Hadestown Wins Actors' Equity Award for Outstanding Broadway Chorus

Actors' Equity Association has announced the 2019 Tony-winning musical Hadestown as winner of the 13th annual Award for Outstanding Broadway Chorus. Presented by Equity's Advisory Committee on Chorus Affairs, the award is the only industry accolade of its kind to honor the distinctive talents and contributions made by the original chorus members of a Broadway musical.

The nine individual recipients of the 2019 ACCA Award—all of whom were part of the Hadestown chorus on the musical's April 17, 2019 Broadway opening night—are Malcolm Armwood, Afra Hines, Timothy Hughes, John Krause, Kimberly Marable, T. Oliver Reid, Jessie Shelton, Ahmad Simmons and Khaila Wilcoxon.

"In Hadestown, the audience looks to the chorus to guide them," said Jennifer Cody, second vice president and chair of the Advisory Committee on Chorus Affairs. "They are the constant emotion of the piece. They have the ability to, at one moment, work as a unit, and then in the next moment become five completely different individuals. We follow them from the highs of Persephone's party to the depths of...well, hell. They are a stunning group of actors who happen to also sing and dance."

The award was presented on June 18, during Equity's National Council meeting in New York. Each original chorus member received a plaque.

In reviewing the chorus of each Broadway musical that opened in the 2018-2019 theatrical season, the Advisory Committee on Chorus Affairs considered the chorus requirements made by each production's director, choreographer and musical director; the caliber of technical skill used to execute those requirements; and the unique contributions made by the entire chorus to the overall production.

Past recipients include the original chorus members of Legally Blonde (2007), In the Heights (2008), West Side Story (2009), Fela! (2010), The Scottsboro Boys (2011), Newsies (2012), Pippin (2013), Beautiful (2014), An American in Paris (2015), Shuffle Along (2016), Natasha, Pierre & the Great Comet of 1812 (2017) and Once on This Island (2018).

Actors' Equity Association, founded in 1913, is the U.S. labor union that represents more than 51,000 professional actors and stage managers.