June 14, 2010/FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE /
Photo attached
Media Contact: Marla Carpenter, 770-3337,
carpem@uncsa.edu
UNCSA SCHOOL OF DRAMA ALUMNI IN
TONY AWARD-WINNING PLAYS
WINSTON-SALEM – University of North Carolina School of the Arts (UNCSA) School of Drama alumni Alex Hoeffler and Joe Mantello can be seen in 2011 Tony Award-winners for Best Play and Best Revival of a Play, respectively.
Hoeffler, Class of 2010, is an ensemble member and puppeteer in Lincoln Center Theatre’s production of War Horse. In addition to winning for Best Play, War Horse won Tony Awards for Best Direction, Best Scenic Design, Best Lighting Design and Best Sound Design of a Play.
Mantello, Class of 1984, plays Ned Weeks in The Normal Heart. Mantello was nominated for the Tony Award for Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Play, which went to Jerusalem’s Mark Rylance. In addition to winning Best Revival of a Play, The Normal Heart also garnered Tonys for Mantello’s co-stars, John Benjamin Hickey and Ellen Barkin, who won for their performances in featured roles.
The Tony Awards were held Sunday, June 12, and were televised over CBS.
Alex Hoeffler holding the 2011 Tony Award for Best Play awarded to War Horse
Also at the ceremony, Desmond Heeley won the Tony Award for Best Costume Design for a Play for his work on The Importance of Being Earnest. Heeley has served as a guest artist in the UNCSA School of Design and Production and was commencement speaker in 2005. He holds an honorary doctorate from UNCSA.
Last year, four UNCSA alumni – Tom Hulce, Stephen McKinley Henderson, Paul Tazewell and Edwin Schloss – were nominated for Tony Awards.
The University of North Carolina School of the Arts
is the first state-supported, residential school of its
kind in the nation. Established as the North Carolina
School of the Arts by the N.C. General Assembly in 1963,
UNCSA opened in Winston-Salem (“The City of Arts and
Innovation”) in 1965 and became part of the University
of North Carolina system in 1972. More than 1,100
students from high school through graduate school train
for careers in the arts in five professional schools:
Dance, Design and Production (including a Visual Arts
Program), Drama, Filmmaking, and Music. UNCSA is the
state’s only public arts conservatory, dedicated
entirely to the professional training of talented
students in the performing, visual and moving image
arts. UNCSA is located at 1533 S. Main St.,
Winston-Salem. For more information, visit
www.uncsa.edu.
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