2026 Honorees & Award Recipients
Renée Elise Goldsberry
is a Tony and Grammy Award winning, three time Emmy Award nominated actress and singer. She recently released her debut album, Who I Really Am, featuring original music written by Goldsberry that blends soul, blues, pop, folk, and her gospel roots. Goldsberry is also the subject of the acclaimed 2025 documentary Satisfied, which explores her Hamilton journey alongside the emotional terrain of family-building and new motherhood, now available on demand.
Goldsberry returns to CBS this spring to star in a new series called Cupertino. Most recently, she starred in the Netflix comedy series Girls5Eva, earning multiple Critics Choice and TCA Award nominations for her scene-stealing performance as the deliciously self-obsessed Wickie Roy. She originated the role of Angelica Schuyler in the Broadway phenomenon Hamilton, which celebrated its 10th anniversary in 2025, and appeared in Disney+’s filmed version, which won a Primetime Emmy Award.
Her Broadway credits include starring roles in Rent, The Color Purple, The Lion King, and David Lindsay-Abaire’s award-winning play Good People. Her screen credits include A House of Dynamite, Waves, The Good Wife, Altered Carbon, The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, The House with a Clock in Its Walls, She-Hulk, Albany Road, and her breakout, two-time Daytime Emmy-nominated role as Evangeline Williamson on One Life to Live.
TOM KIRDAHY
stands among the most influential and visionary producers in the entertainment world today, pushing the boundaries of live theater worldwide with his Tony and Olivier Award-winning productions. His current slate includes the Broadway smash hit JUST IN TIME starring Tony Award winner Jonathan Groff and directed by Alex Timbers; this season’s revival of McNally, Ahrens, and Flaherty’s epic masterpiece RAGTIME at Lincoln Center; and the film adaptation of KISS OF THE SPIDER WOMAN starring Jennifer Lopez and directed by Bill Condon. Kirdahy’s roster also boasts the international blockbuster HADESTOWN (winner of eight Tony Awards, including Best Musical) and the long-running hit revival of LITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS Off-Broadway. He is responsible for some of the most daring and innovative productions of the last decade, including the critically-acclaimed revival of GYPSY starring six-time Tony Award winner Audra McDonald and directed by George C Wolf; the UK Premiere of Stephen Sondheim’s final musical HERE WE ARE, following a sold-out run in New York; CAROLINE a new play by Preston Max Allen and directed by David Cromer at MCC; the Tony and Olivier Award-winning play THE INHERITANCE, the first Broadway revival of August Wilson’s THE PIANO LESSON, THE JUNGLE, WHITE RABBIT RED RABBIT, and THE VISIT as well as the box office record-smashing IT’S ONLY A PLAY and the global sensation ANASTASIA, amongst many more. Kirdahy spent the first twenty years of his career as an attorney providing free legal services to people living with HIV/AIDS in the Bronx and carries on his passion for justice and advocacy through his service on the Executive Board of Broadway Cares / Equity Fights AIDS, the Broadway League’s Board of Governors, and many years on the Executive Board of NYC's LGBT Center.