On March 16, 2026, Virginia’s Tony Award-winning Signature Theatre will honor star of stage and screen Vanessa Williams with the company’s fifteenth Stephen Sondheim Award. The Stephen Sondheim Award will be presented at a black-tie Gala Benefit at The Anthem and will benefit Signature Theatre’s artistic, education, and community programs. Academy Award winner Ariana DeBose and Broadway star Solea Pfeiffer will be joining previously announced host Michael Urie and artists Norm Lewis, Nancy Anderson, Mark G. Meadows, Nova Y. Payton and Awa Sal Secka in paying tribute to Williams with live performances. The evening’s tribute performances will be accompanied by Jon Kalbfleisch and Mark G. Meadows. More information can be found online at SigTheatre.org/Sondheim-Gala. Photo of Vanessa Williams provided courtesy of Vanessa Williams Signature’s Sondheim Award Gala honors individuals who have made important contributions to the American Musical Theater. This spring, Signature is thrilled to celebrate Grammy, Emmy and TonyAward nominee Vanessa Williams. A multi-hyphenate artist whose career has transcended any specific medium, Williams earned a Tony Award nomination for her performance of the Witch in 2002’s Broadway revival of Into the Woods, directed by 2015 Stephen Sondheim Award honoree James Lapine. In addition, Williams appeared in the 2010 original Broadway production of Sondheim on Sondheim and starred as Cora Hoover Hooper in the 2022 MasterVoices concert production of Anyone Can Whistle at Carnegie Hall. Perhaps best known for her Emmy Award-nominated performance as Wilhelmina Slater in ABC’s Ugly Betty, Williams is currently starring as another iconic fashionista in the original West End production of The Devil Wears Prada. EVENT LISTING2026 Sondheim Award Presentation Honoring Vanessa WilliamsThe Anthem 901 Wharf Street SW, Washington DC 20024  Join Signature on Monday, March 16 at 6:30PM for a star-studded evening with live performances and video tributes by Academy Award winner Ariana DeBose, Broadway’s Norm Lewis and Solea Pfeiffer, and TV and stage star Michael Urie to celebrate Grammy, Emmy and Tony Award nominee Vanessa Williams, the recipient of the 2026 Stephen Sondheim Award!  The presentation will feature tribute performances by notable Broadway and Signature artists including Ariana DeBose (20th Century Studios’ West Side Story, Amazon’s Scarpetta), Norm Lewis (Broadway’s Phantom of the Opera, Les Misérables), Solea Pfieffer (Broadway’s Moulin Rouge, Signature’s Gun Powder), Michael Urie (ABC’s Ugly Betty, Apple TV+’s Shrinking), Nancy Anderson (Broadway’s Sunset Boulevard, Signature’s Billy Elliot), Mark G. Meadows (Broadway’s The Outsiders, Signature’s Jelly’s Last Jam), Nova Y. Payton (Signature’s Into the Woods, The Color Purple), Awa Sal Secka (Signature’s Play On!, National Tour of Jaja’s African Hair Braiding) and more.  The Sondheim Award Presentation is a part of Signature’s annual Sondheim Award Gala and will take place at The Anthem on The Wharf in Washington, DC. If you are interested in a table sponsorship, please contact the Development office at [email protected]. Performance-only tickets are $75 and are now available at SigTheatre.org. Doors to the performance-only event will open at 6PM, with the Award Presentation beginning at 6:30PM. ABOUT THE PERFORMERSARIANA DEBOSE is an award-winning actress renowned for her dynamic roles onstage and in film and television. She gained worldwide recognition for her groundbreaking performance as Anita in Steven Spielberg’s West Side Story, which earned her an Academy Award, BAFTA, Critics Choice, Golden Globe, and SAG Awards. In doing so, she became the first openly queer Afro-Latina to receive an Academy Award. DeBose can next be seen in the Prime Video series adaptation of Patricia Cornell’s Scarpetta, starring opposite Nicole Kidman and Jamie Lee Curtis, which will premiere March 11, 