Acting Company Honors Stephen McKinley Henderson at April 29 Gala

The Acting Company honors two-time Tony nominee Stephen McKinley Henderson (Between Riverside and Crazy, Fences) with the John Houseman Award during its April 29 Gala.

The evening, entitled Fantastic Journeys, also features the presentation of the Joan M. Warburg Award to investment banker William H. Wright II, who retired from Morgan Stanley in 2010 after 28 years with the company.

Tony winner Julie White hosts the gala, which begins at 6:30 PM with cocktails followed by a silent auction, performances, dancing, and dinner. Performers include Abby Mueller, Tatiana Wechsler, Anya Whelan-Smith, Layla Khoshnoudi, Abiola Obatolu, Zamo Mlengana, and Peter Douskalis.

The one-night-only event celebrates more than a half a century of developing emerging actors by bringing classics and new plays across the U.S.

“The Acting Company is thrilled to honor exemplary actor, director, mentor, and professor of acting, two-time Tony Award nominee, Obie Award winner, Drama Desk, and Lucille Lortel Lifetime Achievement Award winner Stephen McKinley Henderson with the John Houseman Award,” said Artistic Director Kent Gash in an earlier statement. “A veteran of theatre, film, and television, Mr. Henderson has created an impressive body of work originating varied and indelible roles for nearly 50 years, written by Pulitzer Prize-winning playwrights August Wilson and Stephen Adly Guirgis, among many others. Without the work of Stephen McKinley Henderson, many of us would not have careers. He is the gold standard of excellence that we aspire to reach."

Board Secretary Lori-Ann Wynter, who sits on the Event Committee, added, “We are thrilled to salute the consummate philanthropist William H. Wright II with The Joan M. Warburg Civic Engagement Award. Not only does he sit on the boards of the Municipal Arts Society, Mount Sinai Hospital System, and New York City Ballet, he chairs the Doris Duke Foundation and donates to Yale College, our alma mater, where we first met as undergraduates.”

Henderson's eight Broadway performances include Between Riverside and Crazy (Tony nomination), Fences (Tony nomination), A Raisin in the Sun, Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, A Doll’s House Part 2, King Hedley II, Drowning Crow, and Dracula, the Musical. Off-Broadway the actor was seen in LAByrinth Theatre Company’s The Last Days of Judas Iscariot and Second Stage Theater’s Jitney (Drama Desk, Obie, and Audelco awards for Outstanding Ensemble). Henderson is the 2023 recipient of the Drama Desk’s Harold Prince Lifetime Achievement Award.

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