2007-8 Theatre World Award Winners Announced

The 64th annual Theatre World Award winners for Outstanding Broadway or Off-Broadway Debut performances during the 2007-2008 theatrical season are:

de'Adre Aziza, Passing Strange
Cassie Beck, Drunken City
Daniel Breaker, Passing Strange
Ben Daniels, Les Liaisons Dangereuses
Deanna Dunagan, August: Osage County
Hoon Lee, Yellow Face
Alli Mauzey, Cry-Baby
Jenna Russell, Sunday in the Park with George
Mark Rylance, Boeing-Boeing
Loretta Ables Sayre, South Pacific
Jimmi Simpson, The Farnsworth Invention
Paulo Szot, South Pacific

The Theatre World Awards presentation will be held at the Helen Hayes Theatre, 240 West 44th Street, in an invitation-only ceremony, Tuesday, June 10, 2008 from 2:00 to 4:00 p.m. Peter Filichia will host, Barry Keating will direct, and Scott Denny, Kati Meister and Erin Oestreich are the event's producers. John Willis, founder of the Theatre World Awards, will be in attendance.

First presented in 1945, the prestigious Theatre World Awards are the oldest awards given for Broadway and Off-Broadway debut performances, and are among the oldest honors given to stage performers. The Theatre World Award winners have been chosen by the Theatre World Awards committee, currently comprised of Peter Filichia (TheaterMania), Harry Haun (Playbill), Matthew Murray (Talkin' Broadway), Frank Scheck (New York Post), Michael Sommers (Newhouse Newspapers), Doug Watt (Critic Emeritus, New York Daily News), and Linda Winer (New York Newsday).

Theatre World is the authoritative annual pictorial and statistical record of the American theatre, including Broadway, Off-Broadway, Off-Off Broadway, and regional theatre. Theatre World is published by Applause Books.

The Theatre World Award Board of Directors is: Leigh Giroux (President), Kati Meister (Vice President), Erin Oestreich (Secretary), Scott Denny (Treasurer), Tom Lynch (Founding Board member), and Barry Keating. For more information about the Theatre World Awards (including a list of past recipients) please visit: theatreworldawards.org.