Theater World Award Winners

A.J. Shively and David McElwee
in Philadelphia, Here I Come
Credit: Jeremy Daniel

Theater award season is in full swing. Yesterday, the Outer Critics Circle and New York Drama Critics Circle Award winners were announced. Today, the 78th annual Theater World Award winners for outstanding Broadway or Off-Broadway debuts were announced. The awards will be presented on Mon. June 10 at 8:08pm at the Marquis Theater on the set of The Wiz. In addition to the honorees, A.J. Shively of Philadelphia, Here I Come will receive the 15th Annual Dorothy Loudon Award for Excellence in the Theater. As previously announced, Tony Award winner Len Cariou will receive the 11th Annual John Willis Award for Lifetime Achievement in the Theatre, and a 2024 TWA Special Award will be presented to theater journalist Peter Filichia, who has hosted the event for many years.

2024 Theatre World Award Honorees
For Outstanding Broadway or Off-Broadway Debut Performance
during the 2023-2024 theatrical season

Ali Louis Bourzgui, The Who’s Tommy
Cole Escola, Oh, Mary!
Brody Grant, The Outsiders
Michael Imperioli, Enemy of the People
Phillip Johnson Richardson, The Wiz
Will Keen, Patriots
Nichelle Lewis, The Wiz
Rachel McAdams, Mary Jane
Maleah Joi Moon, Hell’s Kitchen
Tom Pecinka, Stereophonic
Sarah Pidgeon, Stereophonic
Chris Stack, Stereophonic

The Theater World Awards will present a logistical problem for several of the honorees. The Drama Desk Awards will be held the same day at 6:10pm at the NYU Skirball Center in Greenwich Village. At the DDs, Cole Escola is receiving the Sam Norkin Off-Broadway Award and Shively, Grant, Keen, McAdams, and Moon are nominees in the performance categories. In addition, Peckina, Pidgeon and Stack are part of the Outstanding Ensemble Award for Stereophonic. So if they plan to attend both events, they will need rapid transportation from downtown to Times Square.

The Theatre World Award honorees are chosen by the Theatre World Awards Committee which is comprised of Linda Armstrong (Amsterdam News), David Cote (The Observer), Joe Dziemianowicz (New York Theatre Guide), Peter Filichia (Broadway Radio), David Finkle (New York Stage Review), Elysa Gardner (The New York Sun), Harry Haun (Observer.com), Cary Wong (The Interested Bystander), and Frank Scheck (New York Stage Review/ The Hollywood Reporter).