The African American Film Critics Association will present AAFCA Salutes Broadway—celebrating Broadway's impact on Hollywood —October 17 at the Lamb’s Club in Manhattan.
The inaugural ceremony will honor Shakespearean actor John Douglas Thompson, currently on the big screen in Till, with the Distinguished Achievement Award; Suzan-Lori Parks' Pulitzer Prize-winning drama Topdog/Underdog, back on Broadway starring Corey Hawkins and Yahya Abdul-Mateen II under the direction of Kenny Leon, with the Spotlight Award; The Wire and Selma's Wendell Pierce, currently leading the cast of the Broadway revival of Arthur Miller's Death of a Salesman, with the Beacon Award; and Tony-nominated actor LaTanya Richardson Jackson, who is making history as the first woman to direct a Broadway revival of an August Wilson play, The Piano Lesson, with the Vanguard Award.
“It’s no secret that some of our greatest actors have come from the stage or have tested their chops on it,” says AAFCA Co-Founder Gil Robertson IV. “Sidney Poitier, Ruby Dee, and Ossie Davis are just a handful of our beloved icons for which this was true, with Tony winners Denzel Washington, Viola Davis, Audra McDonald, Adrienne Warren, and Myles Frost among those continuing that legacy. As a reliable pipeline for outstanding Black talent in front of the camera as well as behind it, Hollywood has benefited greatly from this esteemed training ground and AAFCA Salutes Broadway celebrates that rich heritage.”
"The intersectionality that exists between the theatre, TV, and film communities needs to be celebrated," adds Tony-winning A Strange Loop producer Debra Martin Chase. "I am absolutely thrilled that AAFCA continues to do the work of championing artists in these spaces."
The Piano Lesson Marquee at the Barrymore Theatre
Outside The Ethel Barrymore Theatre
A scene on the street outside the Ethel Barrymore Theatre
The Piano Lesson marquee at the Ethel Barrymore Theatre
Outside the Ethel Barrymore Theatre
The Marquee at the Ethel Barrymore Theatre
A group poses outside the theatre under the marquee
The Box Office at the Ethel Barrymore Theatre
Audience members inside the Ethel Barrymore Theatre
Audience members at the first preview of The Piano Lesson
Playbill's stacked inside The Ethel Barrymore Theatre
Inside the Ethel Barrymore Theatre during the first preview of The Piano Lesson
Ray Fisher, April Mattis, Danielle Brooks, John David Washington, Michael Potts, Nadia Daniel, Samuel L. Jackson, and Trai Byers at the curtain call for The Piano Lesson
