Honoring

Alex Birsh
COO and Senior VP, Playbill

Alex Birsh is the Chief Operating Officer and Senior Vice President of Playbill and is the third generation of his family to run the operations of the storied company. Throughout his career, he has worked tirelessly to utilize “the Brand of Broadway” to shine the spotlight on the importance, impact, and growth of Broadway and the American theatre. He and family are endlessly proud to continue the tradition of “Broadway’s best keepsake,” and the operation of Broadway’s first and most prominent website, Playbill.com, which not only helps spread the word about Broadway and the theatre, but helps people attain their career goals through their trusted Playbill Jobs board. Along with looking after Broadway’s first and foremost publication, he has led the charge from ideation to creation on a number of large-scale public activations that promoted the return of Broadway from the COVID-19 Pandemic and celebrate its continued health, including “Curtain Up!” (partnering with the Broadway League and Times Square Alliance), and “Playbill Pride in Times Square” (partnering with the Times Square Alliance and NYC Pride), each of which brought the excitement of Broadway to millions of people in the heart of NYC. He also now hosts and produces The Playbill Podcast, helping spread the word about current and upcoming Broadway shows.

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Camille A. Brown
Director and Choreographer

Camille A. Brown is a five-time Tony Award nominated director and choreographer who will be helming the highly anticipated Broadway revival of Dreamgirls in the fall of 2026. Brown made history as the first Black woman to direct and choreograph a Broadway show in over 65 years with the 2022 revival of for colored girls who have considered suicide/when the rainbow is enuf, which garnered seven Tony Award nominations including Outstanding Director and Choreographer for Brown, while making her Broadway directing debut. In the same season, Camille became the first Black director for the Metropolitan Opera Main Stage with Fire Shut Up In My Bones. Other Broadway includes choreography on Gypsy, Hell’s Kitchen, Choir Boy, and Once on This Island. Film/TV includes the Oscar Award-winning Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom (Netflix), Emmy Award-winning Jesus Christ Superstar Live in Concert (NBC) and more. Born and Raised in Queens, a graduate of the LaGuardia High School for Performing Arts, Camille is the founder and artistic director of Camille A. Brown and Dancers (CABD). Her trilogy on race, culture, and identity has won accolades: Mr. TOL E. RAncE (2012) was honored with a Bessie Award in 2014, and a 2003 Bessie Award nomination for Outstanding Revival; BLACK GIRL: Linguistic Play (2015) was Bessie Award nominated; and ink (2017) from premiering at The Kennedy Center to being performed at The Apollo Theater in 2022 has received critical acclaim. She received a 2025 Bessie Award nomination for her latest work, I AM. In 2026, CABD will celebrate its 20th anniversary! Camille’s many other awards include a Guggenheim, Chita Rivera, Obie, Bessie, Doris Duke Artist Award, and multiple Audelco, Lortel, OCC, Drama Desk and Chita Rivera Award nominations as well as a TED fellow, ISPA’s Distinguished Artist, The Dance Magazine Award, Emerson Collective Fellow, Doris Duke Artist, Princess Grace, Jacob’s Pillow Award, New York City Center fellow, USA Jay Franke & David Herro Fellow, Ford Foundation Art of Change, and the Kennedy Center’s Next 50. Camille was honored at the New York Dance Lab, receiving the Transformative Award from Harlem Stage, and was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 2025. Brown's election underscores the Academy's recognition of the significant impact she has made on the arts and her dedication to using dance as a tool for social change.

Credit: Whitney Browne

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David Henry Hwang
Playwright and Librettist

David Henry Hwang’s stage works include the plays M. Butterfly, Yellow Face (2024 Tony Award-winning Broadway revival broadcast on PBS Great Performances), Chinglish, The Dance and the Railroad, and FOB, as well as the musicals Soft Power, Flower Drum Song and Disney’s international hits Aida and Tarzan. Called America’s most-produced living opera librettist by Opera News, he has written thirteen libretti, including five with Philip Glass, Dream of the Red Chamber with music by Bright Sheng (San Francisco Opera 2016), and Ainadamar with music by Osvaldo Golijov (Metropolitan Opera premiere 2024). The Monkey King, his fourth opera with Huang Ruo, opened at San Francisco Opera in November 2025. Hwang was a Writer/Consulting Producer for the Golden Globe-winning television series The Affair and co-wrote the Gold Record “Solo” with the late pop legend Prince. He is a Tony Award winner and four-time nominee, a Grammy Award winner and two-time nominee, a three-time OBIE Award winner, and a three-time Finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in Drama. Hwang was inducted into the Theatre Hall of Fame in 2018 and received the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Dramatists Guild in 2025.

Credit: Gregory Costanzo

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Amy Ryan
Actress

Amy Ryan has been a fixture of both stage and screen since her professional stage debut at the age of 18. She is a three-time Tony nominee for her work in Doubt, A Streetcar Named Desire, and Uncle Vanya, and received an OBIE award for her performance in LOVE LOVE LOVE. Amy is known to TV audiences for her roles as Holly Flax on NBC’s The Office, Beadie Russell on HBO’s The Wire, and Jan on Hulu’s Only Murders in the Building. For her breakthrough film role as Helene McCready in the thriller Gone Baby Gone, Amy was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress (as well as both Golden Globe AND Screen Actors Guild nominations). Other credits include Wolfs, Bridge of Spies, Win Win, Beau is Afraid, Late Night, Green Zone, Birdman, Lost Girls, Capote, Jack Goes Boating…to name only a few. A Queens native, Amy often attended the Queens Public Library on 187th street and Union Turnpike and probably still owes them late fees.

Credit: Ali Smith