Shuffle Along, Or The Making of the Musical Sensation of 1921 and All That Followed received the tenth annual ACCA Award for Outstanding Broadway Chorus. Presented by Equity’s Advisory Committee on Chorus Affairs (ACCA) the ACCA 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 24 individual recipients of the 2016 ACCA Award – all of whom were on chorus contracts and part of the Shuffle Along cast on the musical’s April 28, 2016 Broadway opening night – are: Phillip Attmore, Alexandria Bradley, Darius de Haas, C.K. Edwards, Afra Hines, Curtis Holland, Jason Holley, Adrienne Howard, Lee Howard, Kendrick Jones, Lisa La Touche, Alicia Lundgren, JC Montgomery, Erin N. Moore, Janelle Neal, Brittany Parks, Arbender Robinson, Karissa Royster, Britton Smith, Zurin Villanueva, Christian Dante White, Joseph Wiggan, Pamela Yasutake, and Richard Riaz Yoder.
In reviewing the chorus of each Broadway musical that opened in the 2015–2016 theatrical season, ACCA 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. Members of the ACCA, all of whom have worked on a chorus contract and seen the ACCA Award-nominated musicals during the season, vote for the winning chorus.
Past recipients of the ACCA award are 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) and An American in Paris (2015).
The award was presented on Tuesday, June 21 during Equity’s National Council meeting.