This season, the world’s largest solo theatre festival returns to its resident stage at Theatre Row in New York, resuming the tradition of honoring outstanding solo performances with the United Solo Special Award. Every year, this award goes to an artist who has created a captivating performance which is rich with sensitivity, audacity, and wisdom; a performance which reminds us of the immense power of a singular performer, and the possibilities of solo storytelling.
In 2021, the United Solo Academy has nominated five performers for the Special Award: Tovah Feldshuh in Tovah Feldshuh is Leona, Harriet Harris in Eleanor, Ruben Santiago-Hudson in Lackawanna Blues, Lee Roy Reams in Remembering Jerry Herman, and Andre De Shields in Black by Popular Demand. The winner will be announced at the closing Gala on November 21st at Theatre Row.
For over a decade, United Solo has recognized numerous artists for their outstanding solo performances. This year’s recipient of the United Solo Special Award will join such illustrious past honorees as: Anna Deavere Smith (2010), Patti LuPone (2011), John Leguizamo (2012), Fiona Shaw (2013), Billy Crystal (2014), James Lecesne (2015), Staceyann Chin in collaboration with Cynthia Nixon (2016), Michael Moore (2017), Renée Taylor (2018), Aasif Mandvi (2019), and Ian McKellen (2020). For its efforts in promoting the genre of solo art, United Solo was recently included in the New York Times’ fall theatre preview.
Tickets for the closing Gala, as well as for other solo shows presented this season at Theatre Row, are now on sale and may be purchased by visiting https://unitedsolo.org/shows/