Tickets on Sale For the League of Professional Theatre Women's Theatre Women Awards

The League of Professional Theatre Women (LPTW) will present its annual Theatre Women Awards on March 27th from 1 to 3 p.m., at The Green Fig Restaurant, Yotel Hotel, 570 10th Ave, New York, NY 10036.

This event, which is open to the public, will be both in-person and online, and celebrates women for their exemplary work and dedication in their chosen theatrical field.

Tickets for the luncheon, including a 3-course meal and the presentation of 7 awards, are normally $125, but are on sale now at the early-bird price of $115. There are VIP options for premium seating and sponsorship opportunities as well. In addition, the keepsake Journal will serve as the event's program and there is an opportunity to purchase advertising or congratulatory messages. Visit theatrewomen.org/theatre-women-awards-2023 for more details.

"In this, LPTW's 40th Anniversary year, we have focused on giving awards to our amazing members. Six of the seven Awardees are long-time LPTW members. It is so exciting to turn the spotlight on their enormous talents and achievements. Awardees are: Jacquelyn Bell, Melody Brooks, Lenore DeKoven, Yvette Heyliger, Tess Howsam, Lorca Peress, and Amy Stoller,'' said LPTW Co-President Katrin Hilbe.

"The ceremony and luncheon is a highlight of LPTW's 40th Anniversary Celebration -- bringing together women of all backgrounds and their supporters," noted Co-President Ludovica Villar-Hauser.

Among the theatre luminaries presenting the awards are: Richarda Abrams,

Stephanie Berry, Anna Deavere Smith, Stella Heyliger-Mulatu, and Kate Mueth. Their work in the theatre is impressive:

Richarda Abrams, AUDELCO award-winning actress/singer/playwright/producer. Performances: MultiStages, Crossroads, Ivoryton Playhouse, 2ndStage, LaMama, Cherry Lane, Public Theater. Playwright: First By Faith: The Life Of Mary McLeod Bethune, BETHUNE: Our Black Velvet Rose & Big Mama and Me. Recipient: NYSCA Theater Commissions & LMCC grants. | Fiscal Sponsor: NYFA. | Memberships: Actors Studio, ART/NY, Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians co-founded by her father Dr. Muhal Richard Abrams, EAG, DG, AEA, SAG-AFTRA, NYWIFT, and League of Professional Theatre Women. Richarda holds a BFA (honors) (Acting) NYU's TSOA; MA (Educational Theater) NYU's Steinhardt-University of Leeds, ENGLAND. www.richardaabrams.com www.firstbyfaith.com

Stephanie Berry was honored to be this year's Host at the world famous Apollo Theater for their annual Kwanza Regeneration Night. She was just seen in the world premiere of The Bandaged Place at the Roundabout Theatre. Last season she appeared in the world premiere of On Sugarland at New York Theatre Workshop for which she was nominated for a 2022 Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Actress, the Lucille Lortel for Outstanding Lead Performer, and Outer Critics Circle Awards for Outstanding Actress. Over the past two seasons, she appeared in the world premieres of The Garden at La Jolla Playhouse and Frankenstein at Classic Stage Company. Having worked extensively in regional theaters throughout the country, some of her credits include: Iced Out Shackled and Chain at the National Black Theater, Gem of the Ocean, Seven Guitars, Fences, Skeleton Crew, Mother's and Sons, Trouble in Mind, Wild With Happy, the King of France in Henry V and the Fool in King Lear, the Friar in Romeo and Juliet. Her film and television appearances include: a recurring role on the TV series, Fantasy Island, Luke Cage, Bull, Blacklist, The Last OG, all of the Law and Order shows, OG, The Delivery man, Invasions, No Reservations and Finding Forrester.

She is the 2022 recipient of the New Professional Theatre's Award for Activism, Advocacy and Outstanding Contributions to the Arts Community, a 2021 recipient of The League of Professional Theatre Women's Lee Reynold's Award and a past recipient of the Theatre Communications Group/Fox Resident Actor Fellowship, which acknowledges her diverse and groundbreaking work in the arts.

Stephanie is also a recipient of an OBIE and an AUDELCO Award for her solo piece, The Shaneequa Chronicles: The Making of a Black Woman, a coming-of-age story of a young black woman growing up in Harlem.

