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Ahrens & Flaherty

 

 

The Theater Hall of Fame has announced the 2015 inductees for Lifetime Achievement in the American Theater.

Inductees include playwright Tony Kushner, songwriting partners Lynn Ahrens and Stephen Flaherty, director Julie Taymor, director Robert Falls, actor Stacy Keach, lighting designer Ken Billington, Broadway publicist Merle Debuskey and, posthumously, actor Roger Rees.

Winners will be celebrated at The 2015 Theater Hall of Fame Ceremony and Dinner, which will be presented Nov. 16 at 7:30 PM at the Gershwin Theatre with late supper at The Palm. Terry Hodge Taylor produces the annual event.

Founded in 1971 by James M. Nederlander, Earl Blackwell, Gerard Oestreicher and L. Arnold Weissberger, the Theater Hall of Fame honors Lifetime Achievement in the American Theater.

This year’s ballot was mailed in July to 275 members of the Theater Hall of Fame and American Theater Critics Association. Fifty nominees are listed each year on the ballot. To be nominated, a theatre professional must have 25 years in the Broadway/American theatre and five major credits.

Publisher of Theater Pizzazz, Sandi Durell is a proud member of the American Theatre Critics Association.

The Theater Hall of Fame is the only nationally trademarked non-profit organization that honors the professionals of the American theatre. This annual celebration supports these on-going programs: the Video Collection at the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts/Lincoln Center, the THF Dorothy Strelsin Memorablilia Collection at the Gershwin Theatre and the THF Fellowship Grants for Emerging Theater Artists.

Last year’s inductees included director/choreographer Susan Stroman, actor F. Murray Abraham, actor Alvin Epstein, actor Blythe Danner, former theatre critic Frank Rich, Chairman of the Shubert Organization Philip J. Smith, playwright Alfred Uhry and director Marshall Mason.