Rashad, Lansbury, Seldes Set for Hall of Fame Ceremony

The 36th Annual Theater Hall of Fame ceremony will be hosted by Tony Award-winner Phylicia Rashad (A Raisin in the Sun, Gem of the Ocean), with Angela Lansbury and Marian Seldes - the stars of the upcoming Terrence McNally play Deuce - among the presenters.

The ceremony, as previously announced, will take place on January 29th at the Gershwin Theatre.  This year's inductees are actors Patti LuPone, George Hearn and Elizabeth Wilson, playwright Brian Friel, costume designer Willa Kim and scenic designer Eugene Lee.  Late playwrights August Wilson and Wendy Wasserstein will be inducted posthumously.

Other presenters include Peter Weller, George Grizzard, William Ivey Long, Jack Viertel and Oskar Eustis. Constanza Romero Wilson will accept on behalf of her late husband Wilson, while Pamela Wasserstein will accept for Wasserstein, who was her aunt.

LuPone, who won raves for her recent turn as Rose in the Ravinia Festival's Gypsy, recently received a Tony nomination for her work in Sweeney Todd.  A Tony Award-winner for Evita, her other Broadway credits include Noises Off, Master Class, Anything Goes and Working.  Hearn, who recently appeared on Broadway in Wicked, is a two-time Tony Award-winner for Sunset Boulevard and La Cage aux Folles.  He was also nominated for his work in Putting It Together, A Doll's Life and Watch on the Rhine.  Wilson is a Tony Award-winner for Sticks and Bones, and a Drama Desk-winner for Morning's at Seven.  Other Broadway credits include Waiting in the Wings, A Delicate Balance and Ah! Wilderness.

A revival of Friel's Translations will open at the Biltmore Theatre in January of 2007.  Dancing at Lughnasa won a Tony Award for Best Play, while other works include Faith Healer, Philadelphia, Here I Come!, and Lovers.  Kim has won Tony Awards for her work on The Will Rogers Follies and Sophisticated Ladies, as well as garnered other Tony nominations for Legs Diamond, Song & Dance, Dancin,' and Goodtime Charley.  Recent Broadway credits include Victor/Victoria and Grease.  Lee most recently designed sets for the Broadway-bound The Pirate Queen.  He has won Tony Awards for Wicked, Sweeney Todd and Candide, and was also nominated for Ragtime.  Other credits include Seussical, A Moon for the Misbegotten and Show Boat.

Wilson, who passed away on October 2nd, 2005, earned a Pulitzer Prize for his play Fences.  That play, as well as Gem of the Ocean, Joe Turner's Come and Gone, Ma Rainey's Black Bottom, The Piano Lesson, Seven Guitars, Two Trains Running, Jitney, King Hedley II and Radio Golf comprised his groundbreaking cycle of plays chronicling the African-American experience in the 20th century.  The Kennedy Center will present staged readings of all 10 plays in 2008.  Wasserstein, who died on January 30th, 2006, also won a Pulitzer Prize for her The Heidi Chronicles.  Her other plays, which often dealt with feminist issues, included The Sisters Rosensweig, An American Daughter and Uncommen Women and Others.

The inductees were voted upon by the American Theater Critics Association and the members of the Theater Hall of Fame.  All have had or had at least five major credits and 25 years of working in Broadway theatre.

Photo - Phylicia Rashad