Emerson Alum Eric Cornell Wins Tony Award for ‘Oklahoma!’
By David Ertischek ’01
It was only last year that Emerson College alum Eric Cornell ’05 founded Cornice Productions with his business partner Jack Sennott, and they’ve already got a Tony Award, after Rodgers & Hammerstein’s Oklahoma! won for Best Revival of a Musical.
“It is an honor to win my first Tony Award as a coproducer of this thrilling production of Rodgers & Hammerstein’s Oklahoma! I am proud of the education and training I received from Emerson College,” said Cornell.
Along with Cornice Productions, the following producers and companies were honored with a Tony for Oklahoma!: Eva Price, Level Forward, Abigail Disney, Barbara Manocherian and Carl Moellenberg, James L. Nederlander, David Mirvish, Mickey Liddell & Robert Ahrens, BSL Enterprises & MagicSpace Entertainment, Berlind Productions, John Gore Organization, Cornice Productions, Bard Fisher/R. Gold, LAMF/J. Geller, T. Narang/ZKM Media, R/F/B/V Group, Araca/IPN, St. Ann’s Warehouse, Tamar Climan, and Bard Summerscape.
The production also gained national attention because it featured the first wheelchair user to ever win a Tony, as actress Ali Stroker won best featured actress in a musical for her role as Ado Annie.
And Oklahoma! wasn’t the only production that Cornice Productions worked on recently.
“This season we have also been a producer or investor in Lifespan of a Fact, Waitress in London, To Kill A Mockingbird, What the Constitution Means to Me, and more,” said Cornell. “In addition to producing, Cornice Productions manages the Cornice Productions Fund, a theatrical investment fund focused on spreading the risk of entertainment investing.”
Since graduating Cornell has worked on the producing and management teams of various original Broadway, Off-Broadway, national touring, and Regional shows. Cornell is currently an assistant professor at The Boston Conservatory at Berklee, teaching The Business of Acting, a course he developed. Also, he received a Harvard Business School online CORE certificate and is currently pursuing a Master’s Degree in Management from Harvard University Extension School.
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