AUDELCO

AUDELCO, the Audience Development Committee, Inc., was established in 1973 by Vivian Robinson to honor excellence in African American theatre in New York City.

The awards were created to promote "recognition, understanding, and awareness of the arts in the African-American community."

[1] The board of directors includes: Tony Peterson (2nd Vice-President), Ralph Carter (3rd Vice-President), Linda Armstrong (secretary), and Cherine Anderson, A. Curtis Farrow, Bambi Jones, Donna M. Mills, Mary Seymour, Dale Ricardo Shields, Terrence Spivey, and Mary B. Davis as the Chair Emeritus.

[3] The AUDELCO awards recognize productions by professional, not-for-profit theater organizations that have existed for at least two years and have had a minimum of 500 hours of rehearsal, performance, and/or training.

[4] Previous AUDELCO awardees include: Marsha Stephanie Blake, Chadwick Boseman, Viola Davis, George Faison, André Holland, Sanaa Lathan, Barbara Montgomery, Anika Noni Rose, André De Shields, Denzel Washington, and many others.