NEW YORK CITY: The Henry Hewes Design Awards committee has announced the 2025 Henry Hewes Design Awards Honorees: scenic designer Jason Sherwood (Bad Kreyòl, Signature Theatre Company), costume designer Qween Jean (Cats: “The Jellicle Ball,” Perelman PAC/NYC), lighting designer Adam Honoré (Cats: “The Jellicle Ball,” Perelman PAC/NYC), sound designer Rena Anakwe (The Swamp Dwellers, Theatre for a New Audience), media designer Finn Ross (Boop!, Broadway), and puppetry designer Greg Corbino (Give Me Carmelita Tropicana!, Soho Rep). They will be recognized at the 61st annual ceremony on Oct. 20 in New York. Honors for the 2024-25 season were earned by 14 artists for their work on and Off-Broadway in scenic design, costume design, lighting design, sound design, media design, and notable effects.
The Hewes committee also voted for two Special Citations. The Broadway design team of Maybe Happy Ending, including Dane Laffrey, Clint Ramos, Ben Stanton, Peter Hylenski, George Reeve, Craig Franklin Miller, and Suki Tsujimoto, will receive Special Citations for Excellence in Design. Designer Nikiya Mathis will be honored with a Special Citation for Individual Achievement in Design for her extraordinary contributions to hair and wig design in Cats: The Jellicle Ball, Liberation, and Wine in the Wilderness.
Hair and wig designer Nikiya Mathis led all designers with three nominations in the Notable Effects category. 13 designers received two nominations for their work. 30 productions received multiple nominations, with Broadway’s Maybe Happy Ending leading the way at seven nominations. Boop! on Broadway received six nominations and Bowl EP at Off-Broadway’s Vineyard Theatre received five nominations. Four productions each received four nominations. 11 productions received three nominations and 11 other productions each received two nominations. 12 of the 14 honorees are receiving their first award from the Hewes committee. In total, 107 theatre artists were nominated for outstanding artistry in 54 productions presented during the 2024-25 New York theatre season on, Off-, and Off-Off Broadway. (A complete list of 2025 nominees is here.)
NEW YORK CITY: Rattlestick Theater has announced its resident artists for the 2025-26 season. Rattlestick is launching a two-year directing residency designed for directors as generative artists and will welcome Margot Bordelon as its inaugural director-in-residence. Bordelon will work on her piece SCRUB, based on her relationship to her mother, who began hoarding when Bordelon was a child. Rattlestick’s 2025-26 directing fellow is Alexis Kulani Woodard, who will have an artistic home at Rattlestick for one year. In collaboration with the David Geffen School of Drama at Yale University, Woodward will receive a weekly salary, access to Rattlestick resources, firsthand experience with nonprofit theatre leadership, and an end-of-year event to showcase their work for the industry and general public.
LOS ANGELES: Geffen Playhouse has announced its selection of L.A.-based writers to participate in the 2025-26 cycle of The Writers’ Room, a forum for engagement and collaboration among Los Angeles playwrights. This cycle began this month. The participants are Diana Yifei Dai, Louis Reyes McWilliams, Zharia O’Neal, Frank Paiva, Ryn Stafford, and Habib Yazdi. The Writers’ Room is a product of the Geffen’s commitment to supporting new plays and to fostering bold, relevant work by L.A.’s vibrant artistic community. During this 12-month residency, playwright members gather monthly to share their work and receive feedback from their peers in a forum facilitated by Geffen Playhouse literary manager and dramaturg Olivia O’Connor. At the conclusion of the residency, each playwright will have the opportunity to further develop their completed draft in a culminating reading produced by the Geffen.
NEW YORK CITY: The Mayor’s Office of Media and Entertainment’s Made in NY Awards announced its first theatre-specific Inaugural Honorees for Theater, who include performer and producer LaChanze, public relations executive Ken Sunshine, St. Ann’s Warehouse founder and artistic director Susan Feldman, and choreographers Patricia Delgado and Justin Peck. They will be celebrated in a ceremony at Gracie Mansion on Sept. 15.
