Ciarán O'Reilly & Byron Easley Receive 2010 Callaway Award From SDCF

The Stage Directors and Choreographers Foundation (SDCF), the not-for-profit foundation of Stage Directors and Choreographers Society (SDC), announces Director Ciarán O'Reilly (Irish Repertory Theatre's THE EMPEROR JONES) and Choreographer Byron Easley (urbanStages' LANGSTON IN HARLEM) as winners of the Joe A. Callaway Award for the 2009-2010 Theatre Season, presented in a ceremony on Monday, November 15 in Manhattan.

The 2010 Joe A. Callaway Award recognizes excellence in the craft of directing and choreography during the New York City theatre season from September 1, 2009, through August 31, 2010, and is the only award given by professional directors and choreographers to their peers for specific productions. The Callaway Committee, composed of SDC Members, considers all professional shows other than Broadway and Showcase productions produced within New York City. Nearly 200 productions were eligible this season.

Finalists for the 2010 Joe A. Callaway Award:

Directors:
Igor Goldin, YANK!
Produced by The York Theatre Company and Maren Berthelsen/Pamela
Koslow/Stuart Wilk, Matt Schicker, Hugh Hayes, Jim Kierstead, Sondra
Healy/Shidan Majidi

Tyler Marchant, FREUD'S LAST SESSION
Produced by Carolyn Rossi Copeland, Robert Stillman, and Jack Thomas

* Ciarán O'Reilly, THE EMPEROR JONES
Produced by The Irish Repertory Theatre

Jeff Steitzer, MISALLIANCE
Produced by The Pearl Theatre Company

Michael Wilson, THE ORPHANS' HOME CYCLE
Produced by Signature Theatre Company and Hartford Stage

Choreographers:
Jeffry Denman, YANK!
Produced by The York Theatre Company and Maren Berthelsen/Pamela
Koslow/Stuart Wilk, Matt Schicker, Hugh Hayes, Jim Kierstead, Sondra
Healy/Shidan Majidi

* Byron Easley, LANGSTON IN HARLEM
Produced by urbanStages

Michele Lynch, WE ARE THE PEOPLE: AMERICA ROCKS!
Produced by Theatreworks USA

Susan Stroman, THE SCOTTSBORO BOYS
Produced by Vineyard Theatre

Presentation of the 2010 Joe A. Callaway Award was held Monday,
November 15, 2010, at the beginning of the SDC Annual Membership
Meeting.

Joe A. Callaway dedicated more than 50 years to the theatre as an actor, director, lecturer and critic. He was a founding member and a director of San Diego's Old Globe Theatre, the first recipient of a Master's degree from the Goodman School of Theatre, an associate professor at Michigan State University, a noted radio and television reviewer, and an actor Off-Broadway and in regional theatre. Since his death in 1991, his legacy lives on in awards he endowed for direction and choreography (through SDCF), for acting (through Actors' Equity Association), for playwriting (through Young Playwrights Inc.), and for theatre scholarship (through NYU).

SDCF's Joe A. Callaway Award was first presented in 1989. Previous winners include Gabriel Barre, Martha Clarke, Graciela Daniele, Scott Elliott, Frank Galati, Christopher Gattelli, Doug Hughes, Garry Hynes, Devenand Janki, Moisés Kaufman, Joe Mantello, Trevor Nunn, Jack O'Brien, Harold Prince, Bartlett Sher, Susan Stroman, Daniel Sullivan, Julie Taymor, and George C. Wolfe.

Founded in 1965 by Members of Stage Directors and Choreographers Society (SDC), The Stage Directors and Choreographers Foundation (SDCF) is the nation's premier organization that exists to foster, train, support and promote the craft of theatre Directors and Choreographers. SDCF aims to provide opportunities to practice the crafts of direction and choreography; promote emerging talent; grant access to career paths for emerging artists and young professionals; gather and disseminate craft and career information; provide forums for exchange of knowledge; and increase the awareness of the value of Directors' and Choreographers' work.

For additional information, visit SDC online at SDCweb.org.