Juilliard's Broadway Connections

Recently, the New York Times published a winsome profile of Margot Moser (’47, voice), who holds the distinction of being the first American to play the iconically English role of Eliza Doolittle in the musical My Fair Lady. Moser’s career also included a long stint as Carrie in Rodgers and Hammerstein’s Carousel in London (composed by Richard Rodgers (’24, music theory; trustee 1950-79). Both shows live on in new Broadway revivals this spring, and multiple generations of Juilliard alumni continue to spread their musical theater magic. Carousel features Renée Fleming (’85, voice/opera), who’s garnered a Tony nomination, as did the show’s orchestrator Jonathan Tunick (’62 composition). The Carousel dance captain is Corey John Snide (BFA ’15, dance); the pit includes Chris Olness (’89, bass trombone) on trombone and tuba, John Dent (MM ’90, trumpet), Chris Cardona (BM ’89, violin) on viola, Lawrence DiBello Jr. (’81, horn), and William Schimmel (BM ’69, MS ’70, DMA ’73, composition) on accordion/celeste.

While we’re at it, the My Fair Lady pit includes Elizabeth Mann (BM ’83) on flute and piccolo, Damian Primis (BM ’02, MM ’04, Academy ’08, bassoon), Zohar Schondorf (Certificate ’95, horn),  Grace Paradise (BM ’77, MM ’78, harp), concertmaster Belinda Whitney (Diploma ’81, violin), Bryan Hernandez-Luch (MM ’13, violin), Elizabeth Lim-Dutton (Pre-College ’79; BM ’83, violin), Sebu Sirinian (BM ’81, MM ’83, violin), Amy Hamilton-Soto (BM ’94, violin), and David Blinn (’87, viola).

These two shows represent a small slice of the 90 Juilliard alumni currently on Broadway (that we’ve counted). Among them is Michael Arden (Group 34), who was also nominated for a Tony, for his direction of the musical Once on This Island. Altogether, 27 shows—75 percent of the shows on Broadway—currently feature at least one Juilliard alum in the cast, creative team, or pit.

—Zachary Green (BM ’15, MM ’17, composition) is the alumni relations associate

Update: Among this year's Tony winners are Once on This Island (best revival of a musical, which was directed by Group 34 alumnus Michael Arden) and Angels in America (best revival, which was written by Tony Kushner in part when he was a Juilliard playwright in residence).