Anna Deavere Smith is a writer and actress. She's credited with having created a new

form of theater. Her plays, sometimes called "docudramas," focus on contemporary

issues from multiple points of view and are composed from excerpts of hundreds of

interviews. Plays, and films based on them, include Fires in the Mirror and Twilight: Los

Angeles, both of which dealt with volatile race events in the 1990s; Let Me Down Easy,

about the US health care system; and Notes from the Field, which focused on the school

to-prison pipeline. Her work as an actress on television includes Inventing Anna, The

West Wing, Nurse Jackie, and Black-ish. Mainstream movies include Philadelphia, The

American President, Rachel Getting Married, and Here Today. President Obama

awarded Smith the National Endowment for the Humanities Medal. She was the 2015

Jefferson Lecturer. She's the recipient of the MacArthur Fellowship, several Obie

awards, two Drama Desk awards, the George Polk Career Award in Journalism, and the

Dean's Medal from the Stanford University School of Medicine. She was a runner-up for

the Pulitzer Prize and nominated for two Tony Awards. She's a University Professor at

NYU's Tisch School of the Arts. She has several honorary doctorate degrees including

those from Harvard, Yale, Dartmouth, Spelman College, Prairie View University,

Juilliard, and Oxford.

Kate Mueth is the founder and Artistic Director of The Neo-Political Cowgirls Dance Theater Collective, now in their 17th season creating "Wild, unapologetic, deeply imaginative stage stories." Kate has worked as an actor, choreographer and/or director at Lincoln Center, Bay Street Theater, Guild Hall, Off- Broadway, internationally, and in regional markets. Driven by an artistic vision where creativity, arts and advocacy are the tireless and insistent center of her work, Kate continues to devise theater, flip the script, and advocate mightily for the embrace and activation of Theater Arts in day-to-day American culture. www.npcowgirls.org

"One of our presenters, who is not in the theatre world, but is equally impressive, will be presenting an award to her mother," Villar-Hauser noted:

Stella Heyliger-Mulatu is a passionate educator, mindfulness practitioner, and champion of equity, inclusion, and belonging in the communities that she serves. She is a first grade teacher at The Town School in New York City and an Area Captain for the Harlem District 9 City Council office. Stella and her sister Faith are very proud to see their Mother, Yvette Heyliger, receive one of this year's two LPTW's Special Awards.

LPTW recognizes the following award recipients for their achievements:

Josephine Abady Award: Given to honor the memory of Josephine Abady, to a mid-career director, producer, or creative director of cultural diversity who has worked in professional theater for at least five years.

The Josephine Abady Award will be given this year to Jacquelyn Bell, who formed Bell Arts, a theatre and live event producing entity in 2015. She is a 2020 Special Tony Awarded founder of Broadway Advocacy Coalition. Jacquelyn works at The Nederlander Organization where she recently Co-Produced the Lena Horne Theatre Dedication Ceremony.

Bell's producer credits include: Drama Desk nominated Emojiland the Musical, Broadway for Black Lives Matter, and Summertime. She's the 2018 Commercial Theater Institute Fred Vogel Scholar, a Fellow of the Broadway League, and sits on the League's EDI committee. Jacquelyn stands firmly for equity and inclusion throughout the theatre industry and has a passion for public speaking. Features: Forbes, NBC News, PBS, and BET. www.BellArtsEntertainment.com

Lee Reynolds Award: Given in honor of Lee Reynolds, an award-winning producer who mentored and developed writing talent. This award is given annually to a woman (or women) active in any aspect of theatre whose work has helped to illuminate the possibilities for social, cultural, or political change.

This year's recipient of the Lee Reynolds Award is Melody Brooks, founder and Artistic Director of New Perspectives Theatre Company and an award-winning producer, director and dramaturg who has worked in the professional theatre and various educational institutions for 40 years. Brooks received the "Trailblazing Women and Arts Institutions Award" from Rhythm Color Associates and the "Spirit of Hope Award" from Speranza Theatre Company for her support of women theatre artists. In 2019, NPTC was named a "Cultural Architect" by The Jubilee for pioneering work in DEIA. She is a member of Literary Managers and Dramaturgs of the Americas (LMDA) and has been a member of LPTW since 2009.

