NORTH FULTON COUNTY, Ga. — “Schmigadoon!” took home the top musical award of the night at the 79th Tony Awards on Sunday night. One of the musical’s stars grew up in metro Atlanta.
McKenzie Kurtz plays Betsy McDonough who lives in Schmigadoon, the magical town inspired by Golden Age musicals where a couple from the real world gets lost and must find true love to get out.
Kurtz originated the role when “Schmigadoon!” first premiered with a run at the Kennedy Center and followed it to Broadway. “Schmigadoon!” won four Tony Awards on Sunday night.
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Channel 2 Action News has been following Kurtz’s career since her high school performance days at Milton High School. Channel 2’s Fred Blankenship co-hosted the 2013 Shuler Awards where Kurtz won for Best Actress for the school’s production of “Spamalot.”
She later graduated from the University of Michigan and made her Broadway debut in 2020 as Anna in “Disney’s Frozen.”
“To have my first role on Broadway be a Disney princess was really a dream come true. Anna is such an incredible character,” Kurtz told Channel 2’s Lori Wilson in 2020.
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Since then, Kurtz has played Glinda in “Wicked,” Cassandra Stone in “The Heart of Rock and Roll,” and Heather Chandler in “Heathers: The Musical” Off-Broadway.
Another metro Atlanta actress and her show were also nominated for Best Musical. Christiani Pitts, who grew up in Decatur and Atlanta, plays Robin Rainey in “Two Strangers (Carry a Cake Across New York).”
Pitts was nominated for Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Musical, but Caissie Levy won for her role as Mother in “Ragtime.”
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