Broadway director Bill Rauch (Cats: The Jellicle Ball, All the Way) will be honored with the 2026 Harvard Arts Medal, to be awarded to him May 3 as the culmination of the Cambridge, Massachusetts' institution's Harvard Arts Festival.

The honor recognizes a distinguished alum or faculty member "who has achieved excellence in the arts and made a significant contribution through their work," per press notes. Rauch, who is artistic director off Off-Broadway's Perelman Performing Arts Center, made his Broadway debut in 2014 at the helm of Robert Schenkkan's LBJ bioplay All the Way, returning in 2019 to direct its sequel, The Great Society. He'll be back on the boards this spring with a Broadway transfer of Cats: The Jellicle Ball, which premiered at PAC NYC last year. Co-directed with Zhailon Levingston, the reimagined take on the Tony-winning Andrew Lloyd Webber musical re-sets the work within the underground world of Ballroom.

The May 3 event will feature a conversation between Rauch and distinguished alumni and colleagues, including Amy Brenneman, James Bundy, and R.J. Cutler. Undergraduate students will also perform scenes from Rauch's body of work.

"In honoring Bill Rauch, we recognize his immeasurable contributions to American theatre and his lifelong commitment to building a more inclusive arts ecosystem," says Harvard Director of Office for the Arts Fiona Coffey in a statement. “"From co-founding the community-centered Cornerstone Theater, to his visionary leadership of the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, to his current role as the inaugural artistic director of the Perelman Performing Arts Center at the World Trade Center in New York, Bill has left an indelible mark on our cultural landscape—first as an undergraduate at Harvard, and ever since as a pioneering artistic leader, tastemaker, and visionary force."

"My years at Harvard completely shaped my life," adds Rauch. "I was able to direct a range of plays in every nook and cranny of the campus. I met so many extraordinary peers who are still among my closest colleagues and friends, as well as my husband of 41 years. Everything that I have undertaken as an artist and as an arts leader can be traced back to my days in Cambridge. I am humbled by this honor, which recognizes everyone who has ever taught me and collaborated with me to create a radically inclusive theatre field."

The May 3 event, being held at Farkas Hall, is free and open to the public.

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Photos: Cats: "The Jellicle Ball" at Perelman Performing Arts Center

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