Billie Holiday Theatre's AUTUMN Sweeps 2017 Audelco Awards

The energy of the evening was high with an array of black theater elite for the Audelco Awards at Symphony Space Theatre in New York City.

Among an illustrious list of contenders, The Billie Holiday Theatre's production of AUTUMN swept the night with Best Actor, Jerome Preston Bates; Best Actress, Pauletta Pearson Washington; Best Supporting Actor, Count Stovall; Best Director, Walter Dallas; Best Playwright, Richard Wesley and Best Dramatic Production of the Year.

Among the cast and artistic team were first-time winners and veterans who had been graced with a "Viv" before. This was lead actor Jerome Preston Bates' 7th nomination and 7th win. New to the Audelco Awards, Actor Pauletta Pearson Washington received her first nomination and win. Actor Count Stovall returns as an awardee after over three decades.

"This is an extraordinary honor for The Billie's production of AUTUMN to be recognized by the AUDELCO "Viv" Awards with six nominations and six wins," stated Dr. Indira Etwaroo, Executive Director. "The celebration of Black excellence in theater by our own theater community is everything."

Tapping the genius of Richard Wesley and the vision of acclaimed director Walter Dallas, Autumn explores the conflicts that arise when aspirations collide across generational, racial and gender divides marking sharply different political agendas against the needs of the people. AUTUMN rips the band-aid off of political posturing and shows just how sinister campaigns can get when ambition supersedes service.

The Billie Holiday Theatre (The Billie), founded in 1972 by Bedford Stuyvesant Restoration Corporation, is an OBIE and AUDELCO Award-winning theater devoted to the discovery of world-class storytelling with a focus on stories for, by and about people of African descent with 3-4 productions annually. The Billie presents, promotes and sustains art that reflects the definitive issues of our time in and through all of its forms of expression, especially drama, and including jazz, opera, ballet, film, poetry, and other forms of intellectual and instructive entertainment; to produce and stimulate performances or theatrical productions of all kinds with a focus on, but not limited to the African American experience; and to commission and premiere original works. For more information, visit www.thebillieholiday.org.