2026. Her upcoming feature film projects include Lear Rex and Tow, the latter for which she also serves as executive producer. Her other recent films include Love Hurts (Universal), Matthew Vaughn’s action film Argylle (Apple/Universal), Gabriela Cowperthwaite’s space thriller I.S.S., Disney’s 100th anniversary animated film Wish, Kraven the Hunter (Sony Pictures), and House of Spoils (Blumhouse/Prime Video). DeBose hosted the Tony Awards for three years, earning critical acclaim and two Emmy nominations for “Outstanding Variety Special” in 2023 and 2024. She also starred in both seasons of the critically acclaimed musical comedy series SCHMIGADOON! (Apple TV+) as well as Ryan Murphy’s The Prom (Netflix). On Broadway, DeBose is perhaps best known for her Tony-nominated role as Disco Donna in Summer: The Donna Summer Musical, and for being part of the original cast of Hamilton, in which she also appeared in the film adaptation for Disney+. Other stage credits include Pippin, Motown The Musical, Bring It On: The Musical, and Company. DeBose most recently wrapped her off-Broadway production of The Baker’s Wife.    A passionate advocate, DeBose serves on the International Board of Covenant House, supporting homeless LGBTQ youth. Emmy, Grammy, Tony, and SAG Award nominee, NORM LEWIS, was recently seen onstage starring in the critically acclaimed off-Broadway revival of Ceremonies in Dark Old Men by Lonnie Elder. He recently starred in the national tour of the Tony Award-winning production of A Soldier’s Play and in Andrew Lloyd Webber’s West End Concert of Love Never Dies. He starred in Spike Lee’s critically acclaimed, Da 5 Bloods, and in the groundbreaking FX series, Pose. Additionally, Lewis can be seen starring opposite Hilary Swank in the feature The Good Mother, Amazon Prime’s newest series, Swarm, and Hulu’s, Up Here. He was also seen as Caiaphas in the award-winning NBC television special, Jesus Christ Superstar Live in Concert!, alongside John Legend, Sara Bareilles, and Alice Cooper. Mr. Lewis returned to Broadway in the Fall of 2021, starring in Chicken and Biscuits at the Circle In The Square Theatre. He previously appeared in the Broadway revival of Once on This Island and as Sweeney Todd in the Off-Broadway production of Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street at the Barrow Street Theatre, receiving the AUDELCO Award for his performance. In May of 2014, he made history as The Phantom of the Opera’s first African American Phantom on Broadway. He has been seen on PBS in the Live From Lincoln Center productions of Showboat with Vanessa Williams, Norm Lewis: Who Am I?, New Year’s Eve: A Gershwin Celebration with Diane Reeves, as well as American Voices with Renée Fleming and the PBS Specials First You Dream – The Music of Kander Ebb and Ella Wishes You A Swingin’ Christmas. He can be seen recurring in the VH1 series, Daytime Divas, also alongside Vanessa Williams. His additional television credits include Women of The Movement, Law Order, Dr. Death, Mrs. America, Better Things, The Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, Bull, Chicago Med, Gotham, The Blacklist, and Blue Bloods, as well as in his recurring role as Senator Edison Davis on the hit drama Scandal. Lewis is a proud founding member of Black Theatre United, an organization which stands together to help protect Black people, Black talent and Black lives of all shapes and orientations in theatre and communities across the country. He received Tony, Drama Desk, Drama League, and Outer Critics Circle award nominations for his performance as Porgy in the Broadway production of The Gershwins’ Porgy Bess. Other Broadway credits include Sondheim on Sondheim, The Little Mermaid, Les Misérables, Chicago, Amour, The Wild Party, Side Show, Miss Saigon, and The Who’s Tommy. In London’s West End he has appeared as Javert in Les Misérables and Les Misérables: The 25th Anniversary