Lucille Lortel Grant: Given to an aspiring artist who shows creative promise, and is deserving of recognition and encouragement. This year's recipient is Tess Howsam, an international director and installation artist.

An artistic maverick, Howsam has worked as a multi-hyphenate artist, director, and curator in NYC for over a decade. Howsam is the Founding Artistic Director of the immersive theater company Exquisite Corpse Company (ZOETROPE (2021) NYT Critic's Pick, The New Yorker) and the newly appointed Artistic Director of Culture Lab LIC. A reoccurring Co-Director on projects with the German company Das Letze de Klinode, in 2022 Howsam Co-Directed Amerikaline stage on a train that traveled through eastern Germany. Her work has been seen throughout NYC. Learn more TessHowsam.com

Ruth Morley Design Award: Given annually in honor of leading designer Ruth Morley, costume designer for Annie Hall, Inherit the Wind, and Deathtrap and a former LPTW board member, this award is for outstanding work in the field of theatrical design.

This year's recipient of the Ruth Morley Design Award is Amy Stoller who works frequently on projects with and by Anna Deavere Smith, including Let Me Down Easy and Notes from the Field (both on stage and screen), Watching Wilson and Watson, Talking About Race, On Grace, HBO MasterClass, and regional revivals of Twilight: Los Angeles, 1992 and Fires in the Mirror. She has provided dialect design, frequently with dramaturgy, for 40+ productions at Off-Broadway's award-winning Mint Theater. She's worked on many New York, regional, and touring productions, including Beautiful on Broadway (Tony Award, Jessie Mueller as Carole King). Screen credits include Zola; Selma; Dietland. Amy is an officer of VASTA and a member of LMDA. www.stollersystem.com.

Lifetime Achievement Award: Given, on occasion, to a woman for outstanding achievements over the course of her career. This year's recipient is Lenore DeKoven, who has had a varied career directing and producing in film, theatre and television on both east and west coasts.

From 1988 to 2008 she taught in the Graduate Film Division of Columbia University's School of the Arts. She is a member of the Directors Guild of America, a former Vice President of the League of Professional Theatre Women and was one of the Founders of NY Women in Film and TV. In 1981, DeKoven created Our Workshop East, a development gym for actors, writers and directors. A member of the Authors Guild, she is the author of CHANGING DIRECTION, A Practical Approach to Directing Actors in Film and Theatre now in its second edition.

LPTW Special Award: Given, on occasion, to a woman, or women, who have demonstrated extraordinary service to the LPTW Community or theatre community, generally.

This year there will be two LPTW Special Award recipients: Yvette Heyliger and Lorca Peress.

Yvette Heyliger is a playwright, producing artist, educator, activist, and author of What a Piece of Work is Man! Full-Length Plays for Leading Women. She has contributed to many theatrical anthologies, penned theatre industry-related articles, and appeared on industry-related podcasts. A long-time activist for American theatre women+, she has held leadership posts in the League of Professional Theatre Women and Honor Roll! Awards: Advance Gender Equity in the Arts 2022 AGE Legacy Playwright Grant Finalist, AUDELCO Recognition Award for Excellence in Black Theatre's August Wilson Playwright Award, National Black Theatre Festival Emerging Producer Award, and Best Playwright nomination NAACP's Annual Theatre Awards.

Lorca Peress is a director, writer, and MultiStages Founding Artistic Director. Off Broadway: "Temple of the Souls" (director/producer/co-creator Puerto Rican/Taino musical, 2017 NYMF; NYIT Nominations; HOLA Outstanding Award). Produced and/or directed over 60 plays, musicals and operas in NYC. Awards: LMCC Creative Engagements, La Mama Inky, Institute of Puerto Rico Extraordinary Award, Taino Areito Drama; National Opera Association, Women in Arts & Media Collaboration Hon Mention. Memberships: LPTW (co-president 2011-14), SAG-AFTRA, AEA, SDC, NTC, Creative Network - NY Regional Office of Puerto Rico (2013-15). Bennington College BA, NTI, Strasberg Institute. Faculty: NYU Tisch Strasberg Studio; Strasberg Institute. https://www.lorcaperessdirector.com; https://multistages.org/

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