Ali Stroker and John Patrick Shanley to Be Honored by NYU Alumni Association

Broadway veteran Ali Stroker (Spring Awakening) will be honored with the Distinguished Young Alumna Award at this year's NYU Alumni Association’s Annual Awards Luncheon. The event will be held on Friday, April 21, at Gotham Hall where Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright John Patrick Shanley (Doubt) and attorney Martin Lipton will also be honored.

"These honorees are visionaries in their fields, leaders in their communities, and tremendous representatives of the University," said Heather Cannady, president of the NYUAA. "We are extremely proud of all they have accomplished."

Stroker made her Broadway debut in 2015 in the Deaf West revival of Spring Awakening, becoming the first-ever performer in a wheelchair to appear in a Broadway show. She was also the first person in a wheelchair to graduate from NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts’ Drama Program. On television, she guest-starred on Season 4 of FOX's Glee and was a finalist on the reality show competition The Glee Project. She will soon appear in the upcoming ABC drama Ten Days in the Valley, starring Emmy Award winner Kyra Sedgwick.