The Trustees of the Anderson Hopkins Award for Excellence in the Theatre Arts are pleased to announce the recipients of the 2022 awards.
The $5,000 award recognizes actors and other members of the DC theater community whose creative lives demonstrate great accomplishment to date and promise for the future. The award is not intended to reward life achievement nor outstanding success in a single performance, although both may be considered in selection. It is to reward those artists who have been recognized for their success over time, and who have made a long-term commitment to creating theater in Washington.
The award is made annually to two or more recipients, to individuals who have been performing in Washington for a minimum of ten years with at least two performances in the last two years. During their career, they must have demonstrated excellence through critical acclaim in reviews, Helen Hayes nominations, or other tangible acknowledgments. To date, the organization has given out $80,000, plus $20,000 for 2022.
2022 Honorees
Felicia Curry
DC-based actress Felicia Curry has performed on numerous stages in the DC area. She is an award-winning actor with one individual Helen Hayes Award, as well as 3 ensemble Helen Hayes Awards. The Washington Post has called her “one of DC 12 Stage Dynamos” and Washingtonian Magazine called her “one of DC’s Biggest Theatre Stars.” Most recently she was in Our Town at Shakespeare Theatre before heading to Broadway for Into the Woods. Among her many recent credits in DC, she portrayed Marian Anderson in My Lord, What a Night at Ford’s Theatre. Felicia is a Factory 449 company member, Ford’s Theatre Artistic Associate, and a member of the WAPAVA (Washington Area Performing Arts Video Archives) Board. Felicia has graced large and small stages in the DC area, from musicals to dramatic roles. She has entertained audiences of all ages and looks forward to continuing to do so.
Helen Huang
Costume Designer Helen Huang is an award-winning costume designer, professor, and author. Her designs have been on multiple stages in DC and around the country. Helen’s designs run the full range of elaborate period costumes, whimsical outfits, everyday life, as well as gritty, down-on-your-luck character costumes, which have graced multiple theater stages starting as far back as the 1990s. She has received five Helen Hayes nominations and received the Helen Hayes Award for costume design with Studio Theatre’s production of Indian Ink. Last season at Round House, Helen designed the costumes for their production of Quixote Nuevo. She recently did the costumes for Studio Theatre’s People, Places & Things.
Kate Eastwood Norris
Currently in Round House Theatre’s production of The Tempest, Kate first trod the boards of DC theater at the Folger when playing the titular character of Richard III with Shenandoah Shakespeare Express (now the American Shakespeare Center). Little did she know that performance would lead her to move to DC and perform at the Folger in 16 other productions over the years, including as Puck in A Midsummer Night’s Dream, for which she earned a Helen Hayes Award. While classical theater claims much of Kate’s resume, it is her company membership with Woolly Mammoth Theatre that greatly influences the rest. Kate found another home among those wild new playmakers and received another Helen Hayes for her work in She Stoops to Comedy.
Lawrence Redmond
Performing in over 150 shows on more than a dozen DC theaters’ stages over four decades, Lawrence has had a long and distinguished career in Washington, DC. Lawrence “Larry” Redmond has been nominated for nine Helen Hayes Awards and has received two, as well as sharing in three additional Ensemble nominations. Performing in both musicals and straight plays throughout his career, he has been a part of the DC theater scene and helped make it the great theater town it is today. He is currently performing at Signature Theatre in their production of Into the Woods.
Anderson Hopkins Awards Celebration
The Award Celebration will take place at Signature Theatre in Arlington, VA, on Monday, January 23, 2023. The event is hosted by the trustees, Michael L. Burke and Carl W. Smith. Individuals interested in attending the event should email ahaward@andersonhopkinsaward.
I am thrilled about all four of these, but especially grateful for the nomination of Lawrence Redmond, whose work I have admired for many years, especially at the Washington Stage Guild, where his performances have often breathed life and soul into what might otherwise have been a routine production.