{"id":159004,"date":"2025-05-01T16:40:02","date_gmt":"2025-05-01T20:40:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/?p=159004"},"modified":"2025-05-02T14:12:31","modified_gmt":"2025-05-02T18:12:31","slug":"wright-state-alumna-nicole-scherzinger-nominated-for-tony-for-sunset-boulevard-performance","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/2025\/05\/01\/wright-state-alumna-nicole-scherzinger-nominated-for-tony-for-sunset-boulevard-performance\/","title":{"rendered":"Wright State alumna Nicole Scherzinger nominated for Tony for \u2018Sunset Boulevard\u2019 performance"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Nicole Scherzinger, who studied musical theatre and acting at Wright State from 1996 to 1999, is nominated for a Tony Award for the Best Performance by Actress in a Leading Role for her portrayal of Norma Desmond in \u201cSunset Boulevard.\u201d (Photo by Marc Brenner)<\/p><\/div>\n

Wright State University alumna Nicole Scherzinger was once again recognized for her stunning portrayal of Norma Desmond in \u201cSunset Boulevard.\u201d<\/p>\n

Scherzinger is nominated for a Tony Award for Best Performance by Actress in a Leading Role for her Broadway debut. The New York Times called her one of two front-runners for the award.<\/p>\n

\u201cSunset Boulevard\u201d earned seven nominations, including Best Revival of a Musical. The 78th annual Tony Awards ceremony will take place on June 8 at Radio City Music Hall.<\/p>\n

Last year, Scherzinger won the prestigious Olivier Award, the highest honor in British theatre, and in April, Time magazine named her one of its 100 most influential people of 2025.<\/p>\n

Scherzinger studied musical theatre and acting at Wright State from 1996 to 1999. As a student, she performed in numerous productions, including as Velma Kelly in \u201cChicago\u201d and Julie La Verne in \u201cShow Boat.\u201d<\/p>\n

She decided to leave Wright State after consulting her professors about an opportunity in Hollywood that launched her stellar career.<\/p>\n

In 2017, the Wright State Alumni Association honored Scherzinger with its Alumna of the Year Award<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Joe Deer, retired professor of musical theatre at Wright State, said Scherzinger\u2019s performance in \u201cSunset Boulevard\u201d<\/a> is no surprise to those who have followed her career since she left Wright State.<\/p>\n

\u201cCritics are recognizing the depth and power of this incredibly versatile performer in a daring production that has gotten nearly universal praise, largely based on her performance,\u201d Deer said. \u201cI can think of very few other performers who have sustained a top-level career in so many fields for so long. It\u2019s so gratifying to see our outstanding alumna being recognized for her breathtaking talent and longevity.\u201d<\/p>\n

Scherzinger is a multiple award-winning, multi-platinum-selling performer, singer, actress, dancer and television personality.<\/p>\n

She was previously nominated for an Olivier Award for her performance as Grizabella in Andrew Lloyd Webber\u2019s \u201cCats.\u201d<\/p>\n

She has performed at Madison Square Garden, voiced the character Sina in Disney\u2019s animated blockbuster \u201cMoana\u201d and starred in ABC\u2019s remake of \u201cDirty Dancing.\u201d<\/p>\n

She has also been a judge on \u201cThe Sing-Off,\u201d the U.S. and U.K. versions of \u201cThe X Factor\u201d and \u201cThe Masked Singer\u201d on Fox.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Nicole Scherzinger, who studied musical theatre and acting at Wright State, is nominated for a Tony Award for her portrayal of Norma Desmond in \u201cSunset Boulevard.\u201d Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":43,"featured_media":158995,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[722,733,4859,725,747,715],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-159004","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-academics","category-alumni","category-fine-and-performing-arts","category-home-news-sidebar","category-liberal-arts","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/159004","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/43"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=159004"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/159004\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":159055,"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/159004\/revisions\/159055"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/158995"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=159004"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=159004"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=159004"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}