Four-time Tony Award-winning Producer and Actor
2018 John Jay Award Honoree
Ron Simons CC’82, BUS’89 is a four-time Tony Award-winning producer, four-time Sundance Film Festival selected producer and an actor for stage, film and television.
As founder and CEO of SimonSays Entertainment, he leads the strategic planning and development of theater and film projects including the critically acclaimed films Night Catches Us, Gun Hill Road, Blue Caprice and Mother of George all of which premiered at Sundance. His first documentary, 25 to Life, premiered at the American Black Film Festival, where it won the Grand Jury Prize for Best Documentary.
Simons also produced the Broadway productions of A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder (Tony Award for Best Musical), The Gershwins’ Porgy & Bess (Tony Award for Best Revival of a Musical), Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike (Tony Award for Best Play, Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Play, New York Drama Critics Circle Award for Best Play, Outer Critics Circle Award for Best Play, Drama League Award for Outstanding Production of a Broadway or Off-Broadway Play) and A Streetcar Named Desire (Actors' Equity Association Extraordinary Excellence in Diversity on Broadway Award). His Off-Broadway projects include Bedlam Theater’s Hamlet and St. Joan (Off Broadway Alliance Award – Best Revival of a Play) and the Chicago production of 5 Lesbians Eating a Quiche, which received the FringeNYC Outstanding Production Award. Most recently, he received the Emerging Producer Award at the 2017 National Black Theatre Festival Opening Gala.
As an actor, Simons has appeared on stage, in film and on television. His credits include Blue Caprice, Night Catches Us, 27 Dresses, Mystery Team, Phoebe in Wonderland, Law & Order, Law & Order: Criminal Intent and As the World Turns. He is a member of The Broadway League and the Screen Actors Guild and holds a membership with the elite Producers Guild of America. In 2017, he starred in Netflix’s hit new cross-over Marvel series The Defenders.
