Tony and Oscar winner Joel Grey will be honored with a Lifetime Achievement Award at the 4th Annual Chita Rivera Awards, set for June 20 at NYU Skirball Center for the Performing Arts.
Nominations, originally set to be announced May 5, will now be announced May 17.
“We are thrilled to honor Joel this year with our Lifetime Achievement Award,” says Chita Rivera Awards producer Joe Lanteri. “From Cabaret and George M! to Chicago and Wicked, Joel’s body of work has put him in 'theatre icon' status. We are proud to celebrate the man and his career."
Grey made his Broadway debut in 1951 in Borscht Capades, later replacing in a string of leading roles in Come Blow Your Horn, Stop the World - I Want to Get Off, and Half a Sixpence. In 1966 he created the role of the Master of Ceremonies in the original production of Kander and Ebb's Cabaret, winning a 1967 Tony Award for his performance. Grey reprised his performance in the 1972 film adaptation and won an Academy Award, becoming one of only a handful of performers to win both a Tony and Oscar for the same role. Grey went on to appear on Broadway in George M!, Goodtime Charley, The Grand Tour, and a revival of Cabaret before creating the role of Amos Hart in the 1996 Broadway revival of Kander and Ebb's Chicago. He returned to Broadway in 2003 as The Wizard in Wicked, in 2011 as Moonface Martin in Anything Goes, and in 2017 as Firs in The Cherry Orchard. Grey is also an accomplished director, helming the 2011 Broadway revival of The Normal Heart and the 2018 Off-Broadway Fiddler on the Roof in Yiddish.
The Chita Rivera Awards celebrate dance and recognize choreographic excellence and achievement in honor of their namesake, Tony winner Chita Rivera, who has originated some of Broadway's best known roles, such as Anita in West Side Story and Velma in Chicago.
The event is produced by Patricia Watt and Joe Lanteri, founder and executive director of the New York City Dance Alliance Foundation, and will benefit the NYC Dance Alliance Foundation College Scholarship Program. Since the organization’s founding in 2010, it has awarded $4 million to more than 400 dancers.
Visit ChitaRiveraAwards.com.