Big 10: Top Colleges Represented on Broadway in Fall 2016

What does it take to land a Broadway show? Hard work, talent, luck—all backed up by a good education.

As part of Playbill.com's Back to School week (#BwayBacktoSchool), we have combined past Schools of the Stars features that track where members of the cast and creative team for each Broadway show went to college, along with a bit of added research, to present the top 10 colleges currently represented on Broadway (plus a few honorable mentions). This list represents not only Broadway shows that are currently open, but a few shows that have announced casting for the 2016-2017 season.

READ: THE NEW YORK CITY COLLEGE PROGRAM PRODUCING TODAY’S BROADWAY AND TV STARS

Check them out and see if your school (or the school you’re possibly considering) is on the list! Editor’s Note: This is not intended to be a comprehensive account of working Broadway alumni from each university. The information used to create this list was gathered from actor/creative team bios published within Playbill Magazine and Schools of the Stars at the beginning of the 2016-17 season, and is reflective of its September 12, 2016, publication date.



Book your own Broadway gig with Playbill jobs!

1. New York University: Adam Jacobs (Aladdin), Khori Michelle Petinaud (Aladdin), Manoel Felciano (Anastasia), Nic Rouleau (The Book of Mormon), Tavi Gevinson (The Cherry Orchard), Ian Lassiter (The Cherry Orchard), Carl Hendrick Louis (The Cherry Orchard), Isaiah Johnson (The Color Purple), Rosie Benton (Curious Incident), Ben Horner (Curious Incident), Will Roland (Dear Evan Hansen), Brandon Uranowitz (Falsettos), Jessica Hecht (Fiddler on the Roof), Karl Kenzler (Fiddler on the Roof), David Pittu (Front Page), Gelsey Bell (The Great Comet), Amber Gray (The Great Comet), Alex Gibson (The Great Comet), Billy Joe Kiessling (The Great Comet), Azudi Onyejekwe (The Great Comet), Javier Muñoz (Hamilton), Gerianne Pérez (In Transit), Holly Davis (Kinky Boots), Blair Goldberg (Kinky Boots), Ashley Dawn Mortensen (Les Misérables), Rick Holmes (Matilda), Nina Lafarga (On Your Feet!), Adam Dannheisser (Oslo), Joseph Siravo (Oslo), Katherine Heaton (Phantom of the Opera), Bronson Norris Murphy (Phantom of the Opera), Alex Brightman (School of Rock), Jenn Gambatese (School of Rock), Emily Cramer (School of Rock), Elizabeth Earley (Something Rotten!), Eric Giancola (Something Rotten!), Ryan VanDenBoom (Something Rotten!), Dakin Matthews (Waitress), Thay Floyd (Waitress), Molly Hager (Waitress), Molly Jobe (Waitress), Jeremy Morse (Waitress), Dawn E. Cantwell (Wicked), Larkin Bogan (Wicked), Josh Daniel Green (Wicked), Marissa Lupp (Wicked), Yanira Marin (Wicked) and Nicky Venditti (Wicked).

2. College Conservatory of Music (University of Cincinnati): Scott Willis (An American in Paris), Christy Altomare (Anastasia), Daniel Torres (Beautiful), Melvin Tunstall (Beautiful), Kimber Sprawl (Beautiful), Nikki Renée Daniels (The Book of Mormon), Christine Cornish Smith (Cats), Aaron J. Albano (Cats), Jessica Hendy (Cats), Jason Patrick Sands (Chicago), Betsy Wolfe (Falsettos), Andrew Chappelle (Hamilton), Alysha Deslorieux (Hamilton), Megan Lawrence (Holiday Inn), Mia Gentile (Kinky Boots), Adam Monley (Les Misérables), Will Ray (Les Misérables), Joseph Medeiros (Matilda), Sean Montgomery (Matilda), Geoff Packard (Matilda), Blakely Slaybaugh (Paramour), Leslie Kritzer (Something Rotten!), Max Clayton (Something Rotten!), Eric Sciotto (Something Rotten!), Alex DeLeo (Wicked) and Betsy Werbel (Wicked).

