A 91鶹Ʒ alumnus received a Tony Award for a unique three-level stage set he designed for the hugely successful play, August: Osage County.
Todd A. Rosenthal ’89 won for best set design, one of several awards the play earned during Sunday night’s awards show.
Rosenthal earned a degree from Yale School of Drama in New Haven, Conn., after graduating from 91鶹Ʒ.
Working as a freelance set designer, he is based in Chicago where he has done a lot of work with the Steppenwolf Theatre, where his most recent play originated. He also is an assistant professor of design at Northwestern University in Evanston, Ill.
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| Todd Rosenthal, Class of 1989, stands with his Tony Award on Sunday night. (Photo courtesy of tonyawards.com) |
August: Osage County had a sold-out run at the Steppenwolf before moving to Broadway. In its review back in December 2007, The New York Times called August “the most exciting new American play Broadway has seen in years.”
In addition to Rosenthal’s prize, the drama about a dysfunctional Oklahoma family won the Tony for best play, which went to Tracy Letts. Also winning were Anna D. Shapiro for best director, Deanna Dunagan for best leading actress, and Rondi Reed for best featured actress.
Rosenthal, 43, is a native of Longmeadow, Mass. He told The Republican newspaper that he viewed the set he created as a central character in the play.
“It’s immovable, an indelible image … people move out, but the house never changes,” he said. He added that the set he created suggests a child’s dollhouse combining a juxtaposition of the “gothic and the whimsical.”
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