(L-R) Trent Kowalik, Liam Redhead, Alex Ko
Actors' Equity Association's Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) Committee presented the second Extraordinary Excellence in Diversity on Broadway Award to Billy Elliot, The Musical on Thursday, December 10 at the Eastern Regional Board Meeting. The production was honored due to its multi-ethnic casting of the role of the Billy’s.
Eastern EEO Co-Chairs Christine Toy Johnson and Julia Breanetta Simpson presented the crystal plaque award to Billy Elliot General Manager Nina Lannan.
“Though many people claim to cast the ‘best person’ for every role on Broadway, unspoken in that, is the reality that even if the ‘best person’ is of a race or ethnicity not originally imagined, they may not, in actuality, even be considered,” explained Ms. Toy Johnson.
She continued: “The Creative Team and Producers of Billy Elliot, The Musical have turned this phrase on its head, setting a new kind of standard. We celebrate this standard, and with it, the universal lessons of Billy Elliot, The Musical – that love of family and art knows no boundaries, racial or otherwise.”
2007’s productions of 110 in the Shade and Les Misérables received the first Extraordinary Excellence in Diversity on Broadway Award on Monday, February 25, 2008 at B. Smith's restaurant in midtown Manhattan.
