The arrivals area was tight and packed. Cramped even.
On Monday May 23rd, the seventh annual Lilly Awards were held at the off-Broadway Signature Theatre. The red carpet was fun and casual as artists across all theatrical disciplines posed for photos. Looking around the lobby of the theater, one was surrounded by a warm community of passionate artists who are also active forces of change in the industry, such as Danai Gurira and Diane Paulus. I briefly spoke with two of the night’s honorees, Jessie Mueller and Kathy Najimy.
What is the best piece of advice you’ve ever been given or something someone’s said that’s really resonated with you?
JESSIE MUELLER: (Laughing) Simply don’t let people f**k with you. Stay your course.
How does it feel to be honored at the Lilly Awards today?
KATHY NAJIMY: It feels great! You know, in this business, we get a lot of prizes here and there, but this one is really important and special to me because it has the word “activism” in it. A lot of times, as an actress, you might get recognized for a role you did or a movie that was popular that you maybe didn’t do that much in or whatever, and because I am an activist first before an actress, this means so much to me. I love that they’re both in the same sentence because I am an actress and an activist. When Amanda Greene said, “Oh they wanna give you an award!” I said, “What for?” and she said, “The actress-activist-whatever award,” I thought, “Wow that’s a good day.”
How do you manage to balance the art and acting with activism because I can imagine they come up against each other.
KN: I don’t think anybody balances anything. I just got asked to speak somewhere and I go, “What do you mean me to speak about?” and they said, “We want you to speak about how you balance being a mother, a wife, an activist, an actress…” and I said, ”
Oh, stop right there. You assume that anyone in the world is able to do that.” I don’t know that that’s the goal because it’s never balanced. So you just sort of do what you do that day and then you’re tired and then the next day you do the next thing. It’s not ever perfectly balanced–the parenting, the apartment owning, the New York living, the activist, the actress, health, nutrition. That day you do where your heart takes you.
Who is someone that inspires you?
KN: Well you know, obviously tonight, my friend Gloria Steinem is here and she’s giving me the award and she’s really inspired me since I was fourteen years old when I reached up for the first Ms. Magazine and realized there were other people out there like me. In those days, there wasn’t the internet so you just thought you were the only one with crazy ideas. My mother, I know people say that, but I would say Gloria Steinem.
The Lilly Awards honor the extraordinary contributions made to the American Theater by women, as well as announce the $25,000 Stacey Mindich Prize, which funds a new work by a female playwright, and the Leah Ryan Prize, which awards an annual cash prize to an emerging woman playwright and produces a reading of the winning play in New York City.
Writer, political activist, and feminist organizer, Gloria Steinem, along with Academy Award-winner and 2016 Tony Award nominee Lupita Nyong’o and the women of Eclipsed, presented awards to honorees including Tony Award-winner and 2016 Tony Award nominee Jessie Mueller, Kathy Najimy, Genne Murphy, Candis Jones, Rehana Lew Mirza, and the women of Waking the Feminists. Other presenters included Lloyd Suh, Russell G. Jones, Rachel Chavkin, and Neena Beeber. The Lilly Awards also recognized Norbert Leo Butz and his organization, The Angel Band Project, as well as boasted special musical performances by Rebecca Naomi Jones, Amanda Green, and Georgia Stitt.
The Lilly Awards were started in the Spring of 2010 as a way to honor the work of women in the American Theater. The founders of The Lillys are 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.”
For additional information about the Lilly Awards (including a list of all past recipients), visit www.thelillyawards.org.
Love, betrayal and tons of humor are the elements of Je’Caryous Johnson’s latest play, “Married but Single.”
A new film set in Bensonhurst packs quite a punch.
Once again, the Top of the Standard and New York’s “pop-culture extravaganza”, the Vulture Festival, teamed up to present an Heineken filled night with DJ Questlove of the band “The Roots” gracing the decks between the hours of 8 p.m. to 11 p.m.
The 82nd Annual Drama League Awards each year honors the best theatrical productions.
Thursday night, Black Entertainment Television (a Viacom Inc. division) announced their nominees for the 2016 BET Awards: an annual ceremony recognizing all of the #BlackExcellence and achievements of those associated with the Black community. But this year, instead of an initial press release, they declared their nominees with a “Silent Disco” and threw in a little pop-and-lock, twist, and two step for good measure.
Rather than solely sending out a digital announcement or sharing their nominations via social media, BET collaborated with, choreographer, Will ‘WillDaBeast’ Adams to add some fresh moves to their unveiling.
WillDaBeast (pronounced like the animal, but spelled way cooler) is the kind-hearted, ambitious and ridiculously talented mind behind those viral dance videos you’ve probably seen all over your Facebook feeds. You know, the ones that show several different groups of people all of varying ages and ethnicitIes, nae-nae’ing and walking it out across the floor (generally in front of a mirror that rests below the sign saying “Unity in Diversity”).
Yup, that’s the guy.
Adams put together 16 videos with his Los Angeles dancers to represent the nominees for best male/female hip hop artist, and best collaboration at the BET Awards on June 26th.
