Tony Awards to Honor Rosie O'Donnell with 2014 Isabelle Stevenson Award!

The Tony Awards® Administration Committee has announced that Rosie O'Donnell will receive the 2014 Isabelle Stevenson Award. This award will be presented at the 2014 Tony Awards on Sunday, June 8th. The 2014 Tony Awards are presented by The Broadway League and the American Theatre Wing.

The Isabelle Stevenson Award is presented annually to a member of the theatre community who has made a substantial contribution of volunteered time and effort on behalf of one or more humanitarian, social service or charitable organizations.

Rosie O'Donnell will be presented with the 2014 Isabelle Stevenson Award for her commitment to arts education for New York City's public school children. In 2003, Rosie's For All Kids Foundation launched Rosie's Broadway Kids, which is now known as Rosie's Theater Kids (RTKids). Rosie's Theater Kids is a non-profit arts education organization which continually provides training in dance, music and drama for students attending public school in New York City. RTKids serves students who otherwise would not have the opportunity to experience theater, positively changing the trajectory of their lives by providing comprehensive classes in music, dance and drama; thoughtful mentoring; and structured academic guidance. Dedicated to enriching the lives of children though the arts, their goal is to inspire excellence, motivate learning, uplift the human spirit, build confidence, and spark a lifelong appreciation for the arts.

RTKids provides a number of programs, including:

· PS Broadway - An in-school program for NYC public school fifth-graders. During the year, RTKids staff members teach dance and music as part of a 15-week program that serves 22 schools throughout Manhattan. Every class of students takes a free trip to see a Broadway musical and participates in a question-and-answer session with performers, directors, conductors and members of the production's technical staff. Each semester this program is wrapped up with a school assembly where the students perform for their peers, parents and teachers.

· ACTE II (A Commitment to Excellence) - A scholarship program in which outstanding graduates of PS Broadway have the opportunity to receive further training in free after-school classes in ballet, tap, jazz, voice and drama. The program includes a Summer Intensive program that provides group classes and private lessons, preparing students for a final performance for family, friends and industry professionals.

· Spotlight on Fitness (SoFit) - Developed in collaboration with a school-based health care program and the NYC Department of Education, SoFit is a physical education program that fulfills state and local curriculum requirements in both the arts and physical education.

· A+ (Arts Plus) - This program provides supplementary tools to enhance the academic achievement of the ACTE II Students at the secondary level. A+ includes after-school tutoring, High School admission guidance, private coaching and preparation for performing arts school auditions (both high school and collegiate) and professional PSAT and SAT preparatory classes. To date, with the individual coaching and assistance from RTKids, 100% of the 8th grade students were placed in competitive New York City performing arts high schools for the past two years.

"We are excited to announce Rosie as this year's Isabelle Stevenson Award recipient. Rosie exemplifies the spirit and the generosity of the Broadway community through her "pay it forward" mentality within the arts community and beyond. Rosie constantly works to make our world a better place, and unconditional generosity like hers deserves great recognition," said Charlotte St. Martin, Executive Director of The Broadway League and Heather Hitchens, Executive Director of the American Theatre Wing.

For six years, Rosie O'Donnell served as host and executive producer of the critically acclaimed and Emmy Award-winning nationally Syndicated talk/variety series The Rosie O'Donnell Show. In her first season on the air, she won the Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Talk Show Host. She continued her success for five consecutive seasons by winning a total of 12 Daytime Emmys for both Outstanding Talk Show Host and Outstanding Talk Show. Rosie was also seen on daytime television as moderator on the tenth season of ABC's The View, and hosted the satellite radio show, Rosie Radio on SiriusXM. She returned to television hosting in the fall of 2011 with The Rosie Show on OWN: OPRAH WINFREY NETWORK through spring 2012.

Rosie has hosted the Tony Awards three times and won the Emmy for Outstanding Variety, Music Or Comedy Special for the 52nd annual Tony Awards . Her theater credits include: 'Rizzo' in Tommy Tune's 1994 revival of Grease; Seussical and Fiddler on the Roof; Love, Loss and What I Wore; and the Encores! production of No, No, Nanette. In 2004, Rosie combined her love of Broadway with 80s pop musical sensation Boy George and produced the musical Taboo.

Rosie made her dramatic television debut in CBS's Hallmark Hall of Fame production, Riding the Bus with My Sister, and has made guest appearances on Will and Grace, All My Children, Suddenly Susan, Spin City, Sesame Street, The Nanny, The Larry Sanders Show, Curb Your Enthusiasm, Nip/Tuck, Queer as Folk, Happily Divorced, Bomb Girls , and Showtime's Web Therapy. O'Donnell has also executive produced and hosted Stand Up Spotlight on VH1, and hosted Nickelodeon's Kids Choice Awards from 1997-2003. Rosie executive co-produced, co-wrote, and starred in the 2009 Lifetime Original Film, America. Rosie has also been involved in several HBO documentaries. She was the co-executive producer of Rosie's Family Cruise, A Family Is a Family Is a Family: A Rosie O'Donnell Celebration, and "Don't Divorce Me." On the big screen, O'Donnell has starred in A League of Their Own, Sleepless in Seattle, Another Stakeout, The Flintstones, Exit To Eden, Now and Then, Beautiful Girls, Harriet the Spy, Wide Awake, and was The Voice of "Turk" in Walt Disney's Tarzan.

The Tony Award Nominations will be announced on Tuesday, April 29th. The Tony Nominations can be viewed LIVE (8:30am ET) in their entirety at www.TonyAwards.com. The Tony Awards, hosted by Hugh Jackman, will be broadcast in a live three-hour ceremony from Radio City Music Hall, on the CBS television network on Sunday, June 8, 2014. For more information on the Tony Awards, please visit www.TonyAwards.com.

TonyAwards.com, developed, produced, and hosted by IBM, is centerpiece of the Tony Awards digital platform that includes an interactive Second Screen (TonyAwards.com/secondscreen) to complement the CBS telecast on June 8; a Spotlight Series on potential nominees; Google+ hangouts; a live webcast of the Nominations Announcement; multimedia coverage before, during, and after the Tony ceremony; and much more. Visit TonyAwards.com, and follow the Tonys at Facebook.com/TheTonyAwards, @TheTonyAwards on Twitter, and Instagram.com/TheTonyAwards. #TonyAwards