As part of Playbill's Back to School week, take a look at our annual report on the colleges and universities with the most alumni performing on Broadway in the last season. Below you'll find this year's top 10 most represented schools on Broadway, plus a few honorable mentions that just barely missed making the top 10. Take a look and see if your school—or a school you're considering attending—made the list!
Editor's Note: For the purposes of this list, we looked at every actor who performed in a Broadway show from August 22, 2021, through May 4, 2022, which runs from the first opening of the season (Pass Over) to the deadline for Tony Awards eligibility for the season. Alumni performing in shows that opened on or after May 5, 2022, will be included in next year's list. College attendance data was pulled from publicly available sources, including Playbill and internet-accessible actor résumés. The ranking below is based only on our count of alumni that performed on Broadway during the above range of dates.
1. New York University: Randy Aaron (The Book of Mormon), Renée Albulario (David Byrne's American Utopia), Ioana Alfonso (Wicked), Utkarsh Ambudkar (Freestyle Love Supreme), Akilah Ayanna (Mrs. Doubtfire), Julie Benko (Funny Girl), Ato Blankson-Wood (Slave Play), Larkin Bogan (Wicked), Alana Raquel Bowers (Chicken & Biscuits), Alex Brightman (Beetlejuice), Sojourner Brown (Hadestown), Jared Canfield (Macbeth), Debra Cardona (Funny Girl), Julian Cihi (Take Me Out), Phil Colgan (Hamilton), Billy Crystal (Mr. Saturday Night), Kurt Csolak (Funny Girl), Adam Dannheisser (Beetlejuice), Diane Davis (Harry Potter and the Cursed Child), Emily Davis (Is This A Room), André de Shields (Hadestown), Jennifer Dunne (Chicago), Ronald Emile (Macbeth), Manoel Felciano (Dear Evan Hansen), Haley Fish (The Music Man), Hannah Florence (Wicked), Jenn Gambatese (Mrs. Doubtfire), Karla Puno Garcia (Hamilton), Jordan Gelber (Mr. Saturday Night), Chris Giarmo (David Byrne's American Utopia), Ta'Nika Gibson (Ain't Too Proud—The Life and Times of the Temptations), Emily Goldman (The Lehman Trilogy), Amber Gray (Macbeth, Hadestown), Josh Daniel Green (Wicked), Jin Ha (Hamilton), Chasten Harmon (Mr. Saturday Night), Roe Hartrampf (Diana), Katharine Heaton (The Phantom of the Opera), Joy Hermalyn (Caroline, or Change), Ben Horner (Harry Potter and the Cursed Child), Neal Huff (To Kill A Mockingbird), Timothy Hughes (Hadestown), Miles G. Jackson (Chicken & Biscuits), Molly Jobe (Waitress), Keziah John-Paul (The Book of Mormon), Brittney Johnson (Wicked), Oyoyo Joi (MJ The Musical), David Josefsberg (Beetlejuice), Devin Kawaoka (Slave Play), Jordan Lage (American Buffalo), Heather Lang (Jagged Little Pill), Kelvin Moon Loh (Beetlejuice), Stephen Mark Lukas (Funny Girl), Dakin Matthews (Waitress, To Kill A Mockingbird), Amelia McClain (To Kill A Mockingbird), Happy McPartlin (Come From Away), Maiesha McQueen (Waitress), Debra Messing (Birthday Candles), Aigner Mizzelle (Chicken & Biscuits), Bronson Norris Murphy (The Phantom of the Opera), Anisha Nagarajan (Company), Sahr Ngaujah (Moulin Rouge! The Musical), Kelsey Orem (Moulin