Ben Edelman to Receive Dorothy Loudon Award at Theatre World Awards

It was announced today by The Theatre World Awards Board of Directors (Dale Badway, President), and The Dorothy Loudon Foundation (Lionel Larner, Executive Director), Ben Edelman (Admissions) will be honored with the 10th Annual Dorothy Loudon Award at the 74TH Annual Theatre World Awards Ceremony on the set of the TONY Nominated Broadway Revival of Once on This Island on Monday afternoon, June 4, 2018 beginning at 2:00 p.m at Circle in the Square (1633 Broadway, entrance on West 50th Street).

The attire for the afternoon event is 'Festive Island' wear. A TWA Island Party reception will follow the ceremony at The Copacabana Rooftop. Circle in the Square Theatre is proud to host the only major theatrical award ceremony scheduled in a Broadway house, this season.

Dorothy Loudon Award for Excellence honors an Outstanding Performance in a Broadway or Off-Broadway production. Dorothy Loudon, who had the unique talent of being able to make audiences laugh and cry, made her Broadway debut in Nowhere to Go But Up for which she received a atre World Awardfor her performance. She received a Tony® Award for her incomparable performance as 'Miss Hannigan' in Annie, and went on to triumphs originating roles in Noises Off, Westside Waltz, and Michael Bennett's Ballroom.

Ben Edelman was recently featured in the Lincoln Center production of Admissions for which he is being honored with the 2018 Dorothy Loudon Award and has received a 2018 Drama Desk Award nomination for Outstanding Featured Actor in a Play. On Broadway he was seen in Significant Other (also Roundabout Theatre Company). Other theatre includes The Chosen (Long Wharf Theatre), Angels in America (Throughline Theatre Company); and Three Sisters, Trojan Women: A Love Story, The Idiot Box (CMU). Film includes Dot (Cannes Film Festival), Milkman, This is Vinyl Crap, (En)listless, Samantha Moonley and Drifting Blues. TV: "Instinct," "BrainDead," "The Good Wife." He co-founded The Commonground, an organization dedicated to introducing and connecting artists across disciplines (www.thecommonground.nyc). He is co-producing two upcoming documentaries: Memphis, a cerebral palsy love story, and Buckets, following the comeback of the inventor of bucket drumming. Education: BFA Acting, Carnegie Mellon University (David Vadim).

Dorothy Loudon Award for Excellence is chosen by the Trustees of Dorothy Loudon Foundation, Lionel Larner, Executive Director, together with recommendations from the atre World Awards Committee. Past recipients include Katrina Lenk, Nicholas Barasch, Leanne Cope, Celia Keenan-Bolger,Jonny Orsini, Susan Pourfar, Seth Numrich, Bobby Steggert, and Susan Louise O'Connor.

Lionel Larner, Executive Director of The Dorothy Loudon Foundation, has been an agent for over fifty years representing a cavalcade of stars that have included Eve Arden, Anne Baxter, Larry Blyden, Barry Bostwick, Bette Davis, Mia Farrow, Jose Ferrer, Tony Goldwyn, Judd Hirsch, Glenda Jackson, Lynn Redgrave, Dame Diana Rigg, and the great Dorothy Loudon, among others. In 1968, Dorothy Loudon met Mr. Larner that began, for want of a better word, a love affair between agent and client. They developed a close friendship that lasted until her death in 2003. In her will she named him as Trustee and Executive Director of a Charitable Foundation to be formed. As "keeper of the flame" Mr. Larner works diligently to fulfill the mission of the Dorothy Loudon Foundation and at the same time to keep the memory of her talent fresh in people's minds and to familiarize younger Broadway talent and audiences with her legacy. In addition to funding the arts, the Foundation has supported the disadvantaged both locally and internationally, AIDS research related charities, and disaster-relief programs.

It was recently announced Theatre World Award Alum Victor Garber (Hello,Dolly!) will receive the 6th Annual John Willis Award for Lifetime Achievement In The Theatre, celebrating his 46th year on the Broadway stage, given for lifetime achievement in the theatre to honor the man who created and maintained the Theatre World tradition for 66 years, encouraging new talent in an often challenging business. The John Willis Award is presented annually by the Theatre World Awards, Inc. Board of Directors to an individual whose lifetime achievements and personal generosity to the Theatre Community merit special recognition and acknowledgement. Previous recipients of the John Willis Award include Glenn Close, Bernadette Peters, Alan Alda, Christopher Plummer and Chita Rivera.

The 2018 Theatre World Award Honorees for Outstanding Broadway or Off-Broadway Debut Performance are Anthony Boyle (Harry Potter and The Cursed Child),Jamie Brewer (Amy and the Orphans), Noma Dumezweni (Harry Potter and The Cursed Child), Johnny Flynn (Hangmen), Denise Gough (Angels in America),Harry Hadden-Paton (My Fair Lady), Hailey Kilgore (Once on This Island), James McArdle (Angels in America), Lauren Ridloff (Children of a Lesser God), Ethan Slater (SpongeBob SquarePants), Charlie Stemp (Hello, Dolly!), and Katy Sullivan (Cost of Living).

presented in 1945, the prestigious Theatre World Awards, founded by John Willis, the Editor-in-Chief of both Theatre World and its companion volume, Screen World, are the oldest awards given for Outstanding Broadway and Off-Broadway Debut Performances. The Theatre World Awards are presented annually at the end of the theatre season to six actors and six actresses for their significant, reviewable, debut performances in a Broadway or Off-Broadway production. The ceremony is a private, invitation-only event followed by a party to celebrate the new honorees and welcome them to the Theatre World "family." In what has become a highly entertaining and often touching tradition, 12 previous winners serve as the presenters, and often relive moments from past ceremonies and share wonderful stories rarely heard at other theatrical awards.

Previous winners who have won the prestigious Theatre World Award at the beginning of their careers include Meryl Streep, Rosemary Harris, Marlon Brando,Julie Andrews, Christopher Plummer, Anne Bancroft, James Earl Jones, Liza Minnelli, Alan Alda, Zoe Caldwell, Christopher Walken, Alec Baldwin, Bernadette Peters, Audra McDonald, Al Pacino, Grace Kelly, Tom Hanks, Bryan Cranston, Cynthia Erivo, Danielle Brooks, Lupita Nyong'o, John Krasinski, and so many more.

The Theatre World Award winners were chosen by the Theatre World Awards Committee which is comprised of Roma Torre (NY1), David Cote (Time Out New York,Emeritus), Joe Dziemianowicz (New York Daily News), Peter Filichia (The Newark Star-Ledger, Emeritus) Harry Haun (The Observer), Elysa Gardner (USA Today, Emeritus), and Frank Scheck (The Hollywood Reporter).

Theatre World Awards Board encourages theater lovers to "LIKE" the atre World Awards fan page on Facebook and follow on twitter at @TWAwards. For additional information about theatre World Awards (including a list of past recipients), visit www.theatreworldawards.org