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

African American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from an ...

theatre in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

. 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 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 ...

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 pro ...

: *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 ...

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

Ralph Carter Ralph David Carter (born May 30, 1961) is an American actor and singer, best remembered as Michael Evans, the youngest child of Florida and James Evans Sr., on the CBS sitcom ''Good Times'' from 1974 to 1979. Before joining ''Good Times'', Cart ...

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

Cherine Anderson Cherine Tanya Anderson (born 25 September 1984, Rockfort, East Kingston, Jamaica) is a Jamaican dancehall/reggae vocalist and actress. 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 A not-for-profit or non-for-profit organization (NFPO) is a Legal Entity, legal entity that does not distribute surplus funds to its members and is formed to fulfill specific objectives. While not-for-profit organizations and Nonprofit organ ...

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

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 3 May 1974) is a Jamaican 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 Suppor ...

Chadwick Boseman Chadwick Aaron Boseman (; November 29, 1976August 28, 2020) was an American actor. Through his two-decade career, he appeared in a number of projects spanning both blockbuster and independent films, and received various accolades, including ...

Viola Davis Viola Davis ( ; born August 11, 1965) is an American actress and film producer. List of awards and nominations received by Viola Davis, Her accolades include both the Triple Crown of Acting and EGOT. ''Time (magazine), Time'' named her one of ...

George Faison George W. Faison (born December 21, 1945) is an American dancer, choreographer, teacher, and theater producer, and winner of a 1975 Tony, a Drama Desk Award, and a 1991 nominee for the Emmy Award for choreography. He was a featured dancer with ...

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

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 Bl ...

, Barbara Montgomery,

Anika Noni Rose Anika Noni Rose (born September 6, 1972) is an American actress. She is best known for voicing Tiana (The Princess and the Frog), Tiana in ''The Princess and the Frog'' (2009). She was named a Disney Legends, Disney Legend in 2011. Rose starred ...

André De Shields André Robin De Shields (born January 12, 1946) is an American actor, singer, dancer, director, and choreographer. He has received numerous accolades including an Emmy Award, Grammy Award, and Tony Award. De Shields has appeared in the original ...

Denzel Washington Denzel Hayes Washington Jr. (born December 28, 1954) is an American actor, producer, and director. Known for his dramatic roles Denzel Washington on screen and stage, on stage and screen, Washington has received List of awards and nominations ...

, and many others.

References

External links

*{{Official website
AUDELCO 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 Awards established in 1973 1973 establishments in New York City