Rouge! The Musical, Jagged Little Pill), Lauren Patten (Jagged Little Pill), Khori Michelle Petinaud (Moulin Rouge! The Musical), Gerianne Pérez (Waitress), Molly Ranson (Plaza Suite), Joshua David Robinson (The Minutes), Devere Rogers (Chicken & Biscuits), Nic Rouleau (The Book of Mormon), Adi Roy (Jagged Little Pill), Jaquez André Sims (Mrs. Doubtfire), Dana Steingold (Beetlejuice), Pearl Sun (Come From Away), Kay Trinidad (Hadestown), Ryan VanDenBoom (MJ The Musical), Nicky Venditti (Wicked), Nik Walker (Hamilton, Ain't Too Proud—The Life and Times of the Temptations), Naomi C. Walley (MJ The Musical), Nyla Watson (Waitress), Tatiana Wechsler (Mr. Saturday Night), Sarin Monae West (The Skin of Our Teeth), D. Woods (for colored girls who have considered suicide/when the rainbow is enuf), Ryan Worsing (The Music Man), Malcolm Miles Young (The Lion King)
2. American Musical and Dramatic Academy: Dean Acrees (Chicken & Biscuits), Netanel Bellaishe (Aladdin), Maria Briggs (The Music Man), Krystal Joy Brown (Hamilton), Colin Cunliffe (Paradise Square), Kevin Curtis (Moulin Rouge! The Musical),Charity Angél Dawson (Waitress, Mrs. Doubtfire), Asia Kate Dillon (Macbeth), Karli Dinardo (Moulin Rouge! The Musical), Josh Drake (Aladdin), John Edward (MJ The Musical), Leandra Ellis-Gaston (Tine: The Tina Turner Musical), Alexander Ferguson (Hamilton), Jesse Tyler Ferguson (Take Me Out), Carissa Fiorillo (Aladdin), Jenny Florkowski (Wicked), Kyle Ramar Freeman (A Strange Loop), J. Harrison Ghee (Mrs. Doubtfire), Jennie Harney-Fleming (Hamilton), Christopher Jackson (Freestyle Love Supreme), Taylor Symone Jackson (Ain't Too Proud—The Life and Times of the Temptations), Kristen Jeter (The Book of Mormon), Caissie Levy (Caroline, or Change), Brittney Mack (Six: The Musical), Jarvis B. Manning, Jr. (Ain't Too Proud—The Life and Times of the Temptations),Ebony Marshall-Oliver (Chicken & Biscuits), Anastacia McCleskey (Waitress, Caroline, or Change), Jay McKenzie (Paradise Square), Harper Miles (Caroline, or Change), Kenita R. Miller (for colored girls who have considered suicide/when the rainbow is enuf), Domonique Paton (Wicked), Soara-Joye Ross (Hadestown), Kyle Scatliffe (Hamilton), Housso Semon (The Lion King, Girl From the North Country), Christopher Sieber (Company), Carla R. Stewart (Tina: The Tina Turner Musical), Stephanie Torns (Waitress), Joy Woods (Six: The Musical)
3. University of Michigan: Cameron Amandus (The Lion King), Leanne Antonio (The Lion King), Andrew Arrington (The Lion King), Stanley Bahorek (Company), Jordan Barrow (Wicked), Whitney Bashor (MJ The Musical), Etai Benson (Company), Ashley Blanchet (Waitress), Zachary Booth (To Kill A Mockingbird), Jane Bruce (Jagged Little Pill), Christopher Campbell (MJ The Musical), Britney Coleman (Company), Bobby Conte (Company), Darren Criss (American Buffalo), Janine DiVita (Jagged Little Pill), Erin Dilly (Plaza Suite), De'Lon Grant (Come From Away), Olivia Hernandez (Plaza Suite), Commodore C. Primous III (Beetlejuice), Bre Jackson (The Book of Mormon), Wonza Johnson (MJ The Musical), Celia Keenan-Bolger (To Kill A Mockingbird), Emilie Kouatchou (The Phantom of the Opera), Max Kumangai (Waitress, Jagged Little Pill), Spencer LaRue (Harry Potter and the Cursed Child), Carina-Kay Louchiey (MJ The Musical), Nkeki Obi-Melekwe (Tina: The Tina Turner Musical), David Paymer (Mr. Saturday Night), Alex Puette (Hadestown), Nevada Riley (Beetlejuice), Paul A. Schaefer (The Phantom of the Opera), A.J. Shively (Paradise Square), Alexis Sims (for colored girls who have considered suicide/when the rainbow is enuf), Dani Spieler (Chicago), Brian Spitulnik (Chicago), Josh Strobl (Dear Evan Hansen), Travis Ward-Osborne (Moulin Rouge! The Musical)
4. Yale: Aaron Bartz (Harry Potter and the Cursed Child), Ian Bedford (To Kill A Mockingbird), Ato Blankson-Wood (Slave Play), Baize Buzan (To Kill A Mockingbird), Bryan Terrell Clark (Thoughts of a Colored Man), Will Cobbs (Is This A Room), Enrico Colantoni (Birthday Candles), Rosalyn Coleman (To Kill A Mockingbird), Antoinette Crowe-Legacy (Slave Play), William DeMeritt (The Skin of Our Teeth), Stephen DeRosa (Mr. Saturday Night), Edmund Donovan (Clyde's), Henry Gottfried (Waitress), Josh Goulding (Hangmen), Chasten Harmon (Mr. Saturday Night), Jonathan Chad Higginbotham (Slave Play), Irene Sofia Lucio (Slave Play), Jefferson Mays (The Music Man), Okwui Okpokwasili (for colored girls who have considered suicide/when the rainbow is enuf), Austin Pendleton (The Minutes), Jakeem Dante Powell (Slave Play), Christian Probst (The Book of Mormon), Ari Shapiro (POTUS: Or Behind Every Great Dumbass Are Seven Women Trying to Keep Him Alive), Asa Somers (Dear Evan Hansen), Elizabeth Stahlmann (Slave Play), Graham Stevens (Beetlejuice), Myra Lucretia Taylor (Tina: The Tina Turner Musical), Christianne Tisdale (Wicked), Chalia La Tour (Slave Play), Ariana Venturi (The Minutes), Adrienne Wells (The Skin of Our Teeth)
5. (tie) Boston Conservatory: Lawrence Alexander (The Lion King), Tia Altinay (Aladdin), Chelsey Arce (Harry Potter and the Cursed Child), Will Blum (Beetlejuice), John Cardoza (Jagged Little Pill), Erin Davie (Diana), Matt DeAngelis (Waitress), Brian Dillon (Aladdin), Meg Doherty (Wicked), Peter Ermides (Wicked), Celia Hottenstein (Wicked), Eric Anthony Johnson (Beetlejuice), Zachary Daniel Jones (Wicked), Eddie Korbich (The Music Man), John Krause (Hadestown), Renni Anthony Magee (MJ The Musical), Alexandra Matteo (Mrs. Doubtfire), Liz McCartney (Funny Girl), Michael McGrath (Plaza Suite), Sean McManus (Beetlejuice), Shoba Narayan (Aladdin), Ramone Owens (Beetlejuice), Aaron Patterson (Ain't Too Proud—The Life and Times of the Temptations), Brandi Porter (Clyde's), Emily Pynenburg (Flying Over Sunset), Nicholas Ryan (Hamilton), Jennifer Simard (Company), Matt Wall (Company), Sir Brock Warren (Paradise Square, Ain't Too Proud—The Life and Times of the Temptations)
