In conjunction with this year’s 13th annual United Solo Festival – the world’s largest solo theater festival, now playing at Theatre Row through November 20 – the NYC-based company has announced the nominees for its 2022 Special Award, which honors outstanding solo artists who performed their shows outside of the Festival and have furthered the art by reminding audiences of the immense power of a singular performer and the possibilities of solo storytelling.
Selected by the United Solo Academy (comprised of past recipients and others, by invitation only, who are inspiring or supportive of the Festival), the 2022 nominees are:
Kathleen Chalfant in The Year of Magical Thinking;
Melissa Etheridge in My Window – A Journey Through Life;
Douglas McGrath in Everything’s Fine;
Dael Orlandersmith in Until the Flood;
Chazz Palminteri in A Bronx Tale;
David Strathairn in Remember This: The Lesson of Jan Karski;
Cecily Strong in The Search for Intelligent Life in the Universe;
and Kathleen Turner in Finding My Voice.
The winner of the 2022 Special Award will be announced at the United Solo Gala on November 20, starting at 7 pm, at Theatre Row, and will join such illustrious past honorees as Anna Deavere Smith (2010), Patti LuPone (2011), John Leguizamo (2012), Fiona Shaw (2013), Billy Crystal (2014), James Lecesne (2015), Staceyann Chin in collaboration with Cynthia Nixon (2016), Michael Moore (2017), Renée Taylor (2018), Aasif Mandvi (2019), Ian McKellen (2020), and Lee Roy Reams (2021).
Preceding the presentation and celebration, the Festival’s Assistant Artistic Director Wendy-Lane Bailey will perform She Has Wings – a tribute to fellow artists who discover their wings and strive continually to soar to new heights, while taking theatergoers along for the ride. Conceived in partnership with, and directed by, Festival Founder and Artistic Director Omar Sangare, the piece will feature music by composer Michele Brourman and images by photographer Bill Westmoreland.
United Solo Festival plays through Sunday, November 20, 2022, at Theatre Row, 410 West 42nd Street, NYC. For tickets (priced at $42.50-46.50, plus service fee), go online. Everyone must wear a mask inside the building.
On behalf of the United Solo Academy, Omar Sangare, Artistic Director of the Festival, presented the United Solo Special Award to Dael Orlandersmith for her performance in Until the Flood.