocates for theater education at yesterday’s ceremony.

Former CMU graduates and previous 2016 Tony Award winners, for their role in “Hamilton,” Renée Elise Goldsberry, 1993 School of Drama and Leslie Odom, Jr., 2003 School of Drama, were reunited with their fellow original castmates in celebration of the Broadway production’s 10th anniversary.

“CMU has a long-standing tradition of producing top talent onstage and behind the scenes. Its School of Drama is the oldest degree-granting drama school in the country,” the news release said.

Head of the School of Drama Robert Ramirez, along with CMU President Farnam Jahanian and CMU alumnus and judge of this year’s award Dan Amboyer, together presented the 2025 Excellence in Theatre Education Award to Gary Edwin Robinson, the head of the Theatre Arts Program at Boys and Girls High School in Brooklyn, according to the release.

In partnership with the Tony Awards, Carnegie Mellon co-founded the annual Excellence in Theatre Education Award in 2014 to recognize leading K-12 drama teachers as well as celebrate arts education in the United States.

As part of the award, Robinson received a $10,000 grant and a master class taught by CMU Drama faculty for his students, a CMU news release said.

“The Carnegie Mellon community is thrilled to have the brilliance and talents of our performing arts alumni recognized once again by the Tony Awards,” Jahanian said in a news release.