Mercer Times

Princeton alumnus Branden Jacobs-Jenkins and Jane Cox, a professor at the University’s Lewis Center for the Arts, have both won Tony Awards for the play “Appropriate.”

Jacobs-Jenkins, who wrote “Appropriate,” won the Tony for Best Revival of a Play at Sunday’s 77th Annual Tony Awards. Cox won the Tony for Best Lighting Design of a Play. The show’s star Sarah Paulson also won for Best Performance by an Actress.

“Everything about this process has been too good to be true,” Jacob-Jenkins said in a backstage Tony Awards interview, including Paulson’s decision to sign on as lead. “I swear, I didn’t believe it was real until we were in the first day of rehearsals,” he said.

"I'm so delighted to win a Tony for working on a play by one of the greatest writers of our time — Princeton alum Branden Jacobs-Jenkins '06," Cox said. "This brilliant, provocative and haunted play is an incredible vehicle for design, calling for precision and imagination in getting light into this metaphorical and literally dark space."

She continued: "It was also delightful to be in the company of several Princeton folks, including the incredible Jeff Kuperman '12, whose choreography (along with brother Rick) for the Tony-winning musical 'The Outsiders' was brilliantly displayed during the awards ceremony."

The 77th annual Tony Awards took place at Lincoln Center's David H. Koch Theater on June 16. "Appropriate" won three Tonys, including a best actress honor for Sarah Paulson.

Cox is a professor of the practice in theater at the Lewis Center and director of Princeton’s programs in theater and music theater. The dress she wore to the Tony Awards ceremony was designed by the Lewis Center’s Assistant Costume Shop Manager Caitlin Brown with cicada-print fabric that gives a nod to the play.

Jacobs-Jenkins, a recipient of both a Guggenheim fellowship and a MacArthur fellowship, is a Lewis Center advisory council member and has taught playwriting courses at Princeton.

This was the first Tony Award for both recipients (and the fourth nomination for Cox). "Appropriate" received eight Tony nominations. The show also won this year’s Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Revival of a Play, and Cox won the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Lighting Design of a Play.