Philadelphia, Pennsylvania’s Wilma Theater has been named the winner of the 2024 Regional Theatre Tony Awards, an honor that includes a grant of $25,000 funded by City National Bank. The honor is decided by the Tony Awards Administration Committee from a recommendation by the American Theatre Critics Association.
“The Wilma has made outstanding contributions to the world of theatre over the course of 45 years, maintaining an unwavering dedication to contemporary theatre and a commitment to the arts that began with its visionary introduction of avant-garde theatre to Philadelphia in 1979,” say American Theatre Wing President and CEO Heather Hitchens and Broadway League Interim President Jason Laks in a joint statement.
First established as The Wilma Project in 1973, the Wilma has long been focused on developing original material and local artists. Czechoslovakian political refugees Blanka and Jiri Zizka, who came to lead the company in the ’80s, put the theatre on the map with an adaptation of George Orwell‘s Animal Farm. In the years since, the Wilma has produced works by such writers as Tom Stoppard, James Ijames (whose Pulitzer-winning Fat Ham premiered at the Wilma), Paula Vogel, and Danai Gurira. Alongside hundreds of local Philadelphia artists, such actors as David Straithairn, Zainab Jah, and Jesse Tyler Ferguson have been seen on the Wilma’s stage.
The company is currently led by Co-Artistic Directors Morgan Green, Lindsay Smiling, and Yury Ornov; and Managing Director Leigh Goldenberg.
The Wilma’s 2024-2025 season will kick off in November with Branden Jacobs-Jenkins‘ The Comeuppance, a co-production with Washington, D.C.’s Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company running November 19-December 8. The season will continue with Inua Ellams‘ The Half-God of Rainfall, Rajiv Joseph‘s Archduke, and Jon Fosse’s A Summer Day.
Visit WilmaTheater.org.
Nominations for the 2024 Tony Awards were revealed April 30, with Hell’s Kitchen and Stereophonic taking the mantle as the most Tony-nominated productions of the season with 13 nods each. See the full list of nominations here.
Winners will be named at The 77th Annual Tony Awards, set for June 16 at Lincoln Center’s David H. Koch Theater. The evening will kick off with The Tony Awards: Act One, streaming for free on Pluto TV. Details are to be announced. The 77th Annual Tony Awards will follow beginning at 8 PM ET, broadcasting live on CBS (check local listings) and streaming live (for premium-level subscribers) via Paramount+. All Paramount+ subscribers will have on demand access to the broadcast beginning June 17. Stage and screen star Ariana DeBose will be back for the third consecutive year to host.
The Tony Awards are produced in collaboration with Tony Award Productions, a joint venture of the Broadway League and the American Theatre Wing, and White Cherry Entertainment.
Ricky Kirshner and Glenn Weiss are showrunners and executive producers for White Cherry Entertainment, and Weiss will serve as director. Jack Sussman is also an executive producer.