The 2023 NYIT Honorary Award Recipients

The Caffe Cino Award: Brownstone Steps Entertainment

The Caffe Cino Award, named in honor of the legendary Caffe Cino, is presented to an Independent/Off-Off-Broadway theatre company that consistently produces outstanding work that speaks to its community. This year’s recipient, Brownstone Steps Entertainment, does exactly that. BSE is founded and run by producer/actor/playwright Alicia Foxworth, who was born and raised in Bed-Stuy, and named her company for the brownstone steps where Alicia and her late father shared many stories in their time together. The work consists of culturally affirming stories that examine themes such as family and community, economics, class, faith & spirituality. In tandem with the entertainment BSE provides, they have also created many programs designed to assist their community, such as RFU CoffeeHouse, Deeper Life Women's Interactive Exhibit, and Roommates.

The Artistic Achievement Award: Everett Quinton

The Artistic Achievement Award is presented to artists who have made a significant artistic contribution to the Off-Off-Broadway community. This year we recognize Everett Quinton. Everett Quinton was a member of The Ridiculous Theatrical Company and served as its Artistic Director from 1987-1997. He appeared in Charles Ludlam's Medea, The Secret Lives of the Sexists, Salammbo, Galas, The Artificial Jungle, and the original production of The Mystery of Irma Vep (OBIE and Drama Desk Award). His spectacular quick-change costume designs for Irma Vep were honored with the Hewes Design Award. He was also seen in Georg Osterman's Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde and Brother Truckers (Bessie Award); Richard and Michael Simon's Murder at Minsing Manor (Drama League Award), as well as in his own plays: Carmen, Linda, Movieland, A Tale of Two Cities (OBIE Award), and Call Me Sarah Bernhardt. Throughout his career, Everett directed revivals of Charles Ludlam's Big Hotel, Camille, Der Ring Gott Farblonjet, Artificial Jungle, Conquest of the Universe, and How to Write a Play, among many others. He also directed Brother Truckers (in New York, London, and as part of the Edinburgh Fringe Festival), Carmen, Sebastian Stewart's Under the Kerosene Moon, and The Importance of Being Earnest, as well as The Beaux Stratagem at the Yale Rep and Treasure Island at the Omaha Theatre for Young People. Other prominent roles included The Witch of Edmonton at Red Bull Theater, as Florence Wexler in Devil Boys from Beyond at New World Stages, as Idris Seabright in Drop Dead Perfect at St. Clement's, as Dr. Caius in The Merry Wives of Windsor at the Shakespeare Theatre in Washington, D.C., and as Jacob Marley in The McCarter Theatre's A Christmas Carol. Everett received the 2008 Callaway Award from Actors' Equity Association for Best Actor in a classical revival for Red Bull's Women Beware Women. A huge supporter of the Indy theater movement, he appeared in Theatre Askew's productions of Cornbury: The Queen's Governor and Horseplay at La MaMa and Shelter Theatre Group's Macbeth, as well as many other productions. Everett was also a member of Cleveland State University's Summer Stages where he appeared as Madam Rosepettle in O Dad, Poor Dad, Mama's Hung You in the Closet and I'm Feeling So Sad. Film and TV credits include Natural Born Killers, Big Business, Deadly Illusion, Forever Lulu, Bros, Miami Vice, Nurse Jackie, and Law & Order.

The Indie Theater Champion Award: Chisa Hutchinson

The Indie Theater Champion Award is given to an individual, group, or business that advanced the Indie theater community through positive social justice actions during the past year. This year’s Champion is Chisa Hutchinson for her creation of the Signpost Fellowship, a six-month situation intended for a person of color, age 18 or over, who's interested in shadowing a professional playwright or screenwriter of color. Born of a frustration with the lack of creative scholarships, especially of ones for people of color, Chisa set out to fill this void - personally. She recognized that the ability to gain experience in the arts is often hampered by lack of funding and access to those who have already faced and met many of the challenges that an emerging artist will face, especially as a writer of color in this industry. Having benefited from access to some amazing mentors herself, Chisa decided to create an opportunity for others and reached out to those mentors for help - and they responded in overwhelming fashion. Writers such as Christine Toy Johnson, Diana Son, Timothy Huang and more (see the list here) have signed up to be mentors, and Chisa took care of the funding of a $2500 scholarship. This amazing opportunity is a strong foundation that Chisa believes will grow and be able to benefit more and more writers as time goes by. Chisa is no stranger to the challenges and benefits of writing for theatre, she has presented plays at such venues as Atlantic Theater Company, the National Black Theatre, Second Stage Theater and Arch 468 in London. Her first radio play, Proof of Love, can be found on Audible. Chisa is a graduate of Vassar (B.A.) and NYU (M.F.A.) and has won some cool awards including a GLAAD Award and a Lanford Wilson Award. She has also been a member of New Dramatists, a Dramatists Guild Fellow, a NeoFuturist, and a staff writer for the Blue Man Group. Her first indie film, The Subject (starring Jason Biggs and Aujanue Ellis) can be found on most major VOD platforms. Currently, Chisa’s gearing up to premiere a new Starz series, and developing a biopic for Chaka Khan.

