The Tonys honor Wilma Theater’s ‘vibrant and bold’ art

June 26, 2024
The Philadelphia Inquirer

The Philadelphia theater company behind ‘Fat Ham’ is the first theater in Pennsylvania to receive a Regional Theatre Tony Award.

NEW YORK — Philadelphia’s Wilma Theater accepted the 2024 Regional Theatre Tony Award on Sunday night at the 77th annual Tony Awards at the Lincoln Center. The award, presented during The Tony Awards Act One, recognizes outstanding artistic achievement of a regional theater that contributes to theater nationwide.

A video presentation by the organizers lauded the Wilma as a cornerstone of Philadelphia’s regional theater community and a powerhouse of avant-garde theater dedicated to pushing creative boundaries. The American Theatre Critics Association recommends one regional theater annually to receive the award , presented by the Broadway League and the American Theatre Wing. The Wilma Theater, this year’s recipient, is the first theater in Pennsylvania to receive the recognition.

The Wilma’s three co-artistic directors — Morgan Green, Lindsay Smiling, and Yury Urnov — went onstage to accept the award, joined by managing director Leigh Goldenberg and theater cofounder Blanka Zizka.

“The Wilma Theater is dedicated to producing vibrant and bold art that lives and breathes,” Smiling said in his acceptance speech. “We are a sanctuary for artists to embrace risk.”

He added that the theater’s collective leadership champions diverse perspectives and international collaboration, while their “roots are firmly planted in Philadelphia,” garnering cheers from the audience.

“This honor, this moment, celebrates the collective efforts of everyone involved in our work,” said Goldenberg. “We love regional theater. We love Philly. Keep theaters like the Wilma alive all across this country.”

A group of 10 representing the Wilma attended the awards ceremony, including board chair Katherine Kelton, associate artistic director Kellie Mecleary, board member Jeff Harbison, his wife and secretary of Pennsylvania’s Department of Human Services Val Arkoosh, and their son, Ian Harbison.

“People told me like 15 years ago, ‘You should be getting this award,’” said Zizka, before entering Lincoln Center. “But you cannot do anything about it. It comes when it wants to come, and it’s a very happy time that it came right now.”

In the press room, the team praised Philadelphia’s theater scene.

“There is this idea that New York is the center of the universe, and all good theater happens here, which is, in part true, but I think we want people to know, there’s amazing work happening regionally and specifically at the Wilma,” said Green. “We’re also one of the pioneers of the shared leadership model, which is helping us avoid some of the pitfalls of regional theater — more ingenuity and diversity in programming and avoiding burnout.”

“I think because so many artists can live and work in a city like Philadelphia, this is where we’re developing things that move on to Broadway,” said Goldenberg. “It’s created by and for the community in which people live.”

The Tony Award will travel home to Philadelphia with the Wilma’s leadership team on Monday.