The Antonyo Awards are awards recognizing excellence of Black artists in theatre. Founded in 2020, the awards ceremony was produced by Broadway Black and honors Black artists from both the

Broadway Broadway may refer to: Theatre * Broadway Theatre (disambiguation) * Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S. ** Broadway (Manhattan), the street **Broadway Theatre (53rd Stree ...

and

Off-Broadway An off-Broadway theatre is any professional theatre venue in New York City with a seating capacity between 100 and 499, inclusive. These theatres are smaller than Broadway theatres, but larger than off-off-Broadway theatres, which seat fewer tha ...

theatre communities.

Founding and inaugural ceremony

The Antonyo Awards were created in 2020 by Drew Shade. Shade founded Broadway Black in 2012, an organization that supports Black theatre and which helped produce the awards ceremony. Dustin Ross, a close friend of Shade, named the ceremony the "Antonyo Awards" as a light-hearted joke in reference to The

Tony Awards The Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Broadway Theatre, more commonly known as the Tony Award, recognizes excellence in live Broadway theatre. The awards are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League at an annual cer ...

. An additional purpose of the awards is to shed light on systemic racism in the New York theatre, a mostly-white institution, in the light of the racial protests that rocked America following the

murder of George Floyd On , George Floyd, a 46-year-old black man, was murdered in the U.S. city of Minneapolis by Derek Chauvin, a 44-year-old white police officer. Floyd had been arrested on suspicion of using a counterfeit $20 bill. Chauvin knelt on Floyd's n ...

, and the deaths of

Breonna Taylor Breonna Taylor, a 26-year-old African-American woman, was fatally shot in her Louisville, Kentucky apartment on March 13, 2020, when at least seven police officers forced entry into the apartment as part of an investigation into drug dealing op ...

Eric Garner On July 17, 2014, Eric Garner was killed in the New York City borough of Staten Island after Daniel Pantaleo, a New York City Police Department (NYPD) officer, put him in a prohibited chokehold while arresting him. Video footage of the inciden ...

, and others. No one was paid to participate in or run these awards. The nominees were selected by a nominating committee. However, since it was not as easy to get voters to see every show due to the shutdown of theatres across the nation due to the pandemic, the winners were chosen by people voting online. Around 8,000 people voted. There were no gendered categories. Also, all presenters and winners had their pronouns listed as well as their names on screen. Due to the coronavirus pandemic, there were no live awards in the inaugural ceremony. The awards took place over a YouTube livestream, but may be in-person if future Antonyo Awards ceremonies are announced. The ceremony took place on June 19, 2020, since

Juneteenth Juneteenth is a federal holiday in the United States commemorating the emancipation of enslaved African Americans. Deriving its name from combining "June" and "nineteenth", it is celebrated on the anniversary of General Order No. 3, i ...

is the holiday commemorating the freedom from slavery for Black Americans in 1865. However, despite there being no live ceremony, there was a "red carpet" livestream one hour before the ceremony hosted by Chadaé McAlister, as well as an after-party hosted by Amber Iman with music by DJ Dorian, Both featured interviews with nominees and winners. The ceremony was hosted by Drew Shade. The event not only included the announcing of the winners, but also musical performances, skits, and monologues by Black playwrights performed by Black theatre artists that highlighted the struggles, joys and resilience of Black artists. Additionally, due to the coronavirus preventing many graduations from happening, nominee and actor Shereen Pimentel gave a commencement speech to the class of 2020, as she would have been graduating in 2020. There were four non-competitive awards called the Kinfolk Awards which were created to honor individuals who were committed to the advancement of Black theatre in New York City. The

Lorraine Hansberry Lorraine Vivian Hansberry (May 19, 1930 – January 12, 1965) was a playwright and writer. She was the first African-American female author to have a play performed on Broadway. Her best-known work, the play ''A Raisin in the Sun'', highlig ...

Award was given to a female identifying or nonbinary femme Black playwright or book writer who incorporates themes of social justice into their work. The

Langston Hughes James Mercer Langston Hughes (February 1, 1901 – May 22, 1967) was an American poet, social activist, novelist, playwright, and columnist from Joplin, Missouri. One of the earliest innovators of the literary art form called jazz poetry, Hug ...

Award was given to a male-identifying or nonbinary masculine Black playwright or book writer who balances storytelling and social justice ideology in their work. The Welcome Award is for a Black newcomer to New York City theatre. The Doors of the Theatre are Open Award is for a theatre company that has been dedicated to uplifting Black voices.

Recipients

2020

Non-competitive awards

*Lifetime Achievement Award: Chuck Cooper

The Kinfolk Awards

In memoriam

2020

Lucien Barbarin Lucien Barbarin (July 17, 1956 – January 30, 2020) was an American trombone player. Barbarin toured internationally with the Preservation Hall Jazz Band and with Harry Connick Jr. He made his debut at the age of six, playing drums in the Onwar ...

Diahann Carroll Diahann Carroll (; born Carol Diann Johnson; July 17, 1935 – October 4, 2019) was an American actress, singer, model, and activist. She rose to prominence in some of the earliest major studio films to feature black casts, including ''Car ...

*Walter Dallas *

Ja'Net DuBois Jeannette Theresa Dubois (August 5 – February 17, 2020), known professionally as Ja'Net DuBois, Ja'net DuBois, and Ja'Net Du Bois (), was an American actress and singer. She was best known for her portrayal of Willona Woods, the neighborhood g ...

* Margaret Holloway *Andile Gumbi *Mykal D Laury II *Dr. Vernell Lillie *Lloyd Cornelius Porter *Keldon Price *L. Kenneth Richardson *Darius Smith *

Danny Tidwell Daniel Arnold Tidwell (August 1, 1984 – March 6, 2020) was an American dancer and actor best known for being the runner-up on Fox's third season of ''So You Think You Can Dance'' in 2007. Tidwell began dancing as a child, at first focusing o ...

References

{{reflist 2020 awards in the United States Musical theatre awards American theater awards 2020 theatre awards Dramatist and playwright awards Theatre acting awards Black theatre African-American theatre Awards established in 2020