Tony Award Winner Alice Ripley '85 Recalls Her DePauw Experience

September 14, 2013

"I was really grateful for DePauw," Tony Award-winning actress Alice Ripley tells Playbill. The publication's website features a video interview with Ripley, a member of DePauw's Class of 1985, who discusses her path from college to the Broadway stage.

"I think that when you're a creative artist a liberal arts school is a really good idea," says Ripley, who majored in music at DePauw then transferred to Kent State University, where a new musical theatre major was being offered. "Not that a conservatory is a bad idea, (but a liberal arts college) gives you a little bit more freedom of choice, and that's good, and flexibility with your time."

The accompanying text begins, " What theatre kid doesn't dream of having a career like Tony Award winner Alice Ripley's? Understudy for the role of Mrs. Walker in The Who's Tommy … replacement Fantine in the original run of Les Misérables … original Broadway Betty Schaefer in Sunset Boulevard … rose to stardom in Side Show … and earned the Tony for Best Actress in a Musical in the Pulitzer and Tony-winning Next to Normal."