Theresa Rebeck To Host The League Of Professional Theatre Women's 2018 Awards On 3/16

The League of Professional Theatre Women (Kelli Lynn Harrison & Lisa Rothe, Co-Presidents) will present the 2018 Theatre Women Awards at The TimesCenter (242 West 41st Streetbetween 7th and 8th Avenues) on Friday, March 16 beginning at 6:30pm. Tickets ($85-$250) are available for advance purchase at www.theatrewomen.org.

The League of Professional Theatre Women's annual Theatre Women Awards are the only awards dedicated to honoring the theatrical work of women and their contributions to the field, across all disciplines.

The ceremony will be hosted by playwright Theresa Rebeck with awards presented by Jocelyn Bioh (Phylicia Rashad, Lifetime Achievement Award), Ceila Keenan-Bolger (Adrienne Campbell-Holt, LPTW Lucille Lortel Award), Roma Torre (Linda Winder, LPTW Special Award), Karen Kandel (Emily Joy Weiner, Josephine Abady Award), Marshall Jones III and Wayne Maugans (Rohina Malik, Lee Reynolds Award), and Shelley Butler (Cricket S. Myers, Ruth Morley Award).

Theresa Rebeck (Host) Ms. Rebeck's plays include, Seminar, Mauritius (Irne, Elliot Norton Awards), Dead Accounts, Spike Heels, Loose Knit, The Family of Mann (National Theater Award), The Water's Edge, The Scene, The Butterfly Collection, The Bells (Inge New Voices Award), Bad Dates, The Nest, Omnium Gatherum (Pulitzer finalist), View of the Dome, Poor Behavior and The Understudy. Her adaptation of The Way of the World was recently seen in the Women's Voices Festival in Washington, D.C. Her work has been widely produced on and off Broadway, regionally and internationally. Novels include Three Girls and Their Brother (Crown) and I'm Glad About You (Putnam). She is the recipient of the Pen Laura Pels Award for a mid-career playwright. With composer Josh Schmidt, Theresa is adapting the RKO film Dance, Girl, Dance, as a stage musical and she has created a stage adaptation of the fable Stone Soup with John Weidman. As a director her work has been seen at The Alley Theater of Houston, Dorset Theater Festival, the Orchard Project and the Folger Shakespeare Theater. She recently finished writing and directing the independent feature Trouble, starring Anjelica Huston, Bill Pullman and David Morse. In television, she is known for her work on NYPD Blue (Writer's Guild, Peabody and Edgar awards) and for creating the NBC series Smash. Ms. Rebeck is originally from Cincinnati, Ohio. She has a Ph.D. and M.F.A. from Brandeis University. She serves on the board of PEN America, and is a proud member of the Dramatist's Guild. She teaches at the University of Houston as the Distinguished Visiting Theater Artist. She lives in Brooklyn with her husband Jess Lynn and her children, Cooper and Cleo Lynn.

Jocelyn Bioh (Phylicia Rashad Presenter) is a Ghanaian-American writer/performer from New York City. NYC theatre acting credits include: Everybody (Signature, Lortel Nomination). The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time (TONY Award for Best Play in 2015). Men on Boats (Playwrights Horizons,) An Octoroon (Soho Rep) SEED (Classical Theatre of Harlem), and NEIGHBORS (The Public Theater). Film: Ben Is Back. TV: Former Cover Girl spokes model, "Crashing" (HBO), "Blue Bloods" (CBS), "The Detour" (TBS), "The Characters" (Netflix), "Louie" (FX), and "One Life to Live" (ABC). As a playwright, she is currently a Tow Playwright in Residence at MCC. Her plays include: Nollywood Dreams (Cherry Lane Mentor Project 2017), School Girls (MCC 2017) and the libretto for The Ladykiller's Love Story - with music/lyrics by Cee Lo Green. As a TV staff writer, Jocelyn has worked on Russian Doll (Netflix.) She is currently a staff writer on Spike Lee's She's Gotta Have It also on Netflix. B.A in English/Theatre from The Ohio State University and MFA in Playwriting from Columbia University.

Roma Torre (Linda Winer Presenter), an Emmy award winner, is celebrating her 26th year at NY1, New York's popular cable news channel, where she is an anchor and theater critic. Roma's TV career began at Channel 2, becoming a news writer and producer. Then, with Cablevision's formation of the country's first 24-hour local news station, News12 Long Island, Roma was among the first reporters hired. After five years at News12, Roma returned to New York City in 1992 to join NY1, where she now anchors its "News All Day" and is its theater critic. She followed in the tradition of her mother, the late Marie Torre. A well-known syndicated columnist, she was the first reporter to go to jail invoking the First Amendment after refusing to reveal a confidential source. Roma has more than 30 broadcasting awards. She has co-produced a documentary, "Shout Gladi Gladi," narrated by Meryl Streep. It's an inspiring story about women in Africa living in extreme poverty. A colon cancer survivor, Roma is a staunch advocate of early screening and has spoken extensively about the need to raise awareness and the importance of cancer prevention. She is a proud board member of the National Association of Women Artists (NAWA).

Karen Kandel (Emily Joy Weiner Presenter) is Co-Artistic Director of NYC based theater company, Mabou Mines. Performance Awards/Nominations: OBIE Award (Peter & Wendy, Talk, Mabou Mines' Lear), Dramalogue, Connecticut Critics Circle, Craig Noel, Edinburgh Festival's Herald Angel Award, Helen Hayes nomination, Drama League Outstanding Performance Citation (Peter & Wendy), 2016 Lucille Lortel nomination (Futurity). Karen is a United States Artists Fellow and one of six artists in the US to receive the Audrey Skirball-Kenis T.I.M.E. Grant. She has been supported by The Asian Cultural Council, TCG/Fox Fellowship, TCG Future Collaborations, Alaska AIR Rasmusson Foundation, Jim Henson Foundation, Peter S. Reed Foundation, and Spencer Cherashore Fund.

