Julie Taymor, Denée Benton, and More to Be Honored at 8th Annual Lilly Awards
(© David Gordon)
Announcers and presenters have been announced for the eighth annual Lilly Awards, set to take place May 22 at Playwrights Horizons. As previously announced, Tony Award winner Sarah Jones (Bridge & Tunnel, Sell/Buy/Date) will host.
Julie Taymor, Denée Benton, Micki Grant, Toni-Leslie James, Mandy Greenfield, Madison Ferris, and Beanie Feldstein are this year's honorees. Stephen Schwartz will be this year's Miss Lilly. Additionally, Cynthia Nixon, Ruben Santiago-Hudson, and David Henry Hwang are set to be presenters at the ceremony.
The Lilly Awards will also be awarding grants to a select few women making an impact on American theater. The grants being awarded will include the New York Women's Foundation Directing Apprenticeship Award, the Leah Ryan Prize, and the Harper Lee Award, which will be presented by Joy Brown, who gave financial support to Harper Lee while Lee was writing To Kill a Mockingbird.
The Stacey Mindich "Go Write a Play" Award will be presented by Stacey Mindich, and Daryl Roth will present the Daryl Roth Creative Spirit Award, which is dedicated to apprenticeship for women in tech or design. Winners will be presented with their grants during the ceremony.
The Lilly Awards honor the extraordinary contributions made to the American Theater by women. Founded by Julia Jordan, Marsha Norman, and Theresa Rebeck, the awards are named for Lillian Hellman, a pioneering American playwright who famously said, "You need to write like the devil and act like one too when necessary."
