Outstanding Debut Performers Cole Escola, Rachel McAdams, Maleah Joi Moon and More Honored with 2024 Theatre World Awards

The Theatre World Awards' board of directors has announced the 2024 honorees for the Theatre World Award, recognizing an Outstanding Debut Performance in a Broadway or Off-Broadway Production.

In addition, A.J. Shively (Philadelphia, Here I Come) will receive the 15th Annual Dorothy Loudon Award for Excellence in the Theater. Tony Award winner Len Cariou will also receive the 11th Annual John Willis Award for Lifetime Achievement in the Theatre and a 2024 TWA Special Award will be presented to Peter Filichia.

The 78th Theatre World Awards Ceremony will be held on June 10 on the set of the Broadway revival of The Wiz at the Marquis Theatre. Theater journalist Peter Filichia will host.

The full list of honorees is below.

Ali Louis Bourzgui, The Who’s Tommy
Cole Escola, Oh, Mary!
Brody Grant, The Outsiders
Michael Imperioli, An Enemy of the People
Phillip Johnson Richardson, The Wiz
Will Keen, Patriots
Nichelle Lewis, The Wiz
Rachel McAdams, Mary Jane
Maleah Joi Moon, Hell’s Kitchen
Tom Pecinka, Stereophonic
Sarah Pidgeon, Stereophonic
Chris Stack, Stereophonic

First presented in 1945, the Theatre World Awards are the oldest awards given for outstanding Broadway and off-Broadway debut performances. Previous winners who have won the prestigious Theatre World Award at the beginning of their careers include Meryl Streep, Rosemary Harris, Marlon Brando, Julie Andrews, Christopher Plummer, Anne Bancroft, James Earl Jones, Liza Minnelli, Alan Alda, Zoe Caldwell, Christopher Walken, Alec Baldwin, Bernadette Peters, Audra McDonald, Al Pacino, Grace Kelly, Hugh Jackman, Tom Hanks, Bryan Cranston, Cynthia Erivo, Danielle Brooks, Lupita Nyong'o and John Krasinski.