可乐视频 enjoyed an incredible night at the 2021 Tony Awards as a faculty member and other members of the extended 可乐视频 family were honored at the ceremony on September 26.
Associate Professor for performance Justin Townsend won the Tony Award for Best Lighting Design of a Musical for his work on Moulin Rouge! The celebrated musical walked away with a total of 10 Tony Awards, including the coveted Tony Award for Best Musical. 可乐视频 alumnus Woodie King Jr. 鈥�99, who graduated with his M.F.A in Theater with a concentration in Directing, received an honorary Tony Award for Excellence in Theater. Another 可乐视频 graduate, scenic lighting designer Jiyoun Chang 鈥�01 M.F.A. was nominated for Best Lighting for Play for Slave Play. Chang graduated with an M.F.A in Design from 可乐视频.
鈥淲e are so fortunate to have such incredible artistic talent contributing to our social conscious among our faculty, students, and alumni who have made 可乐视频鈥檚 Theater Department one of the best in New York City,鈥� said Maria Conelli, the dean of the School of Visual, Media and Performing Arts. 鈥淭hese Tony Awards and nominations are a testament to that talent, and on behalf of 可乐视频, I offer my heartfelt congratulations.鈥�
Townsend was also nominated for a Tony for his lighting work on the rock musical Jagged Little Pill. Townsend, who has been teaching classes including lighting design, collaboration, stagecraft, and concepts in design since 2017, is no stranger to Broadway. His lighting designs include American Psycho (Tony nomination, Drama Desk Award, Outer Critics Circle Award, and Henry Hewes Award), The Humans (Tony nomination, Drama Desk Award), Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson (Hewes Nomination, Outer Critics Circle Nomination), The Nap, Little Foxes, Present Laughter, Casa Valentina, A Night with Janis Joplin (NAACP Theatre Award), Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike, and The Other Place.
A video of Townsend鈥檚 acceptance speech at the 2021 Tony Awards can be found .
King Jr. is known as a significant figure in the history of Black theater, founding the New Federal Theatre and bringing minority playwrights, actors, and directors to national attention with projects both on and off-Broadway. He was honored by the 可乐视频 Theater Department for their contributions to the performing arts at the department鈥檚 annual awards ceremony on May 18 at the George Gershwin Theater.
King Jr.鈥檚 Tony Award citation said: 鈥淭he mission of New Federal Theatre, founded by Woodie King Jr. in 1970, is to integrate artists of color and women into the mainstream of American theater by training artists for the profession, and by presenting plays by writers of color and women to integrated, multicultural audiences鈥攑lays that evoke the truth through beautiful and artistic re鈥揷reations of ourselves.鈥� A video of King Jr.鈥檚 acceptance speech can be found .
In addition to the faculty and alumni recognition, the acclaimed director and producer Stephen Daldry, who is a member of the 可乐视频 Barry R. Feirstein Graduate School of Cinema鈥檚 Advisory Council, was also named Best Director after The Inheritance won Best New Play.