Marshall Jones III (Rohina Malik Presenter) is Producing Artistic Director of the Tony Award-winning® Crossroads Theatre Company and is also a theater professor at Rutgers University. He has 30 years of experience in a wide variety of key executive positions at some of NYC's most reputable institutions including the Apollo Theater (General Manager), Madison Square Garden (Company Manager), Radio City Music Hall (Producer), and Disney's The Lion King. Marshall has directed several plays including the world premiere of Walter Mosley's Lift, which later played at 59E59. He directed Nikkole Salter's Repairing a Nation, which was also recorded for TV broadcast on WNET. Last year he directed the world premiere of Beyond the Oak Trees about Harriet Tubman at Crossroads. This spring he will direct the world premiere of Back to the Real by Pia Wilson, a contemporary comedy, which is a joint-commission between Crossroads, NJPAC and the NJ Theater Alliance. For 8 years, Marshall has proudly served on the Board of Directors of the Theater Communication Group (TCG).

Wayne Maugans (Rohina Malik Presenter) is the Founding Artistic Director of Voyage Theater Company. Directing credits for VTC include Unveiled by Rohina Malik (NYC & South African tour),The Pelican by August Strindberg, Sun by Adrienne Kennedy, Intermission by Daniel Libman, My Poor Marat by Aleksei Arbuzov, and Obama 44 by Mario Fratti. Other directing includes Polaroid Stories by Naomi Iizuka (Brooklyn College), The Trojan Women (Atlantic Theater/NYU), Uncle by Dean Gray and Trailerville by John Dufresne (both at Blue Heron Theatre). As an actor, Wayne has appeared on Broadway in August: Osage County, and at numerous off-Broadway and regional theaters, including 59E59, Manhattan Theater Club, Signature Theater, Actors' Theater of Louisville, The Cleveland Playhouse, Primary Stages, Yale Rep, Seven Stages, Two River Theater, and La MaMa ETC. Wayne holds a BFA in Acting from New York University and an MFA in Directing from CUNY/Brooklyn College. He is a member of the Lincoln Center Directors Lab and The Fence.

Celia Keenan-Bolger (Adrienne Campbell-Holt Presenter) Broadway: Glass Menagerie (Tony Award Nomination, Drama Desk Award, Dorothy Loudon Award,), The Cherry Orchard, Peter And The Starcatcher, (Tony Nom, Drama Desk Nom, Drama League Nom) Les Miserables (Drama Desk nom.), The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee (Tony Nom, Drama Desk Award for Best Ensemble, Theatre World Award), Off Broadway: A Parallelogram by Bruce Norris (Second Stage), The Oldest Boy by Sarah Ruhl (Lincoln Center Theater), A Small Fire by Adam Bock (Playwrights Horizons), Bachelorette by Leslye Headland (Second Stage), and Merrily We Roll Along (City Center Encores) by Sondheim and Furth. Favorite regional credits include Johanna in Sweeney Todd (Kennedy Center Sondheim Celebration), Emily in Our Town (Intiman Theatre), and Clara in The Light In The Piazza (Goodman Theatre) Recordings: Spelling Bee, Bright Lights Big City, Summer of '42 and Broadway Musicals Of 1930. TV: "Louie", "The Good Wife", "Nurse Jackie", "Good Behavior", "Law & Order SVU", "Elementary", "Heartland", "Blue Bloods", "NCIS New Orleans". Film: The Visit, Mariachi Gringo. Celia is a graduate of The University Of Michigan.

Shelley Butler (Cricket S. Myers Presenter) has over thirty Broadway, Off-Broadway and regional credits to date and has worked extensively with writers on new plays and musicals. Recent productions include the world premiere of Lucas Hnath's A Doll's House Part 2 at South Coast Repertory and the Japanese premiere of Beautiful: The Carole King Musical, at the Imperial Theatre in Tokyo. She has directed and developed work across the country for theaters including: Ars Nova, Primary Stages, E.S.T., Women's Project, Hartford Stage, South Coast Repertory, Denver Center Theatre Company, GEVA, New York Stage and Film, Dallas Lyric Stage, PlayPenn, New Dramatists, the Lark, New Georges, Dixon Place, The Playwright's Realm, Urban Stages, Wellfleet Harbor Actor's Theatre and Keen Company. Shelley is the recipient of a Drama League Directing Fellowship, a 2005 Director's Guild of America Trainee, a member of SDC, the Lincoln Center Directors' Lab and the Women's Project Directors Lab. Shelley spent two seasons as artistic associate in charge of new play development for Hartford Stage and three seasons as artistic associate for Great Lakes Theater Festival.

The League of Professional Theatre Women (a not-for-profit 501(c)(3) organization) has been championing women and leading the gender parity conversation in the professional theatre for over 35 years. Since its founding, the LPTW's membership has grown to 500+ members of theatre artists and practitioners of all backgrounds, across multiple disciplines, working in the commercial and non-profit sectors. To promote visibility and increase opportunities for women in the field, the LPTW spearheads events, public programming, advocacy projects, media, and publications that celebrate industry luminaries, preserve the legacy of historic visionaries, raise awareness of the importance of nurturing women's voices, and shine a spotlight on the imperative of striving for gender parity and fostering a diversity of expression, both in the theatre world and the world at large. To find out more about how you can support its endeavors, please visit www.theatrewomen.org.

To post a comment, you must register and login.