Eagles on Broadway
The Great White Way has highlights of maroon and gold, as Boston College alumni continue to make their mark on Broadway and garner critical acclaim.
Taylor Tranfaglia and Sam Biondolillo
At the June 7 Tony Awards—which recognized excellence in Broadway productions during the 2025–26 season—2018 alumni Sam Biondolillo and Taylor Tranfaglia both won awards for their roles as associate producers of the musical Schmigadoon! The production—which a New York Times review called a “loving spoof of Golden Age musicals”—also won a Tony for Best New Musical.
“The Boston College Theatre Department takes pride in the remarkable range of our alumni's achievements,” said Associate Professor Courtney Elkin Mohler, the department chair. “They carry with them the passion and craft they developed here.”
Biondolillo is a New York–based lighting designer, producer, and theatrical investor whose Broadway credits include the Tony Award–winning revival of Merrily We Roll Along and Our Town. Tranfaglia was featured as a “Woman to Watch on Broadway: 2026” by Broadway Women’s Fund, and is chief of staff at No Guarantees Productions.
“Sam was a consummate professional the moment he got to BC,” recalled Theatre Department Professor of the Practice Luke Jorgensen. “He was the first student to light-design a mainstage show, Peter and the Starcatcher.
“Taylor did it all at BC, from acting [in productions of Cabaret and Chicago] to design, to amazing direction [of the production Stop Kiss]. Both represent absolute forces in the theater today. We could not be prouder of these amazing Eagles. We hope they will be back this year to speak with our students,” he added.
A gathering of Eagles at the June 11 alumni event in NYC: Nancy Dennery Goslee ’95, Arthur Makar ’72, Julianne Mason ’17, Sam Biondolillo ’18, Ryan Gardner ’19.
On the heels of his award, Biondolillo spoke to University alumni at a June 11 New York City “Eagles in the Arts” event, joined in a conversation on building a career on Broadway and in professional theater by Ryan Gardner ’19, a Broadway stage manager currently working on Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, with past credits including Waitress.
At the event, moderated by Julianne Mason ’17, a NYC-based producer and sound designer, the pair shared insights into the creative and collaborative work that brings productions to life.
“Both Ryan and Sam were extremely active in the department, come back to BC to speak with undergraduates, and have been incredibly helpful as alumni,” according to Jorgensen. “Ryan was such a hard-working stage manager that he created practices and tool kits that we still use today. Sam had an early interest in lighting design; he been a boon to the department.”
Bryce Pinkham
Also this season, accomplished actor Bryce Pinkham, a 2005 graduate whose credits include lead actor in 2014's Best Musical A Gentleman's Guide to Love and Murder on Broadway as well as the PBS drama Mercy Street, was nominated for a Tony Award for the second time, for best featured actor in a musical in the production of Chess.
In a New York Times interview in which this year's nominees discussed skills they had acquired in order to be more believable in a role, Pinkham disclosed that as an undergraduate at BC, though he assured his professor of his juggling prowess, he actually had to learn the art for a campus performance. He said he continues to Juggle as part of his warm-up for the stage.