In the NEWS
Blair’s Michael Breslin ’09 Graces The New York Times Style Magazine The New York Times Style Magazine featured Fake Friends, a Brooklyn-based theatre writer and performer Michael Breslin ’09 and media company. His livestreamed play on its April 2021 cover in an article “This American Wife” was co-produced by celebrating “the relationships that helped Jeremy and premiered online in May 2021 us endure an impossible year.” Michael to widespread critical acclaim. The New was featured as a source of inspiration for York Times praised the dark comedy as “a playwright Jeremy O. Harris. Graduates wild genre-bending parody of, and homage Michael Breslin ’09. of the Yale School of Drama, Michael and to, ‘The Real Housewives’ franchise.” Vanity Jeremy are roommates who challenged and Fair recently caught up with Michael to between the creative minds of Michael, engaged each other artistically during a year discuss the show’s origins, and Architectural Jeremy and Patrick Foley. It follows the like no other. “No teacher challenged me Digest featured him in a piece about the success of their 2020 Internet production the way that Michael...did,” Jeremy says, stately Long Island home he transformed “Circle Jerk,” a finalist for the 2021 celebrating his friend as a “grounding force.” into a virtual theatre to film the production. Pulitzer Prize in Drama. Information A graduate of the Blair class of 2009, A raucous satire, “This American Wife” on future rebroadcasts can be found at Michael is now the creative director of is the latest in a series of collaborations www.blair.edu/michael-breslin. ■
Former Blair Buc Michael Tobey ’12 Makes Olympic History Born on October 10 at 10 a.m. and weighing 10 pounds, former Blair Buc Michael Tobey ’12 has spent his entire basketball career, from high school Michael Tobey ’12, courtesy of Getty Images. to professional leagues, wearing the number 10 on his jersey. Now that he has wowed fans at the Tokyo Olympics, Michael may have just found his new lucky number: 2021. The Blair basketball standout secured his place in the Tokyo Olympics after helping the Slovenian national team qualify for the games for the first time in team history, a feat covered by a number of national and international media outlets. Named to the Slovenian roster in June, Michael proved key to bringing the national team to this point. As the team’s second-leading scorer, he averaged 15 points and 7.5 rebounds per game in the qualifying rounds and scored an impressive 27 points on the July 3 Olympic qualifying tournament in Kaunas, Lithuania. According to Dallas Mavericks’ point guard Luka Dončić,
who also plays on the Slovenian national team, Michael’s outstanding 12 defensive rebounds proved pivotal in the 96-85 win over Lithuania that secured Slovenia’s Olympic berth. Luka praised his teammate’s performance in the clinching game, which included facing off against Lithuanian team and NBA stars Domantas Sabonis and Jonas Valančiūnas. “He’s a great defensive guy,” Luka told the Associated Press about Michael. “He’s really helping us down there.” A 7-foot-tall center, Michael first gained notoriety at Blair and rose to prominence with the University of Virginia’s Cavaliers, where he played 138 games, a program record, and made three trips to the NCAA tournament. In 2015, the Atlantic Coast Conference named him the Sixth Man of the Year. Currently, Michael is coming off his third season playing in the EuroLeague for Valencia, Spain. Michael becomes the second Blair Buc to qualify for the Olympics in men’s basketball, joining the elite company of Luol Deng ’03, who played for Great Britain in the 2012 London Olympic Games. On behalf of the entire Blair community, we congratulate Michael! ■ BLA IR BULLE T IN 19
