AUDELCO, the Audience Development Committee, Inc., was established in 1973 by Vivian Robinson to honor excellence in

African American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...

theatre in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

. AUDELCO presents the Vivian Robinson/AUDELCO Recognition Awards (also known as Viv awards) annually. The awards were created to promote "recognition, understanding, and awareness of the arts in the African-American community." The AUDELCO awards recognize the following Off-Broadway and

Off-Off Broadway Off-off-Broadway theaters are smaller New York City theaters than Broadway and off-Broadway theaters, and usually have fewer than 100 seats. The off-off-Broadway movement began in 1958 as part of a response to perceived commercialism of the prof ...

: *Productions by African-American companies *Productions written and/or directed by African-Americans *African-American actors in productions

Description

AUDELCO has an office in

Harlem Harlem is a neighborhood in Upper Manhattan, New York City. It is bounded roughly by the Hudson River on the west; the Harlem River and 155th Street on the north; Fifth Avenue on the east; and Central Park North on the south. The greater Ha ...

, and the current president is Jacqueline Jeffries. The board of directors includes: Tony Peterson (2nd Vice-President),

Ralph Carter Ralph (pronounced ; or ,) is a male given name of English, Scottish and Irish origin, derived from the Old English ''Rædwulf'' and Radulf, cognate with the Old Norse ''Raðulfr'' (''rað'' "counsel" and ''ulfr'' "wolf"). The most common forms ...

(3rd Vice-President), Linda Armstrong (secretary), and

Cherine Anderson Cherine Tanya Anderson (born 25 September 1984, Rockfort, East Kingston, Jamaica) is a Jamaican actress and dancehall/reggae vocalist. Biography Anderson's acting career began in the film '' Dancehall Queen'' (1997), as Marcia's pressured, t ...

, A. Curtis Farrow, Bambi Jones, Donna M. Mills, Mary Seymour, Dale Ricardo Shields, Terrence Spivey, and Mary B. Davis as the Chair Emeritus. The organization has thousands of members, a newsletter, and an African-American theater collection including books, photographs, slides, and scripts, as well as an extensive clippings on file of African-American theatre.

History

A year after its founding, the Awards were designated to more specific roles in the design and production of shows such as scenic, lighting, and costume design, choreography, acting, and directing. In 1975, the Awards moved to focus on accomplishments made in particular productions. Three years later, in 1978, the rules to be nominated for an AUDELCO Award became more concrete. The AUDELCO awards recognize productions by professional, not-for-profit

theater Theatre or theater is a collaborative form of performing art that uses live performers, usually actors or actresses, to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place, often a stage. The perform ...

organizations that have existed for at least two years and have had a minimum of 500 hours of rehearsal, performance, and/or training. Productions have to be performed over 12 times within the year (September 1 through August 31). Workshop productions and works-in-progress are not eligible for the awards. These guidelines are still followed today and those nominated for Awards are chosen by a committee. In order to qualify to be a committee member, one must see an average of 100 shows in a year. Once the committee is selected, only five nominations can be considered for each category of the Awards. AUDELCO typically hosts the award ceremony annually; however in 1996, there were no individual awards presented due to the founder Vivian Robinson passing away just a few months prior that September.Gener, Randy. "The Theater Fan." ''The Village Voice,'' Dec 17 1996, p. 89. ''ProQuest.'' Web. 19 Nov. 2020 .

Select Awards

Previous AUDELCO awardees include:

Marsha Stephanie Blake Marsha Stephanie Blake (born May 1974) is an American actress. She is best known for her role as Linda McCray in the Netflix miniseries ''When They See Us'', for which she was nominated for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actr ...

Chadwick Boseman Chadwick Aaron Boseman (; November 29, 1976August 28, 2020) was an American actor. During his two-decade career, Boseman received two Screen Actors Guild Awards, a Golden Globe Award, a Critics' Choice Movie Award, and a Primetime Emmy Award, ...

Viola Davis Viola Davis (; born August 11, 1965) is an American actress and producer. The recipient of various accolades, including an Academy Award, a Primetime Emmy Award, and two Tony Awards, she is the only African-American to achieve the Triple Crow ...

George Faison George may refer to: People * George (given name) * George (surname) * George (singer), American-Canadian singer George Nozuka, known by the mononym George * George Washington, First President of the United States * George W. Bush, 43rd Presid ...

André Holland André Holland (born December 28, 1979) is an American actor, widely known for his 2016 performance as Kevin in the Academy Award-winning film '' Moonlight''. Throughout his career, Holland has acted in film, television, and theatre production ...

Sanaa Lathan Sanaa McCoy Lathan (born September 19, 1971) is an American actress. She is the daughter of actress Eleanor McCoy and film director Stan Lathan. Her career began after she appeared in the shows ''In the House'', '' Family Matters'', ''NYPD Blue ...

, Barbara Montgomery,

Anika Noni Rose Anika Noni Rose (born September 6, 1972) is an American actress and singer. She is best known for voicing Tiana, Disney's first African-American princess, as seen in ''The Princess and the Frog'' (2009). She was named a Disney Legend in 2011. ...

André De Shields André Robin De Shields (born January 12, 1946) is an American actor, singer, dancer, director, and choreographer. De Shields originated the role of Hermes on Broadway in the musical '' Hadestown'', winning the 2019 Tony Award for Best Actor ...

, Denzel Washington, and many others.

References

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External links

AUDELCO siteAUDELCO awards on Harlem KW Project
*https://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/audelco-picks-winners-article-1.1605167

*[https://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=FA071EFD3E5D0C708EDDA80994D1484D81&n=Top%2fReference%2fTimes%20Topics%2fPeople%2fF%2fFraser%2c%20C%2e%20Gerald Additional ''New York Times'' coverage of 1989 awards]
Black American Literature Forum
Article on "The First Ten Years of AUDELCO".
Theater Mania Google Maps
133 W. 130th Street, New York, NY, 10027 / (212) 368 - 6906 American theater awards African-American theatre