Adams, who started training for dance eight years ago and has danced professionally for 5 years, got his first spark of inspiration from watching performers such as Chris Brown and Omarion bust a move on the BET channel and is thankful for this opportunity.
“I always said I wanted to be on the [BET Awards], so getting to introduce the nominees and have the artists see my videos- it’s better than choreographing for one artist this year,” said Adams.
As for the nominees, Queen Bey and Rih Rih represent Black Girl Magic with five nominations each while Drake dominates the field with nine nominations
BET Networks will recognize Black cultural icons and achievers across more than 20 categories whom were all nominated by industry professionals from BET’s Voting Academy. The BET Awards will air live from Los Angeles on June 26th.
Below is the complete list of BET Award nominees:
Best Female R&B/Pop Artist
ADELE
ANDRA DAY
BEYONCÉ
- MICHELLE
RIHANNA
Best Male R&B/Pop Artist
BRYSON TILLER
CHRIS BROWN
JEREMIH
THE WEEKND
TYRESE
Best Group
2 CHAINZ & LIL WAYNE
DRAKE & FUTURE
PUFF DADDY & THE FAMILY
RAE SREMMURD
THE INTERNET
Best Collaboration
BIG SEAN FT. CHRIS BROWN & TY DOLLA $IGN – PLAY NO GAMES
BIG SEAN FT. KANYE WEST & JOHN LEGEND – ONE MAN CAN CHANGE THE WORLD
FUTURE FT. DRAKE – WHERE YA AT
NICKI MINAJ FT. BEYONCÉ – FEELING MYSELF
RIHANNA FT. DRAKE – WORK
Best Male Hip Hop Artist
DRAKE
FETTY WAP
FUTURE
J. COLE
KANYE WEST
KENDRICK LAMAR
Best Female Hip Hop Artist
DEJ LOAF
LIL KIM
MISSY ELLIOTT
NICKI MINAJ
REMY MA
Video of the Year
BEYONCÉ – FORMATION
BRYSON TILLER – DON’T
DRAKE – HOTLINE BLING
KENDRICK LAMAR – ALRIGHT
RIHANNA FT. DRAKE – WORK
Video Director of the Year
BENNY BOOM
CHRIS BROWN
COLIN TILLEY & THE LITTLE HOMIES
DIRECTOR X
HYPE WILLIAMS
Best New Artist
ALESSIA CARA
ANDRA DAY
BRYSON TILLER
KEHLANI
TORY LANEZ
Dr. Bobby Jones Best Gospel/Inspirational Award
ANTHONY BROWN & GROUP THERAPY
ERICA CAMPBELL
KIRK FRANKLIN
LECRAE
TAMELA MANN
TASHA COBBS
Best Actress
GABRIELLE UNION
KERRY WASHINGTON
TARAJI P. HENSON
TRACEE ELLIS ROSS
VIOLA DAVIS
Best Actor
ANTHONY ANDERSON
COURTNEY B. VANCE
IDRIS ELBA
MICHAEL B. JORDAN
O’SHEA JACKSON JR.
YoungStars Award
AMANDLA STENBERG
QUVENZHANÉ WALLIS
SILENTÓ
WILLOW SMITH
YARA SHAHIDI
Best Movie
BEASTS OF NO NATION
CONCUSSION
CREED
DOPE
STRAIGHT OUTTA COMPTON
Sportswoman of the Year
CHEYENNE WOODS
GABRIELLE DOUGLAS
SERENA WILLIAMS
SKYLAR DIGGINS
VENUS WILLIAMS
Sportsman of the Year
CAM NEWTON
KOBE BRYANT
LEBRON JAMES
ODELL BECKHAM JR.
STEPHEN CURRY
Coca-Cola Viewers’ Choice Award
BEYONCÉ – FORMATION
BRYSON TILLER – DON’T
CHRIS BROWN – BACK TO SLEEP
DRAKE – HOTLINE BLING
FUTURE FT. DRAKE – WHERE YA AT
RIHANNA FT. DRAKE – WORK
Centric Award
ANDRA DAY – RISE UP
BEYONCÉ – FORMATION
K. MICHELLE – NOT A LITTLE BIT
RIHANNA – BBHMM
THE INTERNET – UNDER CONTROL
Best International Act Africa
AKA (SOUTH AFRICA)
BLACK COFFEE (SOUTH AFRICA)
CASSPER NYOVEST (SOUTH AFRICA)
DIAMOND PLATNUMZ (TANZANIA)
MZVEE (Ghana)
SERGE BEYNAUD (COTE D’IVOIRE)
WIZKID (NIGERIA)
YEMI ALADE (NIGERIA)
Best International Act UK
KANO
KREPT & KONAN
LIANNE LA HAVAS
SKEPTA
STORMZY
TINIE TEMPAH
-Nicole Phillip
Everyone there was under pressure.
The Knockturnal was on the scene Thursday night at a special screening for “The Nice Guys,” the latest Ryan Gosling and Russell Crowe crime comedy hitting theaters May 20th.
Broadway tickets, a chance to perform, and more…