Playbill: CCM in top 10 most represented colleges on Broadway

Playbill released its “Big 10 2022: The 10 Most Represented Colleges on Broadway” list, ranking the colleges with the most alumni on Broadway stages in the 2021-22 season. UC's College-Conservatory of Music is a regular in Playbill’s annual ranking, and it’s no wonder — last season alone, at least 21 alumni appeared in Broadway productions.

Among the notable alumni, Shoshana Bean (BFA Musical Theatre, ‘99), who has previously starred in Wicked and Waitress, created the role of Susan Young in Mr. Saturday Night — marking her first leading originating role on Broadway. Bean, who starred opposite of Billy Crystal, received a Tony nomination for Best Featured Actress in a Musical for her performance. Read more about Bean's experience on Mr. Saturday Night via Broadway Direct.

Max Clayton (BFA Musical Theatre, ’14) stepped in to star as Harold Hill in the Broadway revival of The Music Man while Hugh Jackman was out sick with COVID. "This is my eighth Broadway show, and I've understudied the lead in almost all of the shows I've been in," Clayton told Broadway.com after his performance at the Winter Garden Theatre. Clayton is joined in The Music Man by fellow CCM alumni Sean Montgomery (BFA Musical Theatre, ‘07) and Daniel Torres (BFA Musical Theatre, ‘01).

Another understudy who got a chance to shine, Nikki Renee Daniels (BFA Musical Theatre, ‘01) debuted as Bobbie in Marianne Elliott’s gender-flipped production of Sondheim’s Company, becoming the first Black actor to play the role on Broadway. Daniels usually plays Jenny, a supporting character in the show, and stepped in as the lead for Katrina Lenk. “The idea of leading a Sondheim show on Broadway as a Black woman is just something that I never dreamed possible for myself,” she told Variety in April. “To get to do this role now has been really amazing.”

CCM alumni who appear in Playbill's list include:

• Josh Breckenridge (BFA Musical Theatre, ‘07), Jim Walton (BM ‘77) and Sharon Wheatley (BFA Musical Theatre ’11) in Come from Away
• Angel Reda (BFA Musical Theatre, ‘03) and Christine Cornish Smith (BFA Musical Theatre, ‘13) in Chicago
• Max Clayton (BFA Musical Theatre, ‘14), Sean Montgomery (BFA Musical Theatre, ‘07) and Daniel Torres (BFA Musical Theatre ‘01) in The Music Man
• Todd Almond (BM Vocal Performance, BFA Acting, '99) and Kimber Elayne Sprawl (BFA Musical Theatre, ‘14) in Girl From the North Country
• Giovanni Bonaventura (BFA Musical Theatre, ‘11) and Kyle Brown (BFA Musical Theatre, ‘08) in Moulin Rouge! The Musical
• Aria Braswell (BFA Musical Theatre, ‘19) in Flying Over Sunset
• Ryan Breslin (BFA Musical Theatre, ‘21) and Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer (BFA Musical Theatre,  ‘99) in Beetlejuice
• Shoshana Bean (BFA Musical Theatre, ’99) in Mr. Saturday Night
• Matt Bogart (BFA Musical Theatre, ’94) in Paradise Square
• Ashley Brown (BFA Musical Theatre, ’04) in How I Learned to Drive
• Nikki Renee Daniels (BFA Musical Theatre, ’01) in Company
• Samantha Pollino (BFA Musical Theatre, ’16) in Hamilton
• John Riddle (BFA Musical Theatre, ’12) in The Phantom of the Opera

Featured image at the top: Max Clayton performing in The Music Man on Broadway. Photo/Avery Brunkus.