A native son and University of Wyoming alumnus has won a prestigious New York theatre award. Pete Simpson Jr. received an Obie Award for Sustained Excellence in Performance, co-presented by the Village Voice and the American Theatre Wing. The Obie awards were created to honor excellence in off-Broadway and off-off-Broadway theatre.

Pete Simpson Jr. is the grandson of former Wyoming Gov. Milward Simpson, and the  son of Peter Koi and Lynne Simpson, who started their own theatrical company, Spontaneous Theatre Productions, in the early 1970s.  Simpson began his performance career drumming with the Casper Troopers Drum and Bugle Corps for eight years.

According to a release from UW, after earning a degree in English and theatre at UW Simpson went on to complete a Master of Fine Arts degree in acting from the Denver Center Theatre Company’s National Theatre Conservatory. After his graduation in 1996 Simpson was hired in the Blue Man Group, an avant-garde-based ensemble that is now a national and international sensation.

Simpson has performed, trained, directed or organized for Blue Man Group productions in major U.S. cities and abroad, as well as appearing with the group on several television programs.

Simpson received the award May 22nd at the 62nd Annual Obie Awards in New York City. You can find more about Pete Simpson Jr.'s career and this award HERE.

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