The Artistic Director of The National Theatre of the Deaf (NTD), Will Rhys, will be awarded The National Welsh-American Foundation's 1999 Heritage Medal during a dinner ceremony May 22, at NY's Waldorf-Astoria. The Medal is awarded annually to outstanding Americans of Welsh decent. Along with his usual work at The National Theatre of the Deaf, Rhys has brought world-wide attention to the work of the renown Welsh poet, Dylan Thomas, by producing Thomas' Under Milkwood and A Child's Christmas in Wales for NTD. Rhys himself wrote a curtain raiser for his 1993 Milkwood production, entitled A Spinning Man exploring his Welsh background.
The awards dinner will include sign-language performances of Thomas' poetry with spoken words by Rhys and two NTD actors. For more information on the event call (718) 656-4623.
-- By Sean McGrath