Gabriel Ebert, a 2005 graduate of Denver School of the Arts, has been nominated for a 2025 Tony Award for his outstanding performance in the new play “John Proctor is the Villain,” it was announced this morning.

Ebert, nominated in the best featured actor category, won the 2013 Tony Award for his supporting performance as Mr. Wormwood in “Matilda the Musical.” That made him the first alumnus of Denver School of the Arts to ever win a Tony.

“Gabe is one of the best human beings I have ever had the pleasure of knowing in my lifetime,” Denver School of the Arts Director of Theatre Shawn Hann told The Denver Gazette. “He is kind and giving, and he deserves every accolade he can get.”

Ebert, a passionate Denver Nuggets fan who notably did not grow up with a television in his Denver household, graduated from The Juilliard School in 2009 and a year later made his Broadway debut as an understudy in “Red.” He won the Obie Award in 2012 for his role as Leo in Amy Herzog’s “4000 Miles.” The next year, he was honored for “Matilda,” even though, quirkily, he never appeared in a musical at DSA — only in plays.

“John Proctor is the Villain” is Kimberly Belflower’s highly charged story about a high-school English teacher tasked with teaching Arthur Miller’s play “The Crucible” in a small rural town in Georgia. Miller uses the Salem witch trials in 1692 as an allegory for McCarthyism; Ebert’s teacher, named Mr. Smith, connects the tale to contemporary cultural conversations, including #MeToo.

The director of the play is Danya Taymor, who is both Ebert’s wife and the niece of legendary “The Lion King” creator Julie Taymor. Dayna has also been nominated for a Tony Award. In all the play earned seven nominations, including one for “Stranger Things” breakout star Sadie Sink.

Though only 37, Ebert has already appeared in eight Broadway productions, including most recently “Brief Encounter” and “Time and the Conways.” His TV credits include “Made In Jersey.”

Hann brings a group of current DSA students to New York every spring, and together they watched “John Proctor is the Villain.”

“John Proctor is one of the great heroes of the American theater,” Ebert’s character, Mr. Smith contends, “defending his ground perhaps too aggressively,” New York Times theater critic Jesse Green wrote. Mr. Smith, he went on, is more accustomed to being fan-girled over than having his assumptions tested.

“Gabe is wonderful in the play,” Hann said. “His kindness and nurturing side come out in such a wonderful way that the audience is with him until …”

No spoilers. But Green wrote: “Ebert’s beautifully judged performance gives you the feeling of something tarnished beneath the gold.”

Hann said that every year for the past 15 years, Ebert has met with her DSA students in New York, answering their questions and offering advice.

In 2020, Ebert played a gunnery officer in “The Mandalorian.” Rumor has it, he can recite all 50 states in one breath.

The 78th Tony Awards, hosted by Cynthia Erivo, will be presented at 6 p.m. June 8 and broadcast on CBS.