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On Sunday (June 9), theater luminaries were recognized at the 73rd annual Tony Awards at Radio City Music Hall in New York City. Six CalArtians, including Mara Isaacs, Todd Sickafoose and Bob Mackie, joined a roster of distinguished winners.
Mythologically-inspired production Hadestown, was the night’s big winner, racking up eight total Tonys, including Best Musical. The show’s producers include Isaacs, CalArts School of Theater faculty member, as well as alums Meredith Lynsey Schade (Theater MFA 06), Dale Franzen (Music MFA 89) and Kathleen O’Kelly (Theater MFA 18).
Isaacs and Schade share a previous Tony Award for Best Play for Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike. Franzen was recently awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award at the 14th annual Basie Awards, which honors high school-level theater productions and actors.
“Our extraordinary creative team is a model for genuine collaboration serving up this staggering fusion of music, story, movement and design,” said Isaacs onstage while accepting the Tony for the Best Musical. “Every night at the Walter Kerr, the actors, musicians, everyone working backstage in the house, bringing the world back into tune, at least for a moment.”
Acclaimed musicians Todd Sickafoose (Music MFA 98) and Michael Chorney won Best Orchestrations for Hadestown. The producer-engineer has helmed 25 total albums for numerous innovative musical acts, including Ani DiFranco, Andrew Bird and Jenny Scheinman.
Prolific fashion and costume designer Bob Mackie (Chouinard Art Institute alum) won Best Costume Design of a Musical for The Cher Show. Throughout Mackie’s five decade-long career, he has garnered nine Emmy Awards, three Academy Award nominations and an induction into the Television Academy Hall of Fame. Mackie was also recently awarded a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Council of Fashion Designers of America (CFDA).