It was announced today by The Theatre World Awards Board of Directors, Golden Globe® and three-time Tony®Award-winner and musical theater icon Bernadette Peters will be honored with the prestigious 4th Annual John Willis Award at the 72nd Annual Theatre World Awards Ceremony set for Monday evening, May 23, 2016 beginning at 7:00 p.m. at Circle in the Square Theatre (West 50th Street, between Broadway and 8th Avenue), home of the current 2015 Tony Award-winning Best Musical, Fun Home.

The John Willis Award is given for lifetime achievement in the theatre to honor the man who created and maintained the Theatre World tradition for 66 years, encouraging new talent in an often challenging business. The John Willis Award is presented annually by the Theatre World Awards, Inc. Board of Directors to an individual whose lifetime achievements and personal generosity to the Theatre Community merit special recognition and acknowledgement. Previous recipients of the John Willis Award include Alan Alda, Christopher Plummer and Chita Rivera.

Hosted annually by well-known theater journalist, Peter Filichia, the 72nd Annual Theatre World Awards ceremony will be produced by Theatre World Awards, Inc. Board of Directors.

2016 Honorees for an Outstanding Performance in a Broadway or Off-Broadway Production, and the 8th Annual Dorothy Loudon Award for Excellence in the Theater, will be announced shortly.

Mahoney Asset Management is returning as a Proud Sponsor of the 72nd Annual Theatre World Awards.

First presented in 1945, the prestigious Theatre World Awards, founded by John Willis, the Editor-in-Chief of both Theatre World and its companion volume, Screen World, are the oldest awards given for Outstanding Broadway and Off-Broadway Debut Performances. The Theatre World Awards are presented annually at the end of the theatre season to six actors and six actresses for their significant, reviewable, debut performances in a Broadway or Off-Broadway production. The ceremony is a private, invitation-only event followed by a party to celebrate the new honorees and welcome them to the Theatre World "family." In what has become a highly entertaining and often touching tradition, 12 previous winners serve as the presenters, and often relive moments from past ceremonies and share wonderful stories rarely heard at other theatrical awards.

Previous winners who have won the prestigious Theatre World Award at the beginning of their careers include Meryl Streep, Rosemary Harris, Marlon Brando, Julie Andrews, Christopher Plummer, Anne Bancroft, James Earl Jones, Liza Minnelli, Alan Alda, Zoe Caldwell, Christopher Walken, Alec Baldwin, Bernadette Peters, Audra McDonald, Al Pacino, Grace Kelly, Tom Hanks,

Bryan Cranston and so many more.

The Theatre World Award winners are chosen by the Theatre World Awards committee which is comprised of Roma Torre (NY1), David Cote(Time Out New York and NY1), Joe Dziemianowicz (New York Daily News), Peter Filichia (The Newark Star-Ledger, Emeritus) Harry Haun(Playbill), Matthew Murray (Talkin' Broadway), and Frank Scheck (New York Post).

The Dorothy Loudon Award for Excellence in the Theater honors an Outstanding Performance in a Broadway or Off-Broadway production. Dorothy Loudon, who had the unique talent of being able to make audiences laugh and cry, made her Broadway debut in Nowhere to Go But Up for which she received a Theatre World Award for her performance. She received a Tony® Award for her incomparable performance as 'Miss Hannigan' inAnnie, and went on to triumphs originating roles in Noises Off, Westside Waltz, and Michael Bennett's Ballroom.

The Dorothy Loudon Award for Excellence in the Theater is chosen by the Trustees of The Dorothy Loudon Foundation, Lionel Larner, Executive Director, together with recommendations from the Theatre World Awards Committee.

The Theatre World Awards, Inc. Board of Directors is headed by Dale Badway (President) with Tom Lynch (Vice-President), Stephen Wilde(Secretary), Tabitha Falcone (Treasurer), Michael Kostel and Ken Mahoney.

The Theatre World Awards Board encourages theater lovers to "LIKE" the Theatre World Awards fan page on Facebook and follow on twitter at@TWAwards.

The annual published book, Theatre World, remains the definitive record of the American theatre season, including photos and statistics from Broadway, Off-Broadway, Off-Off Broadway, and regional companies, in addition to special sections dedicated to obituaries, long running productions, and major theatrical awards. Theatre World is edited by Ben Hodges and Scott Denny, published by Theatre World Media and distributed by Applause Theatre and Cinema Books, a division of Hal Leonard Performing Arts

Publishing Group. Theatre World Volume 70: 2013-2014, the most complete pictorial and statistical record of the American theatre season, will soon be available at all major booksellers and online.

For additional information about the Theatre World Awards (including a list of past recipients), visit www.theatreworldawards.org.

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