Ben Platt & Alana Arenas Win Clarence Derwent Awards; Lois Smith & Bill Camp Also Honored by Actors' Equity

Dear Evan Hansen star Ben Platt and Head of Passes’ Alana Arenas have received Actors' Equity Foundation’s 2016 Clarence Derwent Award for most promising performers. Additionally, Lois Smith, who appeared off-Broadway this season’s Marjorie Prime and John, and The Crucible Tony nominee Bill Camp are the recipients of this year’s Richard Seff Award, which honors veteran actors in supporting roles.

Platt has earned Drama League and Outer Critics Circle Award nominations for his performance in Dear Evan Hansen, now at Second Stage Theatre. He made his Broadway debut in 2014 in The Book of Mormon, having previously played the role of Elder Cunningham in Chicago and on tour. His film credits include Pitch Perfect and Ricki and the Flash.

Arenas won this year’s Lucille Lortel Award for her featured performance in the Public’s Head of Passes. Her other off-Broadway credits include The Bluest Eye and Disgraced. She has been a member of Chicago’s Steppenwolf Theatre Company ensemble since 2007.

Smith received a special citation this week by the New York Drama Critics’ Circle Awards, and also received Drama League and Lucille Lortel Award nominations. Her numerous stage credits include Tony-nominated performances in Buried Child and The Grapes of Wrath, as well as Stages and The Iceman Cometh.

In addition to a Tony nomination, Camp picked up a Drama Desk nod for his current performance in The Crucible at the Walter Kerr Theatre. He has appeared on Broadway in Death of a Salesman, Coram Boy, Heartbreak House, Jackie, Saint Joan and The Seagull.

The four recipients will be presented with the award on May 31 at Equity’s Eastern Regional Board meeting.