AwardsThe Secret Life of Bees, Much Ado About Nothing Lead 2019 AUDELCO’s VIV Award NominationsDanielle Brooks and LaChanze are among the performers nominated for a VIV Award.
By
Dan Meyer
October 15, 2019
Atlantic Theatre Company’s The Secret Life of Bees leads AUDELCO’s 2019 VIV Awards nominations with 13, followed closely by The Public Theater’s Public Works production of Much Ado About Nothing with 11. Lydia Diamond’s Toni Stone and Nambi E. Kelley’s adaptation of Native Son by Richard Wrightlead the play category with seven nominations each.
The AUDELCO (Audience Development Committee) VIV Award nominees celebrate and honor Black theatre in New York City mounted by non-profit theatre companies. The 47th Annual Vivian Robinson Audelco Recognition Awards will take place November 18 at Tribeca Performing Arts Center.
Danielle Brooks (Much Ado About Nothing), Marchánt Davis (Ain’t No Mo’), Larry Owens (A Strange Loop), and LaChanze (The Secret Life of Bees) are among the performers nominated for their work in the past year.
Check out the full list of nominees below. For more information, visit Audelco.org.
Best Musical Much Ado About Nothing (The Public Theater) The Secret Life of Bees (Atlantic Theater Company)
Best Play Ain’t No Mo’ (The Public Theater) Behind the Sheet (Ensemble Studio Theatre) Looking for Leroy (New Federal Theatre/Castillo Theatre) Native Son (The Acting Company) The Rolling Stone (Lincoln Center Theater) Toni Stone (Roundabout Theatre)
Lead Actor in a Musical Jason B. Brown (The Bacchae) Grantham Coleman (Much Ado About Nothing) Sydney James Harcourt (Girl from the North Country) Larry Owens (A Strange Loop) Chris Stack (The Secret Life of Bees)
Lead Actress in a Musical Jeannette Bayardelle (Girl from the North Country) Danielle Brooks (Much Ado About Nothing) LaDonna Burns (Caroline, or Change) LaChanze (The Secret Life of Bees) Saycon Sengbloh (The Secret Life of Bees)
Featured Actor in a Musical Chuck Cooper (Much Ado About Nothing) R. J. Foster (The Bacchae) Tyrone Mitchell Henderson (Much Ado About Nothing) John-Andrew Morrison (A Strange Loop) Tony Perry (Caroline, or Change) Nathaniel Stampley (The Secret Life of Bees)
Featured Actress in a Musical Eisa Davis (The Secret Life of Bees) Sharae Moultrie (Caroline, or Change) Margaret Odette (Much Ado About Nothing) Nattalyee Randall (Caroline, or Change) Elizabeth Teeter (The Secret Life of Bees) Olivia Washington (Much Ado About Nothing)
Lead Actor in a Play Adrian Baidoo (Separate and Equal) Jason Bowen (Native Son) Marchánt Davis (Ain’t No Mo’) Galen Ryan Kane (Native Son) Keith Randolph Smith (Lockdown)
Lead Actress in a Play Pamela Afesi (Separate and Equal) Cherise Boothe (Fabulation, or the Re-Education of Undine) Denise Burse (Dot) Jessica Frances Dukes (By the Way, Meet Vera Stark) Naomi Lorrain (Behind the Sheet) April Matthis (Toni Stone)
Featured Actor in a Play Harvy Blanks (Toni Stone) Teagle F. Bougere (Coriolanus) J. Bernard Calloway (Fabulation, or the Re-Education of Undine) Jordan E. Cooper (Ain’t No Mo’) Robert Turner (The Haunting of Lin Manuel Miranda)
Featured Actress in a Play Rosalyn Coleman (Native Son) Roz Fox (The Haunting of Lin Manuel Miranda) Tinashe Kajese-Bolden (Dot) Cristina Pitter (Behind the Sheet) Heather Alicia Simms (By the Way, Meet Vera Stark) Charlayne Woodard (Daddy)
