AEA Now Accepting 2014 Rosetta LeNoire Award Nominations

Nominations are being accepted through Friday, February 14, 2014 for Actors' Equity Association's annual Rosetta LeNoire Award. The award, established in 1988, recognizes an individual or institution that has made outstanding contributions to American theater while also holding an exemplary record in hiring or promoting ethnic minorities, female actors, senior actors and actors with disabilities. Nominees must have a working relationship (and history) with Equity.

LeNoire made her Broadway debut in Mike Todd's 1939 production of Hot Mikado and later started in A Streetcar Named Desire. In 1968, LeNoire founded the Amas Repertory Theatre Company in New York, dedicated to maintaining an interracial company of actors. She is probably best known for her television appearances on "The Cosby Show," and her role as Estelle Winslow on "Family Matters." This award honors her stage career and her tireless work with Equity's then-named Ethnic Minorities Committee.

Past recipients of the Rosetta LeNoire Award include Mixed Blood Theatre, Minneapolis (1990), Joseph Papp & New York Shakespeare Festival (1992), Ellen Stewart, Artistic Director of La Mama E.T.C. (1996), Woodie King, Jr. (2005), Detroit Repertory Theatre (2008), Shakespeare Center of Los Angeles (2011), Philadelphia's InterAct Theatre Company (2012) and Christine Toy Johnson (2013) among others.

Nominations for the award must include supporting documentation attesting to how the nominee fulfills the award criterion: biography/resume of the nominee or mission statement and annual report of the theatre/institution; praiseworthy newspaper articles; evidence of awards or special recognition; examples of casting and productions that fulfill the award's objective; and letters of support. There is a ten-page limit for the submission form and supporting information. To download the nomination form and for more information, visit: http://www.actorsequity.org/NewsMedia/news2013/RosettaLeNoireNominations.asp

Nominations can be mailed to: Rosetta LeNoire Award Nominations c/o Actors' Equity Association, 557 West Randolph Street, Chicago, IL 60661 (Attention: Luther Goins), or submitted via email to RosettaLeNoireAward@actorsequity.org.