Christian Borle and Ari Graynor Honored with Clarence Derwent Awards
Christian Borle and Ari Graynor have been selected to receive the 60th Annual Clarence Derwent Awards. The awards, administered by the Actors' Equity Foundation, honor the most promising female and male performances on the New York metropolitan scene. The prizes are $2,000 each double what the recipients received last year plus an engraved crystal trophy.
Borle was cited for his performance in Spamalot, in which he played the roles of Historian, Not Dead Fred, French Guard, Minstrel and Prince Herbert. He previously appeared on the Great White Way in Thoroughly Modern Millie replacing Gavin Creel as Jimmy, Amour, Footloose and Jesus Christ Superstar. His off-Broadway credits include Elegies: A Song Cycle and Prodigal.
The Derwent Awards were established in 1944 by Clarence Derwent, distinguished actor and former president of Actors' Equity Association. Past recipients include Kerry Butler, Kristin Chenoweth, Calista Flockhart, Annette Bening, Gene Hackman, Dana Ivey, John Malkovich, Denis O'Hare, George C. Scott, Anika Noni Rose, Frances Sternhagen, Gene Wilder and James Woods.
The Judges' Panel for the Derwent Awards is composed of Back Stage's Irene Backalenick, The New York Post's Clive Barnes, Betty Corwin Director of Special Projects for Theatre on Film & Tape Archive of the Lincoln Center Library for the Performing Arts, Michael Kuchwara of the Associated Press, Actors' Equity President Patrick Quinn, Back Stage's David Rosenberg, Michael Sommers of The Star Ledger, The Daily News' Douglas Watt and Carl Harms.
The presentation of the awards will take place on June 21 at the offices of Actors' Equity Association.
