2014 Theatre World Award Winners Announced - Cordero, Cranston, Hall, Karimloo, Plummer, Keenan-Bolger & More!

The 2014 Honorees for Outstanding Broadway or Off-Broadway Debut Performance, the 6th Annual Dorothy Loudon Award for Excellence in the Theater for an Outstanding Performance in a Broadway or Off-Broadway Production, and the John Willis Award for Lifetime Achievement in the Theatre, were announced today by the Theatre World. The winners will be celebrated at the 70th Annual Theatre World Awards Ceremony set Monday evening, June 2, 2014 beginning at 6:45 p.m. at Circle in the Square (West 50th Street, between Broadway and 8th Avenue), home of the current Broadway revival of Lady Day at Emerson's Bar and Grill.

Hosted annually by well-known theater journalist, Peter Filichia, the awards ceremony will be produced by Theatre World Awards, Inc. Board of Directors.

First 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.

The Theatre World Award winners were chosen by the Theatre World Awards Committee that includes David Cote (Time Out New York and "NY1"), Joe Dziemianowicz (New York Daily News), Peter Filichia (The Newark Star-Ledger, Emeritus) Harry Haun(Playbill), Matthew Murray (Talkin' Broadway), Frank Scheck (New York Post), and Linda Winer (Newsday).

The Dorothy Loudon Award for Excellence in the Theater 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 inNowhere to Go But Up for which she received a Theatre World Award for 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.

The Dorothy Loudon Award for Excellence is chosen by the Trustees of The Dorothy Loudon Foundation, Lionel Larner, Executive Director, together with recommendations from the Theatre World Awards Committee.

The John Willis Award is 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 will be presented annually by the Theatre World Awards, Inc. Board of Directors to the man or woman whose lifetime achievements and personal generosity to the Theatre Community merit special recognition and acknowledgement.

2014 Theatre World Award Winners

Outstanding Broadway or Off-Broadway Debut Performance during the 2013-2014 theatrical season

Paul Chahidi, Twelfth Night, or What You Will
Nick Cordero, Bullets Over Broadway
Bryan Cranston, All the Way
Mary Bridget Davies, A Night with Janis Joplin
Sarah Greene, The Cripple of Inishmaan
Rebecca Hall, Machinal
Ramin Karimloo, LES MISERABLES
Zachary Levi, First Date
Chris O'Dowd, Of Mice and Men
Sophie Okonedo, A Raisin in the Sun
Emerson Steele, Violet
Lauren Worsham, A Gentleman's Guide to Love and Murder

2014 Dorothy Loudon Award for Excellence in the Theater Winner, Outstanding Performance in a Broadway or Off-Broadway Production

Celia Keenan-Bolger for her performance as Laura in The Glass Menagerie

2014 John Willis Award for Lifetime Achievement in the Theatre Winner

Christopher Plummer

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, and so many more.

The Theatre World Awards, Inc. Board of Directors is headed by Dale Badway (President) with Tom Lynch (Vice-President),Stephen Wilde (Secretary), Tabitha Falcone (Treasurer), and Michael Kostel. The annual published book, Theatre World, remains the definitive record of the American theatre season, including photos and statistics from Broadway, Off-Broadway, Off-Off Broadway, and regional companies, in addition to special sections dedicated to obituaries, long running productions, and major theatrical awards. Theatre World is edited by Ben Hodges and Scott Denny, published by Theatre World Media and distributed by Applause Theatre and Cinema Books, a division of Hal Leonard Performing Arts Publishing Group. Theatre World Volume 69: 2012-2013, the most complete pictorial and statistical record of the American theatre season, will soon be available at all major booksellers and online.

For additional information about the Theatre World Awards (including a list of past recipients), visit www.theatreworldawards.org.