The Theater Hall of Fame Inc. has announced its 2019 inductees: actors André De Shields (a Tony winner this year for Hadestown) and Donna McKechnie, actor-choreographer Ann Reinking, Goodspeed Musicals Founder Michael Price, director-playwright Emily Mann, lighting designer Natasha Katz, theatre critic Michael Feingold, and posthumously, playwright Thomas Meehan.
The 49th annual Theater Hall of Fame for Lifetime Achievement in the American Theater induction ceremony will be held November 18 at the Gershwin Theatre.
The Theater Hall of Fame was created in 1970 at the Gershwin Theatre by James M. Nederlander and Earl Blackwell. To be eligible for nomination, the theatre professional must have, at least, 25 years in the Broadway theatre, five major productions, or be a leader of Off-Broadway or a regional theatre pioneer.
The annual voters are the Theater Hall of Fame members and 300 theatre critics across the United States.
Last year's honorees included actors Rene Auberjonais, Christine Baranski, and Cicely Tyson; playwrights María Irene Fornés, David Henry Hwang, and Adrienne Kennedy; director Joe Mantello; and, posthumously, producer James Houghton.
Terry Hodge Taylor produces the annual event; attendance is by invitation only.
McKechnie has been a special guest performer on Playbill Travel’s Broadway on the High Seas cruises. Cabins are now on sale for Broadway in the Great Northwest, Playbill Travel’s first domestic cruise featuring Kate Baldwin, Tedd Firth, Christopher Fitzgerald, Aaron Lazar, and Faith Prince (April 26–May 4, 2020), and for Broadway on the Mediterranean (August 31–September 7, 2020), featuring Audra McDonald, Will Swenson, Gavin Creel, Caissie Levy and Lindsay Mendez, and for Broadway on the Nile (December 27,2020–January 7, 2021), with performers soon to be announced. To book a suite or stateroom, call Playbill Travel at 866-455-6789 or visit PlaybillTravel.com.