The Ellen Stewart Award: Kelley Nicole Girod

The Ellen Stewart Award, named in honor of LaMaMa's Ellen Stewart, is presented to an individual or organization demonstrating a significant contribution to the Independent/ Off-Off-Broadway community through service, support and leadership. This year’s award recognizes Kelley Nicole Girod, who created The Fire This Time Festival in 2009, and continues to focus her work in a way that serves her community. The Fire This Time Festival was created to provide a platform for early career playwrights of African and African American descent. Since its founding 15 years ago, the Festival has produced the plays of dozens of emerging Black writers whose works explore a wide range of themes and perspectives, writers such as Katori Hall, Antoinette Nwandu, Dominique Morisseau, C.A. Johnson, and Marcus Gardley, among others. The Festival continues to grow, expanding upon its core short play presentations to offer panel discussions, staged readings, a playwright’s lab and other programs. It has become a destination for diverse audiences, producers, and artists seeking new possibilities and opportunities in contemporary theater, as well as supporting actors, directors, and technical personnel to help seed the pipeline with diverse talent and amplify underrepresented voices in theater in New York and beyond. But the Festival is only one stone in the foundation that Girod is building for the community, she is also Director of New Works at The Apollo, and uses all of her considerable talents, as a playwright, producer or actor, to amplify the needs and voices of African and African American theatre artists. In every position she has been in, she finds ways to continue to advocate for the community. In addition, Girod is Editor of The Fire This Time Festival’s first anthology of plays published with Bloomsbury UK/Methuen Drama titled “25 Plays from The Fire This Time Festival, A Decade of Recognition, Resistance, Rebirth and Black Theater.” She is truly a gatherer and a maker of possibilities for those African and African-American writers (and actors, directors, etc.) in the indie theater community that are seeking a platform for their work. In this way, she reflects Ellen Stewart's determination to make space for and support independent theater artists, helping provide an opportunity for them to develop their artistic voice and their audience.

The Outstanding Stage Manager Award: Heather Olmstead

The Outstanding Stage Manager Award honors the living link between artistic conception/inspiration and practical implementation - stage managers. Heather Olmstead exemplifies the many and varied traits that excellent stage managers have: organized, detail oriented, calmness, consistency and empathy. Heather studied theater at The Ohio State University, then moved to New York City, where she has been a stage manager for 17 years. A member of AEA since 2001, Heather is in great demand as a stage manager because of her innate understanding of how to marry the artistic needs of a production with the technical tools that bring that art to life. She acts as a great moderator and advocate for the actors as well as the creatives in all situations. She is a kind, thoughtful and supportive individual, who uses humor and intelligence in gently guiding a production through the rehearsal process and easily takes on the mantle of leadership when moving that show to the production phase. Heather has worked in many different productions, but here are some favorites: Floydada, Jane Jacobs and Manna-hata with Peculiar Works Project; On Striver’s Row and Injunction Granted at Metropolitan Playhouse; Monstress, Telling Trifles festival, and Messenger#1 with Hunger and Thirst; And to the Republic with Guerrilla Shakespeare Project; Coping in the 2015 New York International Fringe Festival and Fringe Encore Series. She has also done projects with Elephant Run District, Agony Productions, J.A.J Productions, and Theatre Askew's Youth Performance Experience as well as shows in Hunter College’s MFA Playwriting Festival, The Frigid Festival, The New York Fringe Festival and The Edinburgh Fringe Festival.