Arnie Burton and Mary Testa Receive Joe A. Callaway Award

Arnie Burton and Mary Testa have been selected to receive the 2017 Joe A. Callaway Award presented by the Actors' Equity Foundation. The award, honoring the best performance in a professional production of a classic play (one written prior to 1920) in the New York metropolitan area, will be presented at Actors' Equity Association's Eastern Regional Membership Meeting at 2 pm on Tuesday, January 9, 2018 at the Equity offices, 165 West 46th Street in New York. The announcement was made by Arne Gundersen, President of the Foundation, and Joan Glazer, Managing Director.

Burton and Testa are both being honored for their performances in Red Bull Theater's production of Jeffrey Hatcher's adaptation of Gogol's The Government Inspector.

Arnie Burton is being honored for performance as Postmaster. He also appeared in Red Bull's The Mystery of Irma Vep (Drama League nomination).Burton has appeared on Broadway in numerous productions: Machinal, Peter and the Starcatcher, The 39 Steps, A Free Man of Color, Amadeus. The New Yorkers (Encores). Some of his Off Broadway highlights areThe Temperamentals (Drama Desk award ensemble), The Explorers Club, Lives of the Saints, Mere Mortals, The Last Sunday in June, The Jew of Malta/The Merchant of Venice. U.K.: The Merchant of Venice (RSC). He will soon be seen in the film The Greatest Showman.

Mary Testa is cited for her performance as Anna Andreyevna. She has received multiple Tony, Lucille Lortel, Drama Desk, Drama League nominations and a special Drama Desk award celebrating 'Three Decades of Outstanding Work.' She has appeared on Broadway in Wicked, Guys and Dolls, Xanadu, Chicago, 42nd St, Marie Christine, On the Town, Forum, The Rink. Off-Broadway: Orange Julius, First Daughter Suite, Queen of the Mist, See What I Wanna See, A New Brain, Tartuffe.

Established by Equity member Joe A. Callaway in 1989, the award includes a $1,000 check plus a commemorative engraved plaque for each recipient.

The Judges for the Callaway Award are: Joe Dziemianowicz, Daily News; Adam Feldman, Time Out New York; Susan Haskins, Theater Talk; Harry Haun, The Observer; and David Rosenberg, Hearst Media.

Previous recipients of the Callaway Award include Kate Burton, Byron Jennings, Frank Langella, Laura Linney, Lily Rabe, Liev Schreiber and, in 2016,Lisa Harrow and Corey Stoll.

The Actors Equity Foundation, a philanthropic and humanitarian nonprofit organization, was created in 1962 to aid and assist members of the acting profession and to promote the theatre arts. It is separate from Actors' Equity Association and is funded by estate bequests and individual donations.

Photo Credit: Walter McBride / WM Photos