3. The Juilliard School: Nathan Madden (An American in Paris), Gia Mongell (An American in Paris), Sam Rogers (An American in Paris), Daniel Breaker (The Book of Mormon), Kolton Krouse (Cats), Corey Snide (Cats), Emily Tate (Cats), Richard Todd Adams (Cats), Danielle Brooks (The Color Purple), Joaquina Kalukango (The Color Purple), Grasan Kingsberry (The Color Purple), Enid Graham (Curious Incident), Tracie Thoms (Falsettos), Ben Rappaport (Fiddler on the Roof), Austin Goodwin (Fiddler on the Roof), Marla Phelan (Fiddler on the Roof), Jennifer Zetlan (Fiddler on the Roof), Danny Mastrogiorgio (Front Page), Nick Choksi (The Great Comet), Austin Smith (Hamilton), Kamille Upshaw (Hamilton), Laura Linney (Little Foxes), Michaeljon Slinger (Matilda), Angela Pierce (Oslo) and Amber Pickens (Paramour).

4. University of Michigan: Christy Morton (An American in Paris), Jeremy Davis (Cats), Andy Huntington Jones (Cats), Celia Keenan-Bolger (The Cherry Orchard), Kelcy Ann Griffin (Chicago), Brian Spitulnik (Chicago), Bre Jackson (The Color Purple), Jennifer Laura Thompson (Dear Evan Hansen), Samantha Massell (Fiddler on the Roof), Nick Gaswirth (The Great Comet), Will Burton (Holiday Inn), Shina Ann Morris (Holiday Inn), Travis Ward-Osborne (Holiday Inn), Laurel Harris (In Transit), Alex Finke (Les Misérables), Cathryn Basile (Les Misérables), Desi Oakley (Les Misérables), Rachel Eskenazi-Gold (Phantom of the Opera), Paul A. Schaefer (Phantom of the Opera), Max Kumangai (Waitress), Ryan Vasquez (Waitress) and Hannah Shankman (Wicked).

5. Carnegie Mellon University: Daisy Hobbs (Aladdin), Tommar Wilson (The Book of Mormon), Sara Jean Ford (Cats), Tyler Hanes (Cats), Kyle Beltran (The Cherry Orchard), Tina Benko (The Cherry Orchard), Kristolyn Lloyd (Dear Evan Hansen), Christian Borle (Falsettos), Nick Rehberger (Fiddler on the Roof), Tess Primack (Fiddler on the Roof), Denée Benton (The Great Comet), Renée Elise Goldsberry (Hamilton), Rory O’Malley (Hamilton), Lora Lee Gayer (Holiday Inn), Telly Leung (In Transit), Erin Mackey (In Transit), Devin Llaw (Les Misérables), Christopher McHale (Oslo), Drew Gehling (Waitress) and Michael Campayno (Wicked).

6. Yale University: Ken Robinson (The Color Purple), Mercedes Herrero (Curious Incident), Tiffany Rachelle Stewart (Curious Incident), Adam Grupper (Fiddler on the Roof), Adam Skybell (Fiddler on the Roof), Jefferson Mays (Front Page, Oslo), Dylan Baker (Front Page), Michael Cerveris (Fun Home), David Hyde Pierce (Hello, Dolly!), Bryce Pinkham (Holiday Inn), Liev Schreiber (Les Liaisons Dangereuses), Kyle Lamar Mitchell (Lion King), Alma Cuervo (On Your Feet!), Ali Ewoldt (Phantom of the Opera) and Henry Gottfried (Waitress)

7. Northwestern University: Brad Weinstock (Aladdin), Amber Owens (Aladdin), Ben Estus (The Book of Mormon), Jacqueline Jarrold (The Cherry Orchard), Heather Headley (The Color Purple), Adam Kantor (Fiddler on the Roof), Mary Beth Peil (Les Liaisons Dangereuses), Beth Kirkpatrick (Les Misérables), Scott Mikita (Phantom of the Opera), Carrington Vilmont (Phantom of the Opera), Jim Weitzer (Phantom of the Opera), Catherine Brunell (Something Rotten!), Brian Ogilvie (Something Rotten!) and Zachary Noah Piser (Wicked).

