NEW YORK CITY: Theatre Communications Group (TCG) has announced that its 2016 gala will honor the writer of the Broadway hit Eclipsed, Danai Gurira, and its producers Stephen C. Byrd and Alia Jones-Harvey, as well as the Vilcek Foundation, led by executive director Rick Kinsel. The honorees will be recognized at the gala on Nov. 14.
“We’re thrilled to honor both the visionary artistry and activism of Danai Gurira as well as the groundbreaking work of producers Stephen C. Byrd and Alia M. Jones-Harvey,” said TCG executive director Teresa Eyring in a statement. “By bringing the voices of women from Liberia’s civil war to the Broadway stage through their acclaimed production of Eclipsed, they’ve reaffirmed theatre’s power to humanize and connect us across borders.”
Eyring continued: “We are also delighted to honor the Vilcek Foundation. Under the leadership of Rick Kinsel, and working closely with TCG, the Vilcek Foundation devoted its 2016 prizes to identifying and supporting immigrants whose work will undoubtedly become part of the American canon.”
Gurira is the Tony-nominated author of Eclipsed, and her other plays have earned her OBIE and Drama Desk awards. She also stars as Michonne on AMC’s “The Walking Dead.”
Byrd and Jones-Harvey run Front Row Productions, which aims to bring diversity to Broadway and the West End. They most recently served as the producers of Gurira’s Eclipsed.
The Vilcek Foundation seeks to raise awareness of immigrant contributions to the arts and sciences.
