The Barbara Whitman Award at Stage Directors and Choreographers Foundation (SDCF) is given annually to a woman, trans, or non-binary director who has developed a clear and distinctive artistic voice and demonstrated unique vision in their theatrical work. This award is meant to heighten visibility for a director & their work in the field as well as support the work of the director with an unrestricted award of $10,000.

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Finalists are also selected for this award and will receive an unrestricted award of $1,000.

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Nominations open in November each year and close in December. Nominees applications open in December and close in January.

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Nominations for the 2024 Barbara Whitman Award are now open. Submit your nominee here.


Nominator and Nominee eligibility

This award is for women, trans and non-binary directors

An ideal nominee could be considered on the cusp of breaking out and this award would help lift them and their work to the national level.

A Nominee must have directed at least three productions outside an academic environment but is not yet working on LORT D stages or above or beyond the 99-seat theatre spaces in New York City

The Nominee should not have an ongoing affiliation/position with a major theatrical organization (e.g. resident artist, associate, director-in-residence) and cannot be in college or graduate school or have plans to attend either in the next year.

Both SDC Members and non-members are eligible to nominate and be nominators. SDC Member are strongly encouraged to nominate individuals for the award.

Nominees must reside full-time in the United States and must be nominated by a theatre industry professional.

Finalists from previous years are welcome to apply again.  Please know you can only be a finalist once. If you apply again, you will only be eligible to receive the award.

There is no age requirement.

Nominations for BIPOC directors are strongly encouraged.

If you have any trouble with the form, please email Hannah Kutten at hkutten@sdcfoundation.org


About Barbara Whitman

Barbara Whitman is a theatrical producer who made her Broadway debut producing A Raisin in the Sun, starring Sean Combs, Phylicia Rashad, Audra McDonald, and Sanaa Lathan. Other Broadway credits include A Strange Loop (Tony Award and Drama Desk Award, Best Musical and Pulitzer Prize),  Diana – The Musical, Burn This starring Adam Driver and Keri Russell, Angels in America (Tony and Drama Desk Award, Best Play Revival), 1984, The Glass Menagerie starring Sally Fields, War Paint starring Patti LuPone and Christine Ebersole, The Humans (Tony Award, Best Play), Oh, Hello starring Nick Kroll and John Mulaney, Fully Committed starring Jesse Tyler Ferguson, Fun Home (Tony Award, Best Musical), Hedwig and the Angry Inch (Tony and Drama Desk Award, Best Musical Revival), Of Mice and Men starring James Franco, If/Then starring Idina Menzel, Hands on a Hardbody, Red (Tony and Drama Desk Awards, Best Play), Next to Normal (Pulitzer Prize), Hamlet starring Jude Law, 33 Variations starring Jane Fonda, Mary Stuart, Legally Blonde – The Musical, The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, and Dirty Rotten Scoundrels.  National tours include Fun Home, Hedwig and the Angry Inch, If/Then, Murder for Two, Next to Normal, Legally Blonde – The Musical, …Spelling Bee, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels and Frost/Nixon.  A native New Yorker, Barbara attended NYU’s Gallatin School and received an MFA in Theatre Management and Producing from Columbia University. She’s a member of the Board of Governors and the Executive Committee of the Broadway League, and also serves as a Co-Chair of the Equity Diversity and Inclusion Committee.  In addition, she’s on the Board of Tectonic Theater Project, and Columbia University School of the Arts Dean’s Council. Upcoming productions include Good Night, Oscar starring Sean Hayes.