"It has always been on my bucket list to win this honor of The Legacy Robe. I have been a Broadway actor in New York City for 20 years and I’m so excited that it finally happened with this fantastic show, Ain’t Too Proud. For years I have seen this honor go to peers and people I admire, thinking that I would surely one day receive it. After giving up my dream that I would receive the Robe, I thought maybe I would get it for The Scottsboro Boys. I then learned that my friend JC Montgomery beat me out that season with nine Broadway shows. The lesson: never give up on a dream because it always happens when you least expect it."
Name: E. Clayton Cornelious
Show: Ain’t Too Proud
Hometown: Pittsburgh, PA.
Broadway Debut: My first Broadway show was Kat and the Kings in 1999.
Professional Training: Woodland Hills High School (we had fantastic music and theatre training at my public school), Point Park University (BFA Graduate in 1998) and Pittsburgh CLO Musical Theatre for Acting.
Year Joined: I joined Actors’ Equity in 1998.
How I Got My Equity Card: I got my card doing A Chorus Line at Bridgeport Dinner Theatre in Bridgeport, Connecticut with choreographer-director Mitzi Hamilton.
Broadway Chorus Credits: I am currently on my sixth Broadway Chorus contract.
Fun Fact: I have a huge business mind, as well as being an actor. I am a Broadway investor for two Broadway shows this season: Ain’t Too Proud & Hadestown. It’s important for actors to do more than just sing and dance.
James Harkness, Derrick Baskin, Jeremy Pope, Cornelious, Jawan M. Jackson and Ephraim Sykes. Photo by Walter McBride.
Cornelious with his Ain't Too Proud cast. Photo by Walter McBride.
View the full gallery of photos
Watch the video of the ceremony
