Photos: The Drama League Announces The Irene Gandy Stage Directing Assistantships

The Drama League's Bonnie Comley, Gabriel Stelian-Shanks, and Bevin Ross announced the campaign to rename The Drama League Stage Directing Assistantships program to The Irene Gandy Directing Assistantships. Check out photos from the event below!

"In recognition of the incomparable Irene Gandy's six decades of achievement in the theater, as well as her unparalleled commitment to making sure the next generation of theater artists are lifted up and given center stage in our field, The Drama League is launching a campaign to rename The Drama League Stage Directing Assistantships program to The Irene Gandy Directing Assistantships in her honor," Comley stated.

Lady Irene Gandy received the 2020 Tony Honors Excellence in Theatre Award from the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League for her "demonstrated extraordinary achievement in theater." Ms. Gandy has also received a Tony Award as a producer of the Best Revival of a Musical for The Gershwins' Porgy & Bess. She is the only Black female press agent member of ATPAM (Association of Theatrical Press Agents and Managers) for over 50 years. In 2008, she became the first female press agent to be immortalized with a Sardi's caricature. Gandy began her career in 1968 as a publicist with Douglas Turner Ward and Robert Hooks' Negro Ensemble Company. Since then, she has worked on over 100 Broadway shows, including August Osage County, Glengarry Glen Ross, Radio Golf, Bubbling Brown Sugar, Smokey Joe's Cafe, Lena Horne: The Lady, and her Music, and The Wiz.

"Today, this program identifies the next generation of Irene Gandys - talented Black, Latine, AAPI, Indigenous, and Global Majority artists at the beginning of their professional careers, who only lack one thing - access to the highest levels of theatrical production and resources to support them as they rise," Gabriel Stelian Shanks told the Board members, colleagues, and philanthropists gathered at The Players.

"We're partnering with the biggest theaters in America - Manhattan Theatre Club, McCarter, the Guthrie, the Geffen Playhouse in L.A., Trinity Rep, Denver Center, and more - to provide a first real job as Assistant Director on a major mainstage production at these theaters. The Gandy Assistantships will pay their salary for this show, ensure that they have health care coverage, and cover their travel and housing so that they can work without worrying about basic life amenities. Then, we pair these emerging BIPOC artists with a BIPOC director who is leading and thriving in these companies. These are world-class directors like Schneider Award winner May Adrales and our very own Nicole Watson, the Associate Artistic Director of McCarter Theater Center. They not only offer a role model as a person of color with a successful directing track record, but they offer, like Irene, hope, guidance, and a path forward. Trailblazers training the next generation of trailblazers, which is why we find this a perfect match for Irene. Her spirit motivates us to do this work and support the great Black and Brown directors of the future. Because when we do, we change who is in the room. We change who is onstage, what stories are told...and by whom. And we change millions of audience members around the world. This is the highest purpose of our art form, to reimagine the future for every person sitting in our audience," Stelian Shanks continued.

Executive Director Bevin Ross introduced Nicole A. Watson, who, in addition to being a member of the Drama League Board and the Associate Artistic Director of the McCarter Theater, was one of the Directing Mentors for the soon-to-be-called "Irene Gandy" Directing Assistantships when she directed Blues For An Alabama Sky at the Guthrie Theatre. Ms. Watson explained the importance of the Drama League Directors Project and its impact on her career path, claiming, "it all started ten years ago with the connections made by Gabriel through The Drama League."

Photo Credit: Genevieve Rafter Keddy