Lou Jacob Named to Tony Award Nominating Committee
This year’s Tony Award nominees have already been announced. But, next year, a New School faculty member will have a say on who takes home the most coveted prize in theater.
Lou Jacob, Director of the MFA Directing Program at the New School for Drama, is among the 51 theater professionals chosen to sit on the 2015-2016 Tony Awards nominating committee. The committee attends all productions during the Broadway season and meets to determine, by vote, the Tony Award nominees. Members of the committee serve a three-year term.
“It’s a fantastic opportunity to be involved in the process of recognizing great work,” Jacob said. “Part of what is so exciting about it is that it’s an extension of what I do at The New School, which is to recognize unusually strong talent in artists and work as hard as I possibly can to help them realize their potential.”
Jacob comes to the committee with a wealth of stage experience. A graduate of Northwestern University, he has directed plays and musicals in the United States, Europe, and Asia. His Off-Broadway productions include the U.S. premiere of The Glass Cage by JB Priestley (Time Out magazine Top Ten productions 2008 and Lortel Award for Outstanding Revival); Sam Shepard’s The God Of Hell, starring Randy Quaid and J. Smith-Cameron; Coyote On A Fence starring Paul Sparks (two Drama Desk Award nominations, Village Voice Top Ten); and Victoria Stewart’s Live Girls at Urban Stages.
The 2015 Tony Awards will be hosted by Kristin Chenoweth and Alan Cumming. The event, which will take place June 7, will be broadcast on the CBS Television Network, live from Radio City Music Hall. The Tony Awards, which honor theater professionals for distinguished achievement on Broadway, are presented by the Broadway League and the American Theatre Wing.