By the time he reached fourth grade, Jarrod Spector ’03 had started a career in theater, playing the role of Gavroche in Les Miserables, first in a regional production and later on Broadway. He would watch the Tony Awards and dream of someday hearing his name called. But that dream was tempered over time, as Spector recently told BroadwayWorld.com:
“You get older and you realize how hard it is just to get a job, let alone get a job in a good show, let alone for that show to be on Broadway, let alone for that show on Broadway to be considered for Tonys. … I’d sort of written it off as a fantasy.”
Spector joined elite company this year as a nominee for best featured actor in a musical — he plays the role of Barry Mann in Beautiful — The Carole King Musical. Though he did not win the award, he was thrilled by the nomination, and by the recognition that Beautiful has received (two Tonys and five other nominations, including writer Douglas McGrath ’80 for best book of a musical).
The 2014 Tony winners and nominees had several Princeton connections. Roger Berlind ’52 is one of the producers of A Raisin in the Sun, the winner for best revival of a play. A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder, the best musical, is running at the Walter Kerr Theatre, owned and operated by Jordan Roth ’97’s Jujamcyn Theaters. Alumnus Jonathan Schwartz ’10 plays Omar in Aladdin, a best-musical nominee. And Princeton lecturer Jane Cox was nominated for best lighting design of a play for her work on Machinal.