Yahoo Movies Alex Edelman To Receive Special Tony Award For ‘Just For Us’; ‘Jaja’s African Hair Braiding’ Wig Designer Among Other Recipients Announced
Alex Edelman, the comedian, actor and writer who made his Broadway debut last year in his solo show Just For Us, will receive a Special 2024 Tony Award for the production, the Tony Administration Committee announced today.
The committee revealed today that Edelman will be one of three Special Tony recipients this June, along with longtime sound designer Abe Jacob and Jaja’s African Hair Braiding hair and wig designer Nikiya Mathis.
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Special Tony Awards are presented to outstanding productions, artists and organizations who do not fall into any of the competitive categories.
In addition to the Special Tonys, five recipients of this year’s Tony Honors for Excellence in the Theatre were named: Projection designer Wendall K. Harrington; arts leader Colleen Jennings-Roggensack; retiring Playwrights Horizons board chair Judith O. Rubin; the Dramatists Guild Foundation; and the Samuel J. Friedman Health Center for the Performing Arts.
Regarding the Special Tony recipients, Jason Laks, Interim President of The Broadway League, said, “Alex Edelman had an exemplary debut in Just For Us, a show that was as moving as it was hilarious and spoke to the power of communication, identity and empathy at a time when it is needed more than ever.”
Laks called Jacob “a true pioneer of theater sound design who created the modern approach to theatrical sound design and has contributed his unique and irreplaceable sound to each of his productions for decades.”
Mathis, Laks continued, “has transformed the approach to hair and wig design and hair maintenance in our theaters and her incredible work was rightly the centerpiece of this season’s incredible Jaja’s African Hair Braiding.”
Edelman was recently named a Time 100: Most Influential Person of 2024. Just For Us, in which the comic monologist and Jewish New Yorker recounts his funny, if at times harrowing, visit to a white nationalist gathering, was recorded and is airing on HBO MAX. Edelman also appears in Jerry Seinfeld’s Netflix film Unfrosted and is developing a movie with A24.
Sound designer Jacob began his career in the rock and roll field, creating concert systems for Jimi Hendrix, The Mamas and the Papas and The Monterey Pop Festival. His Broadway career began with the original production of Hair, and his stage credits include Jesus Christ Superstar, Pippin, The Who’s Tommy, Seesaw, Mack And Mabel, Rocky Horror Show, A Chorus Line, and many more. At New York City Opera, his work included A Little Night Music, 110 In The Shade, Sweeney Todd and Candide. In 2022, he was inducted into The Theater Hall of Fame.
Mathis is a hair/wig designer and a classically trained actress who holds an MFA in Acting from NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts. As an actress, she currently recurs on Season 3 of Powerbook 3: Raising Kanan on FX. As a hair/wig designer, Mathis’ Broadway resume includes Jaja’s African Hair Braiding, The Heart of Rock and Roll, Uncle Vanya (where she designed the wigs specifically for Anika Noni Rose), Once Upon A One More Time, Death of A Salesman, Top Dog/Underdog and Chicken & Biscuits. She is currently designing Home at Roundabout Theater.
In its announcement today, the committee said of Mathis, “After years of hearing the complaints of her peers & experiencing her own hair-horror stories, in theater and on television sets, she became the change she wanted to see in the world. Her desire to help her friends who were suffering in spaces that were not caring for them, turned into a mission to provide support for actors and actresses who suffered from hair discrimination.”
The Tony Honors for Excellence in the Theatre were established in 1990 and are awarded annually to institutions, individuals and/or organizations that have demonstrated extraordinary achievement in theater, but are not eligible in any of the established Tony Award categories.
“It is a pleasure to present the 2024 Tony Honors for Excellence in the Theatre to these five unsung heroes doing invaluable work behind the scenes in the theater community,” said Heather Hitchens, President and CEO of the American Theatre Wing. “Wendall K. Harrington’s projection design masterpieces; Colleen Jennings-Roggernsack’s unwavering dedication to promoting artists and advancing equity, diversity, inclusion, and access in the theater; Judith O. Rubin’s passionate advocacy for culture; the Dramatists Guild Foundation’s life-changing support to theater writers; and the Friedman Health Center’s commitment to the wellness of the community have been pivotal to the success of countless productions and we are thrilled they are getting the recognition they deserve with this special honor.”
The 77th Annual Tony Awards, hosted by Ariana DeBose, will air live from the David H. Koch Theater at Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts in New York City on Sunday, June 16, 2024 on CBS and streaming on Paramount+ in the U.S.
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