The Scoop | so & so •
By Robert Isenberg
The Golden Boy Andrew Burnap is a Yale graduate and Tony Award winner – but he maintains a strong relationship with his native South County and URI On the night of September 26, during a national CBS broadcast, the Tony Award for Best Actor in a Play was announced. It didn’t go to Jake Gylenhaal, one of the most recognized actors in Hollywood. It didn’t go to Blair Underwood, an established TV and film actor. The award went to Andrew Burnap, a 30-year-old actor from Rhode Island, who had just performed in a Broadway production of The Inheritance.
“I was stunned,” says Paula McGlasson, Chair of the Theatre Department at the University of Rhode Island. “Those were great, known actors he was up against. It’s an honor to even be nominated, but then when he won – you couldn’t quite take it all in. It was overwhelming.” McGlasson has known Burnap since he was an undergraduate theater major at URI. They worked together on countless shows,
and they continue to have a close relationship. McGlasson first saw Burnap during his audition for a musical, The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, and she was impressed by both his talent and versatility. “No matter what role he read for, he had a fresh, memorable take on the character,” remembers McGlasson. “He was a full participant, whether it was drama, comedy, Shakespeare, musical, whatever it would
Photo by Randy Osga
Perched on piano, Burnap performs in a 2010 production of The Rocky Horror Picture Show as Dr. Frank-N-Furter, opposite Johnny Sederquist
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SORhodeIsland.com • December 2021