8. Point Park University: Mike Cannon (Aladdin), Shonica Gooden (Cats), Ahmed Simmons (Cats), Callan Bergmann (Cats), John Magaro (Front Page), Megan Sikora (Holiday Inn), Amy Van Norstrand (Holiday Inn), Candi Boyd (Jersey Boys), Rory Max Kaplan (Jersey Boys), Ross Lekites (Kinky Boots), Sarah Meahl (Paramour), Bruce Weber (Paramour) and Jennifer DiNoia (Wicked).

9. American Musical and Dramatic Academy: Gabrielle Reid (Beautiful), Kyle Scatliffe (The Color Purple), Carla R. Stewart (The Color Purple), Christopher Jackson (Hamilton), Anthony Ramos (Hamilton), Brennyn Lark (Les Misérables), Chondra L. Profit-Ardrey (Lion King), Sheridan Mouawad (Paramour), Mamie Parris (School of Rock), Lulu Lloyd (School of Rock), Charity Angél Dawon (Waitress) and Stephanie Torns (Waitress).

10. Boston Conservatory: Bud Weber (The Book of Mormon), Emily Pynenburg (Cats), Laura Dreyfuss (Dear Evan Hansen), Caley Crawford (Holiday Inn), Josh Grisetti (Something Rotten!), Stephen Cerf (Jersey Boys), Weston Wells Olson (Les Misérables), Chelsey Arce (Paramour), Janet Saia (Phantom of the Opera), Will Blum (School of Rock) and Matt Wall (Something Rotten!).

Honorable Mentions:

1. University of North Carolina - School of the Arts: David Bushman (Chicago), Tyler Lea (Curious Incident), Ben Cherry (Fiddler on the Roof), Joe Mantello (The Glass Menagerie), Voltaire Wade-Green (Hamilton), Mary-Louise Parker (Heisenberg), Joshua Morgan (Les Misérables), Kara Klein (Phantom of the Opera) and Sterling Masters (Wicked).

2. Florida State University: Tiffany Evariste (Aladdin), Stephen Christopher Anthony (The Book of Mormon), (The Book of Mormon), Hardy Weaver (The Book of Mormon), Francesca Granell (Cats), Harris Milgrim (Cats), Amanda LaMotte (Matilda), Natalie Caruncho (On Your Feet!) and Martín Solá (On Your Feet!).

3. University of California, Los Angeles: Jessica Keenan Wynn (Beautiful), Coby Getzug (The Book of Mormon), Timothy Ware (Kinky Boots), Melissa Mitchell (Les Misérables), Satomi Hofmann (Phantom of the Opera), Aleks Pevec (Something Rotten!), Judy Kaye (Wicked) and Tess Ferrell (Wicked).

4. Elon University: Rob Marnell (Beautiful), Nasia Thomas (Beautiful), Ashley Pérez Flanagan (The Great Comet), Daniel J. Watts (Hamilton), Matt Meigs (Holiday Inn), Drew Redington (Holiday Inn), Ginna Claire Mason (Wicked) and Lindsay K. Northen (Wicked).

5. Baldwin Wallace University: Steel Burkhardt (Aladdin), Jill Paice (An American in Paris), Malik Akil (Holiday Inn), Shannon O’Boyle (Kinky Boots), Kyle Post (Kinky Boots), Chris McCarrell (Les Misérables) and Cassie Okenka (School of Rock).

6. Ithaca College: Kathryn Allison (Aladdin), Adam Kaokept (Aladdin), Megan Ort (Cats), Sara Schmidt (Jersey Boys), Bruce Landry (Les Misérables), Jamal Lee Harris (Lion King), Ted Keegan (Phantom of the Opera) and Jerad Bortz (Wicked).

