Audra McDonald, Ruben Santiago-Hudson Honored by NAACP

Tony Award winners Audra McDonald and Ruben Santiago-Hudson are among the winners of the 2009 NAACP Theatre Awards, to be presented on August 31, the 100th anniversary of the founding of the civil rights organization. Loretta Devine (Dreamgirls, TV’s Grey’s Anatomy) and Terry Crews (Everybody Hates Chris) will host the awards ceremony at the Directors Guild of America Theatre in Hollywood.

McDonald, a star of TV’s Private Practice and the winner of four Tony Awards (A Raisin in the Sun, Master Class, Ragtime, Carousel), will be presented the Trailblazer Award. Santiago-Hudson, a Tony winner for Seven Guitars and author of the play and TV movie Lackawanna Blues, will receive an award for lifetime achievement.

Other honorees include Pasadena Playhouse artistic director Sheldon Epps, who will receive the Community Service Award, and Tichina Arnold (Everybody Hates Chris), who will receive the Spirit Award.