Saheem Ali

for excellence in directing for Fat Ham (The Public Theater)

Saheem is a proud immigrant from Kenya. He is the Associate Artistic Director/Resident Director of New York City’s Public Theater. Recent productions include Goddess (Berkeley Rep), Fat Ham, Merry Wives (The Public), Nollywood Dreams (MCC), Romeo y Julieta, Shipwreck and Richard II (radio plays). Other productions: Fires in The Mirror (Signature Theater), The Rolling Stone (Lincoln Center Theater), The New Englanders (MTC), Passage (Soho Rep), Fireflies (Atlantic Theater Company), Dangerous House (Williamstown Theater Festival), Sugar in Our Wounds (MTC), Tartuffe (Playmakers Rep), Where Storms Are Born (WTF), Twelfth Night (The Public), Kill Move Paradise (National Black Theater) and Dot (Detroit Public Theater). He has workshopped new plays at Playwrights Horizons, Playwrights Realm, MCC, New York Stage & Film, Page 73 and The Lark. He is a Usual Suspect at New York Theater Workshop, Sir John Gielgud SDCF Fellow and a Shubert Fellow.

Josh Prince

for excellence in choreography for Trevor: The Musical (Stage 42)

JOSH PRINCE began his career as an actor after graduating from the Cincinnati College Conservatory of Music. Along with numerous regional and concert engagements, he appeared on Broadway in Little Me and Saturday Night Fever, Off-Broadway in Forbidden Broadway, toured the country in Cats, and starred as “Carmen Ghia” in The Producers opposite Jason Alexander and Martin Short.

Prince made his Broadway choreographic debut with the blockbuster hit Shrek, The Musical (Outer Critics Circle Nomination), which went on to tour the US, play in London’s West End, and tour the UK. He is also the choreographer of the award-winning Broadway show, Beautiful – The Carole King Musical (Olivier, Helpmann, and Astaire Award nominations). Beautiful has since toured the US, UK, Japan, and Australia. He also choreographed the Disney Cruise Lines adaptation of the mega-hit animated film, Frozen, and his work can be seen in Trevor, The Musical, now on Disney+ (Lucille Lortel nomination, Chita Rivera Award, Broadway World Chicago Award). Current projects include new musicals A Walk On The Moon and Bliss.

Prince has choreographed at multiple prestigious venues in New York City, as well as across the US and UK including: New York City Center, Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, The Kennedy Center, BAM, The New Group, Stage 42, George St. Playhouse, ACT, Fifth Avenue Theater, Signature Theater (DC), The Old Vic, Royal Festival Hall, and Royal Albert Hall. He also served as Director/Choreographer for a Canadian revival of Grease starring Janel Parrish at the Winter Garden Theater in Toronto.

Prince is the proud Founding Artistic Director of Dance Lab New York – the only independent non-profit organization exclusively dedicated to promoting and advancing the art form of choreography by gifting vital resources to a diverse range of dance makers. By focusing on process over product, Dance Lab New York provides an oasis where choreographers can feel safe to take the risks that bring forth their boldest visions. www.dancelabny.org

Callaway Finalists

This season’s Callaway finalists for excellence in directing are:

• Knud Adams for English (Atlantic Theatre Company)
• David Cromer for A Case for the Existence of God (Signature Theatre Company)
• Rebecca Frecknall for Sanctuary City (New York Theatre Workshop)

This season’s Callaway finalists for excellence in choreography are:

• Danny Mefford for Kimberly Akimbo (Atlantic Theater Company)
• Sergio Mejia for ¡Americano! (New World Stages)