The Juilliard School: Colin Bates (Girl From the North Country), Michael Braugher (To Kill A Mockingbird), Randy Castillo (Wicked), Yossi Chaikin (Hamilton), Grantham Coleman (Macbeth), Gabriel Ebert (Pass Over), Jacob Fishel (Paradise Square), Drew Wildman Foster (Ain't Too Proud—The Life and Times of the Temptations), Joelle Gates (The Phantom of the Opera), Michael Genet (Chicken & Biscuits), Brandon Micheal Hall (Trouble in Mind), Bahiyah Hibah (Moulin Rouge! The Musical), Joaquina Kalukango (Paradise Square), Patti LuPone (Company), Kathleen McNenny (The Minutes), Geoffrey Allen Murphy (To Kill A Mockingbird), Chris Myers (How I Learned to Drive), N'Kenge (Caroline, or Change), Julian Robertson (Pass Over, The Skin of Our Teeth), Kyle R. Robinson (MJ The Musical), Blake Russell (Slave Play), Robert Sella (Flying Over Sunset), James Seol (Come From Away), Laura Shoop (Flying Over Sunset), Andrea Syglowski (Pass Over), Natalie Tenenbaum (David Byrne's American Utopia), Stephen Barker Turner (Birthday Candles), Kamille Upshaw (MJ The Musical), Michael Urie (Chicken & Biscuits)
7. (tie) University of Cincinnati – College Conservatory of Music: Todd Almond (Girl From the North Country), Ezekiel Andrew (The Lion King), Shoshana Bean (Mr. Saturday Night), Matt Bogart (Paradise Square), Giovanni Bonaventura (Moulin Rouge! The Musical), Aria Braswell (Flying Over Sunset), Josh Breckenridge (Come From Away), Ryan Breslin (Beetlejuice), Ashley Brown (How I Learned to Drive), Kyle Brown (Moulin Rouge! The Musical), Max Clayton (The Music Man), Nikki Renée Daniels (Company), Jennifer Fouché (Chicken & Biscuits, POTUS: Or Behind Every Great Dumbass Are Seven Women Trying to Keep Him Alive, Chicago), Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer (Beetlejuice), Sean Montgomery (The Music Man), Samantha Pollino (Hamilton), Angel Reda (Chicago), John Riddle (The Phantom of the Opera), Christine Cornish Smith (Chicago), Kimber Elayne Sprawl (Girl From the North Country), Daniel Torres (The Music Man), Jim Walton (Come From Away), Sharon Wheatley (Come From Away), Tony Yazbeck (Flying Over Sunset)
Carnegie Mellon University: Chanté Adams (Skeleton Crew), Iris Beaumier (The Little Prince), Amanda Jane Cooper (Wicked), Kaleigh Cronin (Mrs. Doubtfire), John Dossett (Paradise Square), Sutton Foster (The Music Man), Gaby Gamache (Aladdin), Drew Gehling (Waitress), Michael Hollick (The Lion King), Antwayn Hopper (A Strange Loop), Arica Jackson (Caroline, or Change), Andrew Kober (Beetlejuice), Emily Koch (Waitress), Robert Lenzi (Tina: The Tina Turner Musical), Carl Lundstedt (Take Me Out), Kate Marilley (Flying Over Sunset), Gabrielle McClinton (Paradise Square), Manu Narayan (Company), Patricia Phillips (The Phantom of the Opera), Jon-Michael Reese (A Strange Loop), Ben Levi Ross (Dear Evan Hansen), Jessie Shelton (Hadestown), Greg Stuhr (The Minutes), Gregory Treco (Hamilton)
9. Northwestern University: Annelise Baker (Jagged Little Pill), J. Casey Barrett (The Book of Mormon), Craig Bierko (Girl From the North Country), Will Carlyon (Harry Potter and the Cursed Child), Antonette Cohen (Wicked), Diane Davis (Harry Potter and the Cursed Child), Bryan Eng (Plaza Suite), Tom Galantich (The Lehman Trilogy), David Michael Garry (The Phantom of the Opera), Leslie Jackson (Caroline, or Change), Katrina Lenk (Company), Scott Mikita (The Phantom of the Opera), Sally Murphy (The Minutes), Amber Owens (Aladdin), Zachary Noah Piser (Dear Evan Hansen), Carrington Vilmont (The Phantom of the Opera), Ian Weinberger (Freestyle Love Supreme), Brad Weinstock (Aladdin), Alex Weisman (Harry Potter and the Cursed Child), Jim Weitzer (The Phantom of the Opera)
