The
American Theatre Critics Association has chosen its Theater Hall of Fame honorees for 2013, with actors Ellen Burstyn and Cherry Jones, designer David Hays, director Jerry Zaks, playwright Lorraine Hansberry, multi-hyphenates Lynne Meadow and George C. Wolfe, and producer Cameron Mackintosh in this year's class of inductees. This is the 43rd year for the Theater Hall of Fame, which honors Lifetime Achievement in the American Theater. This year's celebration will take place at the Gershwin Theatre on January 27, 2014.
Ellen Burstyn is probably best known for her film appearances. She has been nominated for an Academy Award six times, winning as Best Actress in 1975 for
Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore. She won a Golden Globe in 1979 for the film version of
Same Time Next Year, for which she also won a Tony, and Emmys in 2009 and 2013 for a guest spot on
Law & Order: SVU and her role as the matriarch of a powerful political family in
Political Animals. Burstyn made her
Broadway debut in 1957 with
Fair Game, returning from time to time, including
Same Time, Next Year in 1975 and
Picnic earlier this year.
Lorraine Hansberry (1930-1965) was the first female African-American playwright to see her work on Broadway. Her seminal work,
A Raisin in the Sun, opened at the Ethel Barrymore Theatre in 1959, and was revived in 2004 with a cast that included P. Diddy, Phylicia Rashad and Audra McDonald. It will be back on Broadway next year in a production set to star Denzel Washington and Diahann Carroll.
A Raisin in the Sun also spawned a musical called
Raisin and inspired new plays
Clybourne Park (a Pulitzer Prize winner) by Bruce Norris and
Beneatha's Place by Kwame Kwei-Armah. Hansberry's other plays include
The Sign in Sidney Brustein's Window and
Les Blancs. When she won the Best Play award from the New York Drama Critics Circle for
A Raisin in the Sun, she was the youngest American playwright to receive that honor.
David Hays is a scenic and lighting designer with an extensive resume including the original Broadway production of
Long Day's Journey Into Night in 1956 and revivals of
Dinner at Eight,
Saint Joan,
The Miser, and
Cyrano de Bergerac. His scenic designs for
The Tenth Man,
All the Way Home,
No Strings,
Marco Millions and
Drat! The Cat! all earned him Tony nominations. Hays also founded the National Theatre of the Deaf, serving as its artistic director as well as directing, producing and taking on administration of the theatre.
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| Cherry Jones (L) with Celia Keenan-Bolger in The Glass Menagerie |
Cherry Jones is one of the most notable actresses currently on the American stage, with some 14 Broadway shows on her resume, including four Tony nominations and two wins in the Best Actress in a Play category. The Tony Awards came for her roles in
The Heiress and
Doubt, and she is currently appearing in
The Glass Menagerie at the Booth Theatre, which may win her another one. On TV, she is best known as for her role as President Allison Taylor on
24, while her film credits include
Cradle Will Rock and
Erin Brockovich.
Sir Cameron Mackintosh is a producer extraordinaire, and the producer behind smash successes like
Les Misérables,
The Phantom of the Opera,
Miss Saigon and
Cats.He has won Tony Awards for his productions of
Cats,
Les Miz and
Phantom, as well as revivals of
Carousel and
Swan Lake. The New York Times has described Mackintosh as "the most successful, influential and powerful theatrical producer in the world."
Lynne Meadow is the Artistic Director of Manhattan Theatre Club, a position she has held since 1972. Meadow has directed and/or produced over 450 New York and world premieres, with Tony Awards for producing
Proof,
Doubt and
Love! Valour! Compassion! Her directing credits include Margaret Edson’s
Wit, Donald Margulies’
Collected Stories, Charles Busch's
The Tale of the Allergist’s Wife, and Alan Ayckbourn's
A Small Family Business with Brian Murray and
Woman in Mind with Stockard Channing. She is currently directing
The Commons of Pensacola, a brand-new play written by actress Amanda Peet, starring Sarah Jessica Parker and Blythe Danner, now in previews and opening November 21.
George C. Wolfe has won Tony Awards as a director --
Angels in America: Millennium Approaches and
Bring in 'Da Noise, Bring in 'Da Funk -- and as a producer --
Angels in America: Perestroika,
Elaine Stritch: At Liberty, and
Take Me Out -- and a Drama Desk Award for writing the Outstanding Book of a Musical, for
Jelly's Last Jam. His direction of
The Normal Heart and
Millennium Approaches won more Drama Desks, and he picked up an Obie for directing
Spunk, a collection of Zora Neale Hurston pieces. Wolfe was the producer of the Public Theatre/New York Shakespeare Festival from 1993 to 2005, and he most recently directed
Lucky Guy, starring Tom Hanks.
Jerry Zaks began his Broadway career as a performer, but by 1986 and
The House of Blue Leaves, he had switched to directing.
The House of Blue Leaves earned Zaks a Tony and a Drama Desk Award for his direction, and he won both awards again for
Lend Me a Tenor, Six Degrees of Separation and
Guys and Dolls. In addition to the four Tonys and four Drama Desk Awards, Zaks owns two Outer Critics Circle Awards, an Obie, and an NAACP Image Award nomination for his national tour of
The Tap Dance Kid. He also directed the film
Marvin's Room, which starred Meryl Streep, Diane Keaton and Leonardo DiCaprio, and all kinds of television episodes, from
Frasier to
Two and a Half Men. He is a founding member of the Ensemble Studio Theatre.