Outstanding Ensemble Performance Boesman and Lena (Signature Theatre Company) Fireflies (Atlantic Theater Company) Looking for Leroy (New Federal Theatre/Castillo Theatre) The Key Game (Banana Boat Productions/New Perspective Theatre Co.) The Light (MCC Theater) The Rolling Stone (Lincoln Center Theater)
Solo Performance Richarda Abrams (First by Faith: The Life of Mary McLeod Bethune) Helena D. Lewis (SHEnanigans) Dierdra McDowell (Down to Eartha) Bill Posley (The Day I Became Black) Brenda Pressley (Proof of Love) Malaika Uwamahoro (Miracle in Rwanda)
Best Revival of a Musical Caroline, or Change (Astoria Performing Arts Center) The Bacchae (Classical Theatre of Harlem)
Best Revival of a Play Boesman and Lena (Signature Theatre Company) By the Way, Meet Vera Stark (Signature Theatre Company) Dot (Billie Holiday Theatre) Fabulation, or the Re-Education of Undine (Signature Theatre Company) Reunion in Bartersville (Black Spectrum Theatre Company)
Director of a Play Kamilah Forbes (By the Way, Meet Vera Stark) Petronia Paley (Looking for Leroy) Colette Robert (Behind the Sheet) Seret Scott (Native Son) Stevie Walker-Webb (Ain’t No Mo’)
Director of a Musical Dev Bondarin (Caroline, or Change) Carl Cofield (The Bacchae) Sam Gold (The Secret Life of Bees) Kenny Leon (Much Ado About Nothing)
Playwright Jordan E. Cooper (Ain’t No Mo’) Lydia Diamond (Toni Stone) Jackie Sibblies Drury (Fairview) Nambi E. Kelley (Native Son) Larry Muhammad (Looking for Leroy) Charly Evon Simpson (Behind the Sheet)
Outstanding Musical Director Jason Hart (The Secret Life of Bees) Gareth Hobbs (The B-Side: “Negro Folklore from Texas State Prisons”) Frederick Kennedy (The Bacchae) Rona Siddiqui (A Strange Loop) Jason Michael Webb (Much Ado About Nothing)
Choreography Camille A. Brown (Much Ado About Nothing) Camille A. Brown (Toni Stone) Lawrence M. Jackson (Separate and Equal) Tiffany Rea-Fisher (The Bacchae) Chris Walker (The Secret Life of Bees)
Lighting Design Andre C. Allen (Dot) Jane Cox (The Secret Life of Bees) Allen C. Edwards (Native Son) Adam Honoré (Ain’t No Mo’) Allen Lee Hughes (Toni Stone) Antoinette Tynes (Looking for Leroy)
Set Design Chris Cumberbatch (Looking for Leroy) Riccardo Hernandez (Toni Stone) Kimie Nishikawa (The Light) Clint Ramos (By the Way, Meet Vera Stark) Matt Saunders (Daddy)
Costume Design Carolyn Adams (The Haunting of Lin Manuel Miranda) Carolyn Adams (The Savage Queen) Dede M. Ayite (By the Way, Meet Vera Stark) Dede M. Ayite (The Secret Life of Bees) Jarrod Barnes (Dot) Emilio Sosa (Much Ado About Nothing)
Sound Design Emily Auciello (Ain’t No Mo’) Justin Ellington (Fireflies) Matthew Head (Dot) Dan Moses Schreier (The Secret Life of Bees) David Wright (The Savage Queen)
In addition to the nominees, several pre-determined honorees will be presented with lifetime and achievement awards during the ceremy.
Legacy Award Micki Grant
Rising Star Award Raif-Henok Kendrick
Outstanding Achievement Award Kenny Leon Special Pioneer Award Front Row Productions co-founders Stephen Byrd and Alia Jones-Harvey Director Oz Scott
Board of Directors Award Ntozake Shange
Lifetime Achievement Award Barbara Montgomery Woodie King Jr.
The Fred Ebb Award recognizes excellence in musical theatre songwriting, by a songwriter or songwriting team that has not yet achieved significant commercial success.