Brian Stokes Mitchell, Michael Cerveris, et al. to Perform at 2012 Theatre World Awards, 6/5

The 68th annual THEATRE WORLD AWARDS, which will take place on Tuesday, June 5th at 2 pm at The Belasco Theatre, 111 West 44th Street, NYC., will include special performances by Broadway favorites Brian Stokes Mitchell, Michael Cerveris, Howard McGillin and Stephanie Umoh. The by-invitation-only ceremony will present Theatre World Awards to 12 actors for their Outstanding Broadway or Off-Broadway Debut Performances during the 2011-2012 theatrical season. The event also includes presentation of the 4th Annual Dorothy Loudon Award for Excellence. This year The Theatre World Awards will have ASL interpretation.

The 2012 TWA presenters will include Theatre World Award winners John Cullum, Victor Garber, Josh Grisetti, Leslie Uggams, Tony Sheldon, David Alan Grier, John Rubinstein, Wesley Taylor and Lizbeth MacKay (with more presenters to be announced).

The previously-announced 2012 THEATRE WORLD AWARD are: Tracie Bennett (End of the Rainbow), Phillip Boykin (The Gershwins' Porgy and Bess), Crystal A. Dickinson (Clybourne Park), Russell Harvard (Tribes), Jeremy Jordan (Bonnie & Clyde), Joaquina Kalukango (Hurt Village), Jennifer Lim (Chinglish), Jessie Mueller (On a Clear Day You Can See Forever), Hettienne Park (Seminar AND The Intelligent Homosexual's Guide to Capitalism & Socialism with a Key to the Scriptures), Chris Perfetti (Sons of the Prophet), Finn Wittrock (Death of a Salesman), and Josh Young (Jesus Christ Superstar).

Stacy Keach will present 2012 The Dorothy Loudon Award for Excellence to Susan Pourfar (Tribes).

For the second year, illustrator Justin ‘Squigs’ Robertson has created a special commemorative poster featuring the TWA winners (shown at top of this release). 2012 TWA posters will be available for purchase at the awards.

The THEATRE WORLD AWARDS presentation on June 5th will again be hosted by Peter Filichia, with Barry Keating directing, and Mary K. Botosan and Erin Oestreich co-producing.

First presented in 1945, The THEATRE WORLD AWARDS are the oldest awards given for outstanding Broadway and Off-Broadway debut performances. The THEATRE WORLD AWARD winners are chosen by the Theatre World Awards committee, currently comprised of David Cote, Joe Dziemianowicz, Peter Filichia , Harry Haun, Matthew Murray, Frank Scheck and Linda Winer. The accomplished stage performers who have won the 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 Dorothy Loudon Award for Excellence in the Theater, which honors an outstanding Broadway or Off-Broadway performance, is chosen by the Trustees of The Dorothy Loudon Foundation, Lionel Larner, Executive Director, together with recommendations from the Theatre World Awards committee. Ms. Loudon had the unique talent of being able to make audiences laugh and cry and most of all love her…from her Broadway debut in Nowhere to Go But Up (for which she won a Theatre World Award), to such hits as Noises Off, West Side Waltz, Ballroom, to her incomparable ‘Miss Hannigan’ in Annie for which she won the TONY.

The Theatre World annual 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 67: 2010-2011, the most complete pictorial and statistical record of the American theatre season, is currently available at all major booksellers and online.

The THEATRE WORLD AWARDS’ Board of Directors is: Barry Keating (President and Director), Erin Oestreich (Vice-President and Producer), Tabitha Falcone (Treasurer), Mary K. Botosan (Co-Secretary and Producer), Alden Fulcomer (Co-Secretary), Dale Badway, Kimothy Cruse, Tom Lynch (Founding Board member), Lisa Rothe and Stephen Wilde. The THEATRE WORLD AWARDS Inc is a 501 (c)3 non-profit organization.

The THEATRE WORLD AWARDS Board encourages theater lovers to “LIKE” the Theatre World Awards fan page on Facebook and follow us on Twitter at @TWAwards.

For more information about The Theatre World Awards visit www.theatreworldawards.org.

Photo Credit: Walter McBride / Retna Ltd.