Billy Porter, Anais Mitchell, Phoebe Waller-Bridge, and Tyler Perry Picked for TIME100

Today, TIME revealed its 2020 TIME100, an annual list of THE 100 most influential people in the world.

Among the prestigious names are some familiar Broadway faces including Hadestown's Tony-winning composer, Anaïs Mitchell, Tony and Emmy Award-winner Billy Porter, media mogul Tyler Perry and Emmy-winner Phoebe Waller-Bridge.

Per tradition, friends and fellow artists were selected to write testimonials to write short tributes to the honorees.

Andre De Shields, who took home a Tony for his role as Hermes in Hadestown, profiled Mitchell, writing: "Anaïs has the aura of an oracle, the prescience of a blind poet and the skill to tease rhymes from consonants. It was the wonder of watching Anaïs respond with awe to her own creation that served as the company's guiding beacon throughout the arduous journey from concept to execution."

Kinky Boots composer, Cyndi Lauper, paid tribute to the show's Tony-winning star Billy Porter.

She writes, "Look at this guy. You want to see living proof of talent, perseverance, tenacity, resilience, dedication to craft? When he couldn't get in the front door, the side door or the window, he found a whole other route."

Singer and Cats film star Taylor Swift did the honors for Phoebe Waller-Bridge, whose breakout show Fleabag originated as a one-woman play.

"Sometimes all the puzzle pieces fall into place at the perfect time. A combination of razor-sharp instincts, killer wit and genuine care for the people she works with proved to be a winning hand."

Media giant Tyler Perry, who also began his career in the theatre, was honored by none other than Oprah Winfrey.

She wrote: "There's no one else like him. In the entertainment business and in life. He's a true visionary. A trailblazer. In 2005, I saw my first Tyler Perry play. I knew then he was special. I watched the audience laugh, cry and delight in seeing themselves reflected in the story onstage."

See the full list of honorees here.

Of the 2020 TIME100 list, TIME CEO and editor in chief Edward Felsenthal writes, "[T]his year's list looks far different than any of us could have predicted just six months ago. The TIME 100 has always been a mirror of the world and those who shape it. While you will certainly find people who wield traditional power on this year's list-heads of state, CEOs, major entertainers­-it also includes many extraordinary, lesser-known individuals who seized the moment to save lives, build a movement, lift the spirit, repair the world.... Their work challenges each of us to wield our own influence toward a world that is healthier, more resilient, more sustainable and just."

Of this year's list, Felsenthal continues, "As a rule, the TIME 100 focuses on the living, but looming large over this year's list is the impact of individuals such as Ahmaud Arbery, George Floyd, Breonna Taylor and Tony McDade, whose killings galvanized a reckoning around police brutality and systemic racism; Aimee Stephens, whose case led to a historic Supreme Court decision protecting the rights of LGBTQ Americans; and Li Wenliang, the Wuhan physician who tried in vain to warn Chinese officials about the corona­virus and later died of it. The issue also includes a memorial to Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, including the tribute that fellow Justice Antonin Scalia wrote when she was on the TIME 100 in 2015."