Meet 4 Massachusetts-based Broadway actors featured in Tony-nominated shows
BOSTON -- This season, several Tony-nominated shows on Broadway feature performers from Massachusetts.
Meet the actors
Avon native John Ambrosino plays Uncle Ernie in The Who's "Tommy" on Broadway, which opened in March of this year. But his journey to Broadway wasn't an easy one.
"I would literally get up in the morning and leave on the 5 a.m. train from South Station, arrive in New York and go directly to an open call or a couple of open calls," Ambrosino said. "This just feels like such a dream."
Another "Tommy" cast member, Dee Tomasetta, grew up in Millbury and always knew she wanted to dance. She took lessons as a young child at a dance studio in Worcester.
Now, she's part of Tommy's creative team and works as associate choreographer, dance captain and swing.
"This whole experience-- the journey from then to now, Broadway, to now being nominated for best revival -- is truly remarkable," Tomasetta said.
You can see Tommy now at the Nederlander Theater in New York City.
Actor Nael Nacer went to Suffolk University, and now calls Boston home. He was first cast as an understudy in the Huntington Theater's production of "Prayer for the French Republic." When the play moved to Broadway, he moved with it, taking the role of Charles. The Broadway show just closed in March.
"For me, one of the big differences between the production in Boston which I loved, and the production on Broadway is that I got to rehearse in New York. I was part of the process from the beginning," Nacer said.
Sharing his Broadway experience
Brookline-based comedian Alex Edelman is already a Tony-winner, taking home a special award for his show "Just For Us" (which is now streaming on Max). He says the experience of working on Broadway will always stay with him.
"The best part of it is getting to be part of this community of people that I didn't know before. On Broadway, everybody works on campus, essentially. It's like going to a college where you meet alumni. You meet legends. You meet people who are coming for the first time. And I, as a freshman coming into this? What a special thing to sort of make the Dean's list," he said.
No doubt, it is a historic season on Broadway. "It is so awesome to be a part of it," Ambrosino said.