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Photo Coverage: Stage Directors and Choreographers Foundation Presents Kenny Leon with Mr. Abbott Award

By: Mar. 30, 2017
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The Stage Directors and Choreographers Foundation (SDC Foundation), the not-for-profit foundation of Stage Directors and Choreographers Society (SDC), hosted its star-studded "Mr. Abbott" Award Gala honoring Kenny Leon at espace in New York City earlier this week. BroadwayWorld was there and brings you photos from inside the ceremony below!

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Christopher Jackson, whom Mr. Leon directed in Holler If Ya Hear Me, joined Stick Fly's Condola Rashad; Phylicia Rashad, who won a Tony Award for her work in A Raisin in the Sun; Shanice Williams of The Wiz Live! for NBC/Storyline Entertainment; blues musician Bill Sims Jr. of America's Blues; Tony Award winner Ruben Santiago-Hudson (Jitney); and community leader, NBA legend, and four-time MVP Julius "Dr. J" Erving for the festivities.

Lydia R. Diamond (Stick Fly) penned the evening's script, and Kamilah Forbes (The Apollo) directed a special tribute performance honoring Kenny Leon. Derek McLane (Hairspray Live!) designed the decor, and Daryl Waters music directed the tribute performance.

The "Mr. Abbott" Award, presented by SDC Foundation on behalf of directors and choreographers to one of their peers, is named in honor of the late renowned stage director George Abbott. Mr. Leon receives the award in recognition of the outstanding artistry and creativity of his 40-year (and counting) career.

Kenny Leon is a Tony Award-winning Broadway and film director. His Broadway credits include the 2014 revival of A Raisin in the Sun (Tony Award Winner for Best Direction of a Play and Best Revival), The Mountaintop starring Samuel L. Jackson and Angela Bassett, Stick Fly produced by Alicia Keys and Nelle Nugent, August Wilson's Fences starring Denzel Washington and Viola Davis (which garnered ten Tony nominations and won three Tony Awards including Best Revival), the 2004 revival of A Raisin in the Sun with Sean P. Diddy Combs, Audra McDonald, and Phylicia Rashad, Gem of the Ocean, Radio Golf, and the 2014 premiere of Holler If Ya Hear Me, a new musical created using the music of Tupac Shakur. Off-Broadway credits have included critically-acclaimed productions of Thulani Davis' Everybody's Ruby at The Public Theater and Lydia Diamond's Smart People at Second Stage, among others. Leon's recent TV and film work includes Hairspray LIVE! and The Wiz LIVE! both for NBC/Storyline Entertainment, In My Dreams for HallMark Hallof Fame, The Watsons go to Birmingham for Walden Media and Hallmark, episodes of Private Practice and Ghost Whisperer, A Raisin in the Sun for Sony Pictures Television, and the Sony and Lifetime TV adaptation of Steel Magnolias. Leon was awarded the 2010 Julia Hansen Award for Excellence in Directing by the Drama League of New York.

Photo Credit: Walter McBride







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