Nominees include Ann Arbor Pioneer High School and University of Michigan graduate Ashley Park.
ANN ARBOR, MI — Tina Fey’s musical «Mean Girls» leads the way with a dozen Tony Award nominations, with a couple of those nominations going to members of the University of Michigan’s School of Music, Theatre & Dance.
One of those alums is Ann Arbor’s Pioneer High School and UM graduate Ashley Park, who earned a nomination for Best Performance by an Actress in a Featured Role on Tuesday, May 1, for her role as Gretchen Weiner.
Nabbing a nomination for Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role was Taylor Louderman, who attended UM through her sophomore year before taking a sabbatical after earning a starring role in «Bring It On: The Musical.» Louderman plays the role of villain Regina George in «Mean Girls,» who was portrayed by Rachel McAdams on screen.
Louderman earned her first nomination for playing a high school queen bee who is laid low in «Mean Girls.»
UMich alums land leading roles in Tina Fey’s ‘Mean Girls’ on Broadway
«I really haven’t sat back and thought about the young version of me and how she would be freaking out right now,» Louderman told the Associated Press. «I’m from a small town where people don’t really get out and dream big. I just really thought I would never be here.»
Park and Louderman are joined on the cast of «Mean Girls» by UM School of Music, Theatre & Dance alum Erika Henningsen, who was cast to play the role of Cady Heron, the musical’s protagonist, which was portrayed by Lindsey Lohan in the popular 2004 film.
«Mean Girls,» which Fey adapted from her much-beloved and oft-quoted 2004 high school comedy movie, and the goofy undersea adaptation from the cartoon «SpongeBob SquarePants: The Musical» lead the Tony Award nominations with a dozen nods each.
Along with Park and Louderman, UM Music Theater alum Alexander Gemignani earned a Tony nomination Tuesday for Best Performance by an Actor in a Musical for «Rodgers & Hammerstein’s Carousel.»
A complete list of Tony nominations can be found online.