Concert, which aired on PBS. Off-Broadway, Lewis has performed in Dessa Rose (Drama Desk nomination, AUDELCO Award), Shakespeare in the Park’s The Tempest, The Two Gentlemen of Verona (Drama League nomination), Captains Courageous, and A New Brain. His regional credits include Porgy in The Gershwins’ Porgy and Bess (A.R.T.), Ragtime, Dreamgirls (with Jennifer Holliday), First You Dream, Sweeney Todd, and The Fantasticks. His additional film credits include Christmas In Tune (starring opposite Reba McEntire), Magnum Opus, Winter’s Tale, Sex and the City 2, Confidences, and Preaching to the Choir. Norm’s albums “The Norm Lewis Christmas Album” “This is The Life” can be found on Amazon as well as cdbaby.com. SOLEA PFEIFFER most recently starred as Satine in Moulin Rouge on Broadway. In 2024, she starred as Myrtle in the highly anticipated production of Gatsby at American Repertory Theatre, directed by Rachel Chavkin. In 2023, she starred as Eurydice in the Broadway production of Hadestown as well as Ophelia in the Shakespeare in the Park production of Hamlet. Other theater highlights include Almost Famous (Broadway), her solo show You Are Here for Audible Theater, Gun Powder (Signature Theatre), Evita (New York City Center), The Light in the Piazza (The Lyric Opera of Chicago), Songs for a New World (New York City Center Encores! Off-Center), Hamilton (West Coast premiere), and West Side Story (Hollywood Bowl, The Kennedy Center). On screen, she can be seen in Tyler Perry’s Netflix feature A Jazzman’s Blues and television shows The Good Fight and ABC’s Scandal. Solea is a graduate of the University of Michigan. Emmy Award nominated actor, producer, director, and host MICHAEL URIE is well-known for bringing stories to life onscreen, onstage, and behind the scenes.  Celebrated for his breakout role as Marc St. James on ABC’s 2000s dramedy TV series, Ugly Betty, Michael has most recently been delighting audiences in the first two seasons of AppleTV+’s award winning dramedy series, Shrinking, which will return for a third season on January 28, 2026. The show, which was created by Bill Lawrence, Jason Segel and Brett Goldstein, also stars Jason Segel, Harrison Ford, Jessica Williams, and Christa Miller. For his role as Brian, Michael was nominated for a 2025 Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series and earned the 2025 Critics Choice Award for Best Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series. Other hit TV shows Michael has appeared on include Night Court, Modern Family, The Good Wife  Fight, Younger, Workaholics, and Hot in Cleveland, among others.  Most recently, Michael played the titular role in an off-Broadway production of Shakespeare’s Richard II, reimagined by Craig Baldwin for The Red Bull Theater. On Broadway, in 2025, Michael played Mary’s teacher in the two-time Tony Award winning show, Oh, Mary!, alongside Kumail Nanjiani and Jinkx Monsoon. In 2024, Michael starred in Once Upon a Mattress, a musical adaptation by Amy Sherman-Palladino, with Sutton Foster. His crowd-pleasing portrayal of Prince Dauntless earned him a Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Featured Performance in a Musical, as well as a nomination for an Outer Critics Circle Award.  Previously, he delighted audiences as Sir Robin in the revival of the Monty Python musical comedy Spamalot, reprising his role from the popular Kennedy Center production. Prior, he starred as William Shakespeare in Talene Monahon’s Jacobean feminist revenge farce Jane Anger at the New Ohio Theater in NYC; he went on to reprise his highly acclaimed role in DC at the infamous Shakespeare Theatre Company. That same year, he appeared in Todd Stephens’ Swan Song, the queer horror comedy Summoning Sylvia and on Broadway in Douglas Lyons’ raucous family comedy Chicken and Biscuits.  