Cynthia Erivo & Ben Whishaw Among 2016 Theatre World Award Recipients

Cynthia Erivo, Ben Whishaw, Lupita Nyong’o and John Krasinski are among the winners of the 72nd annual Theatre World Awards, which celebrate outstanding Broadway and off-Broadway debut performances. The winners will be honored at a ceremony at the Circle in the Square Theatre on May 23. As previously reported, the event will also award Bernadette Peters with the John Willis Award for Lifetime Achievement and She Loves Me’s Nicholas Barasch with the Dorothy Loudon Award for Excellence.

First presented in 1945, the Theatre World Awards, founded by John Willis, the Editor-in-Chief of both Theatre World and its companion volume, Screen World, are the oldest awards given for Outstanding Broadway and Off-Broadway Debut Performances. They are presented annually at the end of the theater season to six actors and six actresses.

The full list of honorees is below.

Danielle Brooks, The Color Purple
Carmen Cusack, Bright Star
Khris Davis, The Royale
Daniel Durant, Spring Awakening
Cynthia Erivo, The Color Purple
John Krasinski, Dry Powder
Sarah Charles Lewis, Tuck Everlasting
Austin P. McKenzie, Spring Awakening
Lupita Nyong'o, Eclipsed
Mark Strong, A View From The Bridge
Ana Villafañe, On Your Feet!
Ben Whishaw, The Crucible