The Theater Hall of Fame Inc. has announced its 2023 inductees: actors Mandy Patinkin (Evita, Sunday in the Park With George), Bebe Neuwirth (Chicago, Sweet Charity), Judd Hirsch (Conversations With My Father, I'm Not Rappaport), and Laurie Metcalf (Three Tall Women; A Doll's House, Part 2; Grey House); director JoAnne Akalaitis (former Public Theater artistic director); librettist John Weidman (Pacific Overtures, Assassins); composer Maury Yeston (Nine, Grand Hotel); and, posthumously, playwright Amiri Baraka (Dutchman, A Black Mass, Home on the Range and Police).
The 52nd annual Theater Hall of Fame for Lifetime Achievement in the American Theater induction ceremony will be held November 6 at Broadway's Gershwin Theatre. Five-time Tony winner Susan Stroman will host the evening.
The Theater Hall of Fame was founded in 1970 by James M. Nederlander, Earl Blackwell, and Gerard Oestreicher. To be eligible for nomination, the theatre professional must have at least 25 years in the American theatre, five major productions, or be a leader of Off-Broadway or a regional theatre pioneer. The more-than-250 voters are past Hall of Fame inductees as well as members of the American Theater Critics Association.
The 2022 inductees included playwrights Lynn Nottage and Suzan-Lori Parks; actors Christine Ebersole and Bill Irwin; director Frank Galati; sound pioneer Abe Jacob; and, posthumously, playwright Ntozake Shange. (Patinkin had been announced in 2022, but was unable to attend the ceremony and will be inducted into the Hall of Fame in November.)
Terry Hodge Taylor produces the annual invitation-only event.