Danielle Brooks and John Keating Receive Actors' Equity Foundation's Callaway Award

Danielle Brooks and John Keating have been selected to receive the 2019 Joe A. Callaway Award presented by the Actors' Equity Foundation. The award, honoring the best performance in a professional production of a classic play (one written prior to World War ll) in the New York metropolitan area, will be presented at Actors' Equity Association's Eastern Regional Membership Meeting at 2 pm on Monday January 13, 2020 at the Equity offices, 165 West 46th Street in New York. The announcement was made by Judy Rice, President of the Foundation, and Joan Glazer, Managing Director.

Danielle is being honored for her role as Beatrice in The Public Theatre's Shakespeare in the Park production of Much Ado About Nothing for which she also won the 2019 AUDELCO Award for Lead Actress in a Musical.

Brooks made her Broadway debut in the Tony winning revival of The Color Purple as Sofia for which she was nominated for a Tony Award, a Drama Desk Award, an Outer Critics Circle Award, and received aTheatre World Award for Significant Broadway Debut.

She is perhaps best known for her role as "Tasha 'Taystee' Jefferson" in the Netflix Emmy-nominated series, "Orange is the New Black." for which she has been honored with an NAACP Image Award nomination for "Best Actress in a Comedy Series" and was recipient of the Young Hollywood Award for "Breakthrough Actress. She received the Screen Actors Guild Award for "Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series" three years in a row.

John Keating is being honored for his multiple roles in the Irish Rep's 2019 O'Casey Cycle: The Plough and the Stars, Shadow of a Gunman, and Juno and the Paycock.

John's extensive New York Theatre resume includes 19 shows with Irish Rep and 6 shows with Theatre For a New Audience, Atlantic (The New York Idea), Mint (Is Life Worth Living, John Ferguson), Roundabout (Juno and the Paycock), Pearl Theatre (Public Enemy), Pond Theatre (The Naturalists), Irish Arts (the site specific Ladies and Gents, 4 other shows) and most leading regional theatres. TV appearances include Boardwalk Empire (recurring), John Adams, Ray Donovan, The Following, Nurse Jackie, L & O SVU, Alpha House, High Maintenance, Lipstick Jungle. Films include Kelly Reichardt's First Cow (December 2019), The Lone Ranger, Emerald City, Freedom, Misty Button (2020). He also has performed 180 Audiobook narrations - (Audie winner).

Previous recipients of the Callaway Award include Kate Burton, Byron Jennings, Frank Langella, Laura Linney, Lily Rabe, Liev Schreiber. This award was established by Equity member Joe A. Callaway in 1989.

The Judges for the Callaway Award are: Joe Dziemianowicz,; Adam Feldman, Time Out New York; Susan Haskins, Theater Talk; Harry Haun, The Observer; and David Rosenberg, Hearst Media.

The Actors Equity Foundation, a philanthropic and humanitarian nonprofit organization, was created in 1962 to aid and assist members of the acting profession and to promote the theatre arts. It is separate from Actors' Equity Association and is funded by estate bequests and individual donations.

Photo Credit: Walter McBride / WM Photos