Donald Hicken, director of the theater department at the Baltimore School for the Arts and a stage director much admired for his work locally with Center Stage and Everyman Theatre, has been named a finalist in the first Excellence in Theatre Education Award sponsored by the Tony Awards and Carnegie Mellon University.
Hicken and fellow finalist Marianne Adams, director of education at the Grandstreet Theatre School in Helena, Mont., will each receive $1,000. They also will receive airfare and hotel accommodations in New York so they can attend the Tony Awards on Sunday. Th
At that ceremony, the winner of the $10,000 Excellence in Theatre Education Award -- Corey Mitchell, theater arts teacher at the Northwest School of the Arts in Charlotte, N.C. -- will be acknowledged. The show airs at 8 p.m. on CBS.
More than 4,000 teachers (K-12) from across the country were nominated for the honor.
The Hippodrome Foundation, Inc., nominated Hicken, who is a member of foundation's education committee. The nomination was supported by Rebecca Mossing, an alum and now director of BSA's TWIGS after-school program; Everyman artistic director Vincent Lancisi; and Shalita Grant, a former BSA student and 2014 Tony Award nominee.
In a statement released Thursday, Hippodrome Foundation chairman Wally Pinkard said: "Our foundation was only allowed to submit three letters of support, but we could have submitted hundreds. His contribution to his students and our city is significant. We could not be more pleased about this significant and appropriate recognition."
Hicken, who directed Everyman's production of rewarding production of Ibsen's "Ghosts" last month, has been head of the BSA's theater department since its launch in 1979.
The school's director, Chris Ford, said: "Donald believes theater can change the world and students' lives for the better. He has dedicated his life to transforming lives through the arts. We are so happy for him today. This is just the good news we all need."