Musical Theater Society honors Broadway actress

On April 22, prior to the performance of Café Variations at the Cutler Majestic Theatre, Jacob Porter ’13 and Brock Bivens ’13 presented the Leonidas A. Nickole Award of Distinction to Broadway actress, singer, and writer Sherie Rene Scott.

Sherri Rene Scott (center) is flanked by Jacob Porter ’13 and Brock Bivens ’13 during the Leonidas A. Nickole Award of Distinction ceremony.

A graduate of the Neighborhood Playhouse, Scott created roles for the original Broadway productions of Lincoln Center Theater’s Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown; The Little Mermaid (OCC nomination); Dirty Rotten Scoundrels (Tony, Drama Desk, OCC nominations; Drama League honor); Elton John and Tim Rice’s Aida (Derwent Award, Drama League honor); Tommy; and the original production of The Last Five Years (Drama Desk nomination, Drama League honor). She also performed in and co-wrote Everyday Rapture with Dick Scanlan (Lortel nominations, Best Musical and Best Actress) for Roundabout and Second Stage Theatre.

The award is presented annually by the College’s student-run Musical Theatre Society (MTS) to an industry professional who has distinguished him- or herself in the field of musical theatre. It is named in honor of Leo Nickole, whose career spans more than 110 productions. Leo is a professor emeritus at Emerson College; a former head of Musical Theatre; and is the founding advisor of the Musical Theatre Society, a position he held for 30 years.

Past award recipients are (alphabetically): Beatrice Arthur, Christine Baranski, Ann Baxter, Michael Bennett, Jerry Bock, Ray Bolger, Carol Channing, Martin Charnin, Victoria Clark, Betty Comden, Barbara Cook, Ken Davenport, Fred Ebb, Scott Ellis, William Finn, Peter Gennaro, Jack Gilford, Adolph Green, Sheldon Harnick, Shirley Jones, John Kander, Michael John LaChiusa, James Lapine, Carol Lawrence, Lotte Lenya, Patti LuPone, Joe Masteroff, Donna McKechnie, David Merrick, Jerry Mitchell, Robert Morse, Donna Murphy, Leonidas A. Nickole, Janice Paige, Bernadette Peters, Harold Prince, Anne Reinking, Stephen Schwartz, Stephen Sondheim, Bryan Stokes Mitchell, Susan Stroman, Charles Strouse, Julie Taymor, and Ben Vereen.