10. Pace University: Amanda Braun (Hamilton), Taylor Broadard (Hamilton), Gabi Campo (Beetlejuice), Mili Diaz (Wicked),Jamal Christopher Douglas (Paradise Square), Charlie Franklin (Tina: The Tina Turner Musical), Jeff Heimbrock (Wicked), Brandon Kalm (Waitress), Adam J. Levy (Moulin Rouge! The Musical), Nathan Levy (Dear Evan Hansen), John-Michael Lyles (A Strange Loop), Emily Rogers (Wicked), Analise Scarpaci (Mrs. Doubtfire), Cassidy Stoner (Aladdin), Bethany Ann Tesarck (Diana), Davis Wayne (Hadestown), Samantha Williams (Caroline, or Change), Zelig Williams (MJ The Musical), Daniel Yearwood (Hamilton)
Honorable Mentions:
Elon University: Gerald Caesar (Tina: The Tina Turner Musical), Michael Callahan (Aladdin), Kennedy Caughell (Paradise Square), Ashley Pérez Flanagan (Freestyle Love Supreme), Jared Goldsmith (Dear Evan Hansen), April Holloway (Aladdin), Rob Marnell (Tina: The Tina Turner Musical), Ginna Claire Mason (Wicked), Matt Meigs (Wicked), Paul HeeSang Miller (Aladdin), JJ Niemann (The Book of Mormon), Lindsay K. Northen (Wicked), Sayo Oni (Hadestown), Fergie L. Philippe (Hamilton), Nasia Thomas (Caroline, or Change), Daniel J. Watts (Tina: The Tina Turner Musical), Sidney Nicole Wilson (The Lion King)
Pennsylvania State University: Keely Beirne (Moulin Rouge! The Musical), Jane Brockman (The Music Man), Audrey Cardwell (The Music Man), Kevin Clay (The Book of Mormon), Dan Gleason (Wicked), Michael Alexander Henry (The Lion King), Nathan Lucrezio (Diana), Stephanie Martignetti (Tina: The Tina Turner Musical), Christian Thompson (Ain't Too Proud—The Life and Times of the Temptations), Clay Thomson (Moulin Rouge! The Musical), Laurie Veldheer (Plaza Suite), Aidan Wharton (Girl From the North Country), Alan Wiggins (Paradise Square)
Fordham University: Alex Aquilino (Wicked), Taeler Elyse Cyrus (Wicked), Rosie Lani Fiedelman (The Lion King), R.J. Foster (The Lehman Trilogy), Paige Fraser-Hoffman (The Lion King), Daniel Harder (The Lion King), Collin Heyward (The Lion King), Lindsey Jolyn Jackson (The Lion King), Alia Kache (The Lion King), Victoria Oliver (Trouble in Mind), J Nycole Ralph (The Book of Mormon), Julie White (POTUS: Or Behind Every Great Dumbass Are Seven Women Trying to Keep Him Alive)
Marymount Manhattan College: Nadia Brown (Harry Potter and the Cursed Child), Alicia Charles (Aladdin), William DeMeritt (The Skin of Our Teeth), Mia DeWeese (Moulin Rouge! The Musical), Paige Faure (Company), Matthew Marks (The Book of Mormon), Kara Menendez (Moulin Rouge! The Musical), Alexandra Peter (Harry Potter and the Cursed Child), Eilis Quinn (Paradise Square), Mariah Reives (Funny Girl), Kei Tsuruharatani (Jagged Little Pill), Adrienne Warren (Tina: The Tina Turner Musical)
Since this article's original publication, further data resulted in a change in the ranking of University of Michigan; American Musical and Dramatic Academy; Elon University; Pace University. This change is reflected above.
