About the Joe A. Callaway Award

The Joe A. Callaway Awards recognize excellence in directing and choreography in New York City and are the only awards given by peer directors and choreographers  for work on a single production.

Joe A Callaway dedicated more than 50 years to the theatre as an actor, director, lecturer and critic. He was a founding member and director of San Diego’s Old Globe Theatre, the first recipient of a master’s degree from the Goodman School of Theatre, an associate professor at Michigan State University, a noted radio and television reviewer, and an actor off-Broadway and in regional theatre. Since his death in 1991, his legacy lives on in awards he endowed for direction and choreography (through SDCF), for acting (through Actors’ Equity Association), for playwriting (through Young Playwrights Inc.) and for theatre scholarships (through NYU).

SDCF’s Joe A. Callaway Award was first presented in 1989.  Recipients and finalists are chosen by the Callaway Award Selection Committee, comprised of current SDC Members, from around 100 productions considered each season. The 2023-2024 Joe A. Callaway Committee is chaired by Shea Sullivan and current members are William Carlos Angulo, Maggie Burrows, Roger Danforth, Kyle Donnelly, Marcia Milgrom Dodge, Dell Howlett, Kenny Ingram, Gerry McIntyre, Margarett Perry, Danya Taymor, and Daniela Varon.

Eligibility

Directors or choreographers who are SDC members in good standing are eligible for their work on NYC productions that have employed AEA performers – except under the Showcase Code, Broadway agreement or LORT A+ – and for which the director and/or choreographer were employed under an eligible SDC contract.  Staged readings and concerts – including the Encores! Series at City Center – are not eligible.  Events that are annual – i.e. A Christmas Carol – will be considered only the first time they are presented. Productions that are “remounted” are not eligible.

Past Recipients