Washington Theater Lovers to Celebrate the 2025 Winners of The Gary Maker Audience Award

Longtime Washington theater patrons José Alberto Uclés and husband Tom Noll will receive the Gary Maker Audience Award at a special ceremony Saturday, May 3, 2025 for their enthusiastic support of and ubiquitous, vital, and colorful presence at Washington area theaters.  

The Gary Maker Audience Award is the only recognition given by any theater community in the nation to an audience member.

Established by DC Theatre Scene, in 2011 to be bestowed not for large financial contributions but  in recognition of outstanding audience members “who are passionate, involved,  informed, and grounded in their love for theater and who lend their time and  personal support to encourage other audience members and who see that  theater in the Washington area not only survives, but thrives,” DC Theatre  Scene publisher Lorraine Treanor remarked.

Uclés and Noll will receive the award having been nominated this year by  both GALA Hispanic Theatre and Theater Alliance. The nominees “bring  incredible social cheerleading to the whole theater community…their energy  and positivity encourage others to engage with our work,” Theater Alliance  noted in its nomination. GALA pointed out that they “advocate for all theaters.” 

It should also be noted that in addition to their enthusiastic support, Uclés and  Noll are well known for their extraordinary haberdashery, often on display in  theater and non-theater settings alike. 

On May 3, the award ceremony will commence at 7:30 p.m., preceding a  performance of Choke by Emilio Infante which begins at 8 p.m. Following the  performance, GALA will host a reception in the lobby. All in attendance that  evening are invited to join the celebration. 

Previous Gary Maker Audience Award recipients are David Tannous, Alison  Drucker and Tom Holzman, Barbara Bear, David Kessler, and Joel Markowitz.  Louis Altarescu and the late Alan Friedman were the last to receive the award  from DC Theatre Scene before it closed in December of 2020. 

Alliance for New Music-Theatre gathered a team representing the DC theater  community, including DC Theater Arts, to re-establish the award in 2024. Greg  Williams, an avid theater goer with multiple subscriptions and who follows the  development of productions from start to full production and especially  champions new works was the first recipient of the revived award. 

Ticket information: 

Gary Maker Award Ceremony at 7:30 p.m. and Choke at 8:00 p.m. Saturday, May 3, 2025 

Reception to follow 

GALA Hispanic Theatre  

3333 14th Street NW 

Washington, DC 20010 

Tickets: $50; $35 seniors and military 

Purchase 

Box office: 202-234-7174 

Contact for more information and photos: susan@newmusictheatre.org (cell) 202-341-0254, (office) 202-256-7614