Bebe Neuwirth Will Host the 2023 Actors' Equity Foundation Awards, Honoring Brian Stokes Mitchell, Mary K. Klinger, and More

The Actors' Equity Foundation, a non-profit organization supporting the professional theatre community, has announced that Brian Stokes Mitchell and Mary K Klinger have been added to their roster of 2023 award recipients to be celebrated at an event hosted by Bebe Neuwirth. Previously announced recipients include Alex Newell and Bonnie Milligan, both of whom won Tony Awards this past weekend for their work this season.

This event will take place on Monday, June 26 at the Actors' Equity Association national headquarters, 165 W. 46th St., in the Council Room on the 14th floor. Doors open at 5:30 p.m. and the ceremony starts at 6 p.m. ET. Members of the public can tune in to the event via a livestream on The Actors' Equity Foundation's YouTube channel. Reporters and photographers interested in attending in person should email press@actorsequity.org.

Bebe Neuwirth will host the event, with live music from pianist Tina deVaron. 

Stage Manager Mary K Klinger will receive the Michael McCarty Recognition Award. This award is named for Michael McCarty, a veteran Equity actor who died in 2015 in Santa Barbara at the age of 68, leaving a portion of his estate to establish an award to be presented annually by the Actors' Equity Foundation to an Actors' Equity member over the age of 50 residing in Los Angeles. The award is intended for a “lunch bucket” theatre professional, not a star, who has made a life in the theatre.  

Brian Stokes Mitchell will receive the Patrick Quinn Award. This award was established in 2007 under the auspices of the Actors' Equity Foundation to honor an individual who has worked tirelessly for the betterment of actors. The Patrick Quinn Award for Distinguished Service to Actors was established by his estate, which created a fund to recognize and reward those who give so much of themselves to improve the lives of actors. Quinn served as Equity's President from 2000-2006 and held many leadership positions within the union. He was also a founding member of Equity Fights AIDS.

Previously announced honorees being recognized at the event are Darius de Haas receiving the St. Clair Bayfield Award, Michael Patrick Thornton receiving the Joe A. Callaway Award, Alex Newell and Bonnie Milligan receiving the Clarence Derwent Awards and Linda Lavin and Francis Guinan receiving the Richard Seff Award. 2021 Paul Robeson Award recipient Dale Ricardo Shields will also receive his award at this event. 

Biographies

Tina deVaron is a jazz performer-composer, a fixture on the NYC scene with performances at the likes of the Carlyle, Waldorf-Astoria and Russian Tea Room. Her solo piece, Fingernails in the Side of the Cliff, won Best Concert at United Solo 2022. Residencies: Soaring Gardens (2022 and 2023), VoxLab (2022), Catwalk (2021); all to work on Female Complaints, a musical about abortion provider Inez Burns. Songs have charted #1 on Billboard's Gospel charts, #2 on Club/Dance. Musical Perfet Mothers named one of NYMF's Top Ten Shows to See. Albums: If Mama Ain't Happy, Water Over Stones and Tuckerman's Ravine. She has garnered raves from The New York Times, Anne LaMott, Lisa Belkin, Sandy Kenyon, Tulis McCall and CBS-TV. 2022 marked Tina's 16th smash season at the Carlyle's “Madeline's Tea.” O'Neil Semi-finalist, ASCAP Abe Olman Award for Excellence in Songwriting, Dove Award Nomination (on Grammy-nominated record),ASCAP, Dramatists Guild, BMI Workshop, Maestra, Local 802, Princeton BA. 

Mary K Klinger has stage managed on Broadway, in London and across the country, and was recognized in 2019 with the Del Hughes Lifetime Achievement Award for Excellence in The Art of Stage Management. She was the original stage manager for “QED” at Lincoln Center and for Angels in America at the Walter Kerr. Her national tours include Death of a Salesman and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Klinger worked 22 years for CTG where she stage managed over 60 productions. She spent four years in San Diego stage managing the summer rep for The Old Globe. She has also stage managed for the Shakespeare Theatre Company in D.C., Hartford Stage and MainStreet Theatre Company in California. Klinger taught stage management at USC for 20 years and has been a proud member of Actors' Equity Association for 42 years. 

Tony-winner Brian Stokes Mitchell has enjoyed a rich and varied career on Broadway, television and film along with appearances in the great American concert halls. In addition to his many theatrical awards, he has enjoyed a long television and recording career. His activism includes his role as chair of the board of directors at the Entertainment Community Fund. 

Two-time Tony Award winner Bebe Neuwirth has starred on Broadway in A Chorus Line, Sweet Charity, Chicago, Dancin', Little Me, Fosse and The Addams Family, and off-Broadway in Here Lies Jenny and A Midsummer Night's Dream. Notable among her many screen roles is her Emmy-winning performance as Lilith Crane on Cheers and Frasier and Nadine Tolliver on Madam Secretary.