TV: Tony Nominees Sound Off on the Importance of Theatre Education

Together with the Tony Awards, Carnegie Mellon University annually presents the Excellence in Theatre Education Award, which they co-founded in 2014 to recognize top K-12 drama teachers and to celebrate arts education. This year, the special award will be presented to Theater Director Madeline Michel from Monticello High School in Charlottesville, Virginia, who will receive her award at the 73rd Annual Tony Awards on Sunday, June 9, at Radio City Music Hall in New York City.

Carnegie Mellon's history with the Tony Awards exceeds far beyond this award, however. Its School of Drama is the oldest drama degree-granting program in the United States and celebrated its centennial in 2014. In the past century, CMU has produced hundreds of Tony nominees, and its alumni have won 49 Tony Awards to date. For additional information, visit: drama.cmu.edu

Why is theatre education so important? Below, watch as the 2019 Tony nominees, including Annette Bening, Santino Fontana, Eva Noblezada, Derrick Baskin, and many more tell us about why it's essential to lives of both artists and the rest of the world!