The honor, which will be presented in the Actors' Equity Association Council Room Nov. 18, is the only industry accolade of its kind, honoring the distinctive talents and contributions made by the original chorus members of a Broadway musical.
The recipients of the ACCA Award for Outstanding Broadway Chorus — all of whom were part of The Scottsboro Boys' chorus on the musical's Oct. 31, 2010, opening night — are Josh Breckenridge, Derrick Cobey, E. Clayton Cornelious, Jeremy C. Gumbs, Rodney Hicks, Kendrick Jones, James T. Lane, J.C. Montgomery, Clinton Roane, Julius B. Thomas and Christian Dante White.
"This award acknowledges and honors the enormous talent and contributions members of a chorus make to a Broadway production," Rebecca Kim Jordon, equity second vice president and chair of the ACCA, said in a statement. "The chorus members of The Scottsboro Boys are gifted professionals who exemplify the hard work, dedication and talent it takes to be outstanding in a Broadway musical."
In reviewing the chorus of each Broadway musical, the ACCA applied specific criteria to reach their decision: the requirements made on each chorus by the director, the choreographer, and the musical director; the caliber of technical skill used to execute those requirements; and the contributions made by the entire chorus to the overall production. All 12 Broadway chorus musicals that opened in the 2010-11 season were eligible for the award.
Actors' Equity Association, which will celebrate its 100th anniversary in 2013, represents more than 49,000 professional stage actors and stage managers nationwide. The Actors' Equity Association Building is located at 165 West 46th Street. For more information, visit www.actorsequity.org.
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The Scottsboro Boys is the final collaboration by musical theatre giants John Kander and Fred Ebb. Based on the notorious Scottsboro case in the 1930s, in which nine African-American men were unjustly accused of a terrible crime, the musical officially opened Oct. 31, 2010, and closed Dec. 12, 2010.
The musical was directed by five-time Tony Award winner Susan Stroman and featured a book by David Thompson. Other members of the creative team included set designer Beowulf Boritt, costume designer Toni-Leslie James, lighting designer Ken Billington and sound designer Peter Hylenski. Orchestrations were by Larry Hochman, with musical arrangements by Glen Kelly. Music direction was by David Loud.
The Scottsboro Boys received 12 Tony Award nominations, which included Best Musical, Best Book of a Musical (Thompson), Best Original Score (Kander and Ebb), Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role (Joshua Henry), Best Performance by an Actor in a Featured Role (Colman Domingo and Forrest McClendon), Best Scenic Design (Boritt), Best Lighting Design (Billington), Best Sound Design (Hylenski), Best Direction (Stroman), Best Choreography (Stroman) and Best Orchestrations (Hochman).
