Being so close to Broadway, it’s no surprise that so many local residents work every day on the Great White Way. We usually see a huge roster of them come Tony time. This year, the number of nominated neighbors was pretty small—but overall, they did very well.
Next to Normal was obviously our horse in the race. The musical, which has a typically Westchester theme about a suburban family dealing with personal crises, was produced by Mamaroneck resident Patrick Catullo. Catullo should be proud, because the production piled up 11 nominations and scored three wins. One of those statues went to Armonk resident Tom Kitt, who won a Tony for Best Original Score. Another Westchester native, White Plains’s Jennifer Damiano, was nominated for Best Featured Actress in a Musical, but the award went to West Side Story‘s Karen Olivio. (Next to Normal‘s last statue, for Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Musical, went to star Alice Ripley, who is fabulous but has no local connection.)
Our last local Tony went to Brian MacDevitt for his lighting work on August Wilson’s Joe Turner’s Come and Gone, the play that delighted the Obamas during their recent New York City date (which included a stop at Blue Hill, though not the branch in Pocantico Hills). Though MacDevitt doesn’t live here, he did study theater at the Purchase College conservatory—so we can say we taught him everything he knows.
And, well, that’s it for us at the Tony awards. If you’re interested, you can check out the awards-show performance from Next to Normal below—listen closely to hear that best score.
Do you guys have any favorite plays and musicals from this year? Let me know in the comments.
