NEW YORK CITY: The Princess Grace Foundation-USA has announced the winners of its 2016 awards. The foundation awards more than $1 million to emerging artists in theatre, dance, and film. The winners in theatre include Bruce A. Lemon, Dawn Monique Williams, Christopher Scott Murillo, Tanya Orellana, Lucius Robinson, and Keith A. Wallace. In addition, Leslie Odom Jr. is the winner of the 2016 Princess Grace Statue Award. The awards will be presented at the Princess Grace Foundation’s annual gala, which will be held Oct. 24 in New York City.
“We are thrilled to welcome this year’s incredibly talented award winners into the Princess Grace Foundation-USA family,” said foundation executive director Toby Boshak in a statement. “Each year we enthusiastically support a passionate new group of emerging talents who will one day be at the forefront of the arts.”
Odom Jr.—who recently won a Tony Award for his performance as Aaron Burr in Hamilton on Broadway—will receive $25,000 and a bronze statue of Princess Grace as part of the Princess Grace Statue Awards. The honor is reserved for past recipients of a Princess Grace Award who has distinguished themselves in their field.
Princess Grace named eight recipients in the field of theatre. The awards fund scholarships, fellowships, and apprenticeships at the artists’ partner theatres. The 2016 recipients are Tanya Orellana/California institute of the Arts (Theater Scholarship, Fabergé Theater Award); Lucius Robinson/Dell’Arte International School of Physical Theatre (Theater Scholarship, Grace Le Vine Theater Award); Keith Wallace/University of California–San Diego (Theatre Scholarship, Gant Gaither Theatre Award); Bruce A. Lemon/Cornerstone Theater Company (Theatre Apprenticeship, Robert and Gloria Hausman Theatre Award); Christopher Murillo/Playwrights’ Arena (Theatre Fellowship, Pierre Cardin Award); Dawn Monique Williams/Oregon Shakespeare Festival (Theatre Fellowship); and Emma D. Stanton/New Dramatists (Playwriting Fellowship).
Two other artists will receive the 2016 Theater Honoraria: Eric Berryman (the Wooster Group) and Modesto Jimenez (the Bushwick Starr).
The Princess Grace Awards also recognize past winners with grants. The theatre artists recognized this year are playwright Jiehae Park (New Dramatists) and Evan Yionoulis (PlayMakers Repertory Company). Both will receive the 2016 Works in Progress Residency Award, which will allow them to work at partner theatres in residence.
The Princess Grace Foundation-USA is a nonprofit founded 34 years ago by Prince Rainier III of Monaco to honor Princess Grace Kelly’s legacy. Since its inception, the foundation has distributed more than $13 million to nearly 800 recipients. Past Princess Grace winners include Tracy Letts and Anna D. Shapiro.
