BD Wong Will Host the Actors' Equity Foundation Awards

The Actors' Equity Foundation's 2025 awards presentation will take place on Monday, June 23, and will be hosted by Tony Award winner BD Wong. Pianist Tina deVaron returns for her third year of providing musical accompaniment to the festivities.  

This event will take place at Green Fig, 570 Tenth Avenue (at 42nd Street), on the 4th floor of YOTEL. Reporters and photographers interested in attending in person should email press@actorsequity.org. Members of the public can tune in to the event via a livestream at 6 p.m. on the Foundation's YouTube channel.

The evening will include the following award presentations:

• The Clarence Derwent Award for promising performers: Nicholas Barasch and Julia Lester
• The Joe A. Callaway Award for the performances in a classical play: Steven Epp and Kimber Elayne Sprawl
• The Michael McCarty Recognition Award for Los Angeles–based Equity theatre actors: Jennifer Leigh Warren
• The Patrick Quinn Award for Distinguished Service to Actors and Stage Managers: Nancy Daly
• The Paul Robeson Award, the humanitarian award jointly administered by the Foundation and Actors' Equity Association: Leslie Ishii
• The Richard Seff Award for veteran actors: Jessica Hecht and Francis Jue

The ceremony will also include the presentation of Actors' Equity Association's ACCA Award for Outstanding Broadway Chorus to the chorus of Buena Vista Social Club.

About BD Wong

BD Wong has performed in four Broadway shows including M. Butterfly (Drama Desk, Outer Critics Circle, Clarence Derwent, Theatre World, and Tony Awards), as well as the Broadway revivals of You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown and Pacific Overtures (both performances recognized by the Drama League). Off-Broadway includes: What Became of Us and The Great Leap (Atlantic Theater); Shanghai Moon and As Thousands Cheer (Drama Dept.); and A Language of Their Own (Public Theater). On television he has been a series regular on All-American Girl, Oz, Law & Order: SVU, Awake, Mr. Robot (Emmy nomination), and Awkwafina Is Nora from Queens. His numerous films included Bird Box, Focus, four “Jurassic” films, two “Mulan” films, two “Father of the Bride” films, The Salton Sea, and Seven Years in Tibet. He was 2014 La Jolla Playhouse Artist in Residence, where he directed and co-wrote (with Robert Lee) Alice Chan for the La Jolla Playhouse Pop Tour. He directed the World Premiere of the musical adaptation of the film Mr. Holland's Opus (which he co-authored with composer Wayne Barker) at Ogunquit Playhouse. He has also directed The Great Leap at Pasadena Playhouse, Judy Gold's Yes, I Can Say That at Primary Stages, and …Nora from Queens for Comedy Central. He is the author of the memoir Following Foo: The Electronic Adventures of the Chestnut Man (Harper Collins/Harper Entertainment). He sits on the board of the Entertainment Community Fund, Rosie's Theater Kids, and American Conservatory Theatre in San Francisco, his hometown.