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James Ortiz ’10 Earns Drama Desk Nomination

A sought-after puppet designer and puppeteer, Ortiz crafted the Milky White cow in the Broadway revival of Into the Woods.

Nominations for the 67th annual Drama Desk Awards were announced this week, and James Ortiz ’10 (Acting) made the list.

Based in New York City, Ortiz is a director, actor, writer, designer, and puppeteer. 

He’s nominated in the category of Outstanding Puppetry for the puppet he created for the role of Milky White, the cow in the 2022–23 Broadway revival of Into the Woods. He shares the nomination with Kennedy Kanagawa, the actor who brought Milky White to life on stage.

In 2022, he won the 2022 Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Puppet Design for the dinosaurs he created for Thornton Wilder’s The Skin of Our Teeth at the Lincoln Center Theater, his Broadway debut.

Milky White puppet designed by James Ortiz '10 for the 2022 revival of Into the Woods (with actors Kennedy... Milky White puppet designed by James Ortiz ’10 for the 2022 revival of Into the Woods (with actors Kennedy Kanagawa and Cole Thompson / photo: Joan Marcus)


Also nominated are Associate Professor of Theatre Design/Technology Anita Yavich for Outstanding Costume Design of a Musical and 

Associate Professor of Theatre Design/Technology David Grill ’86 for Outstanding Lighting Design of a Musical.

Read more about Yavich and Grill.