Prize-winning poet Theodore Roethke, National Book Award winners Keith Waldrop and Jesmyn Ward, composer/author/puppeteer Forman Brown, Alireza Jafarzadeh (a Middle East analyst, author, and TV commentator), and memoirist and self-help book author Jerry Newport.
==== Music and theatre ====
Musical graduates include operatic soprano Jessye Norman, singer Joe Dassin, multiple members of the bands Tally Hall and Vulfpeck, jazz guitarist Randy Napoleon, and Mannheim Steamroller founder Chip Davis. Well-known composers who are alumni include Frank Ticheli, Andrew Lippa, and the Oscar and Tony Award-winning duo Benj Pasek and Justin Paul. Pop superstar Madonna and rock legend Iggy Pop attended but did not graduate.
In Hollywood, famous alumni include actors Michael Dunn, Darren Criss, James Earl Jones, and David Alan Grier; actresses Lucy Liu, Gilda Radner, and Selma Blair as well as television director Mark Cendrowski and filmmaker Lawrence Kasdan. Many Broadway and musical theatre actors, including Gavin Creel, …
