Theatre World Awards For Best Acting Debuts

Angels in AmericaJames McArdle was named an honoree for his role in 'Angels in America.' (Photo: Brinkhoff & Mögenburg)

A dozen performers are being honored with Theatre World Awards for debut performances in Broadway and Off Broadway shows next month.

The 2018 Theatre World Award Honorees for Outstanding Broadway or Off-Broadway Debut Performance will be honored June 4 at 2 p.m. at a ceremony on the set of Once on This Island at Circle in the Square, 1633 Broadway, entrance on West 50th Street.

Anthony Boyle and Noma Dumezweni were honored for Harry Potter and The Cursed Child and James McArdle and Denise Gough were honored for Angels in America.

Other winners were Jamie Brewer, Amy and the Orphans; Johnny Flynn, Hangmen; Harry Hadden-Paton, My Fair Lady, Hailey Kilgore, Once on This Island, Lauren Ridloff, Children of a Lesser God, Ethan Slater, SpongeBob SquarePants, Charlie Stemp, Hello, Dolly! and Katy Sullivan, Cost of Living.

Theatre World Award Alum Victor Garber (Hello,Dolly!) will receive the sixth annual John Willis Award for Lifetime Achievement In The Theatre, celebrating his 46th year on the Broadway stage.

Theater journalist Peter Filichia will host the ceremony produced by the Theatre World Awards Board of Directors.  Stephen Nachamie is set to direct the show.

The 10th Annual Dorothy Loudon Award for Excellence in the Theater honoree, another key honor, has yet to be announced.

First presented in 1945, the Theatre World Awards were founded by John Willis, the editor-in-chief of Theatre World and its companion publication, Screen World.

The winners were chosen by the Theatre World Awards committee comprised of Roma Torre (NY1), David Cote (Time Out New York, Emeritus), Joe Dziemianowicz (New York Daily News), Peter Filichia (The Newark Star-Ledger, Emeritus) Harry Haun (The Observer), Elysa Gardner (USA Today, Emeritus), and Frank Scheck (The Hollywood Reporter).

Previous winners include Meryl Streep, Rosemary Harris, Marlon Brando, Julie Andrews, Christopher Plummer, Anne Bancroft, James Earl Jones, Liza Minnelli, Alan Alda, Zoe Caldwell, Christopher Walken, Alec Baldwin, Bernadette Peters, Audra McDonald, Al Pacino, Grace Kelly, Tom Hanks, Bryan Cranston, Cynthia Erivo, Danielle Brooks, Lupita Nyong’o and John Krasinski.