Tony-Winning Producer Hal Luftig Will Receive Honorary Doctorate from SUNY Oneonta

Tony Award-winning Broadway producer Hal Luftig will receive an honorary doctorate from his alma mater, SUNY Oneonta, tomorrow, Saturday, May 14, when Luftig will also address the graduating Class of 2016 at Commencement.

Hal Luftig is one of the most sought-after producers in the American theatre industry. He has produced 27 Broadway shows that have garnered 82 Tony Awards. As a SUNY Oneonta student, Luftig studied psychology and journalism, earning his bachelor's degree in 1979. He participated in student government and was a member of the College Union Activities Council. Today, in addition to his work as a guest lecturer at Columbia and the Tish School of the Arts at New York University, Luftig often engages with SUNY Oneonta theatre majors by hosting career exploration experiences through the college's "From Goodrich to Broadway" program.

Winner of four Tony Awards and two Olivier Awards, Hal Luftig has worked on and off Broadway for the past 25 years. Broadway: Kinky Boots, The Elephant Man, Evita, Catch Me If You Can, Come Fly Away, West Side Story, All My Sons, Legally Blonde, The Times They Are A-Changin', Whoopi, Movin' Out, Thoroughly Modern Millie, Annie Get Your Gun, High Society, The Diary of Anne Frank, The King and I, Moon Over Buffalo, Angels in America, Jelly's Last Jam, The Secret Garden.

His current developing slate includes an adaptation of Romeo and Juliet featuring the music of Jeff Buckley; the first ever Broadway revival of the 1980 Tony Award winner Children of a Lesser God to be directed by Tony Winner Kenny Leon (Raisin in the Sun); a new musical written by Rick Elice (Jersey Boys) and Jerry Mitchell (Kinky Boots) based on the British music invasion of the 1960s; and a new musical being written for six-time Tony Award-winner Audra McDonald.

Photo by Walter McBride