For originating the role of Alex More in Jonathan Tolins’ Buyer  Cellar in 2013, Michael received a Drama Desk Award, a Clarence Derwent Award, a Lucille Lortel Award, an LA Drama Critics Award, and nominations for the Drama League and Outer Critics Circle Awards. At the beginning of 2020, amidst the Covid pandemic, Michael put on a livestream performance of the show from his living room, raising nearly $300,000 for Broadway Cares.  Other previous Broadway credits include the Tony-nominated revival of Torch Song, the 35th-anniversary production of Harvey Fierstein’s landmark play, Bess Wohl’s Grand Horizons, and How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying alongside Nick Jonas. In December 2021, Michael led Netflix’s first gay holiday rom com, Single All The Way, which instantly landed on the streamer’s “Top Ten” lists across multiple territories; the film featured a stellar cast alongside Michael, including Jennifer Coolidge, Kathy Najimy, Barry Bostwick, Philemon Chambers, and Luke Macfarlane. On the big screen, he also appeared in Netflix’s Oscar nominated film Maestro, starring and directed by Bradley Cooper, and in Goodrich, with Michael Keaton, Mila Kunis, and Andie MacDowell.  Michael is the co-founder of Pride Plays, an annual festival that celebrates and elevates LGBTQIA+ voices in the theater. He hosted Discover +’s Clipped and four seasons of Logo’s Cocktails and Classics. For the stage, he directed Bright Colors and Bold Patters and produced Happy Birthday Doug, both written and performed by Drew Droege and both captured for BroadwayHD. Michael also directed Silver Foxes written by Stan Zimmerman and James Berg, for Uptown Players in Dallas, TX. For the screen, Michael directed He’s Way More Famous Than You, The Hyperglot and co-directed the documentary Thank You for Judging – all available for streaming. Michael’s voice can be heard in the Dan Harmon animated series Krapopolis for Fox, as well as Disney’s Beverly Hills Chihuahua and numerous audiobooks available on Audible.  Hailing from Plano, Texas, Michael trained at the esteemed Juilliard School. NANCY ANDERSON SIGNATURE: Billy Elliot, Side by Side by Sondheim (Helen Hayes nomination). BROADWAY: 1776!, Sunset Boulevard (u/s Glenn Close), Wonderful Town (Helen, Eileen), A Class Act (Mona). LONDON: Kiss Me, Kate (Olivier nomination). TOURS: 1776! (Thomas Jefferson), Kiss Me, Kate (Helen Hayes nomination); Doctor Dolittle. OFF-BROADWAY: The Pen (Drama Desk nomination), Yank!, Fanny Hill (Drama Desk nomination), Jolson Co. (Drama Desk nomination). DC AREA: Arena Stage: Pajama Game (Helen Hayes nomination), Shakespeare Theatre: The Tempest, A Midsummer Night’s Dream (director Ethan McSweeny), Kennedy Center: 1776!, Kiss Me, Kate; By Jeeves. TV: The Gilded Age, Madam Secretary; The Other Two. FILM: The Pen, ALBUM: Ten Cents a Dance. Professor at Shenandoah, GMU, JMU, MBU. COMING UP: Mrs. Lovett in Sweeney Todd at Riverside (Fredericksburg)!  MARK G. MEADOWS he/him SIGNATURE: Director of Signature Cabarets, The Color Purple, RENT, After Midnight, Spunk, Ain’t Misbehavin’; ACTING: “Jelly” in Jelly’s Last Jam. MUSIC DIRECTION: Cynthia Erivo. BROADWAY: The Outsiders (Associate MD). REGIONAL: Oregon Shakespeare Theatre: Once on this Island; Denver Center: Choir Boy, Wildfire; La Jolla Playhouse: Associate Music Direction: The Outsiders. ALBUMS: Only Time, Be the Change, To the People, Somethin’ Good, A Child is Born. CONCERTS: Tour w/ Cynthia Erivo and Symphony Orchestras, Jazz at the Lincoln Center, DC Jazz Festival, The Strathmore. APPEARED WITH: Cynthia Erivo, Usher, Bobby McFerrin, Kendrick Lamar. AWARDS: Helen Hayes in Musical Direction, The Color Purple, Signature, 2020 DC Wammies Jazz Artist of the Year, Washington City Paper’s Artist Composer of the Year. TEACHING: American University, Shenandoah University, Duke Ellington School of the Arts, The Peabody Conservatory of Johns Hopkins University. NOVA Y. PAYTON: SIGNATURE: Into the Woods, The Color Purple, We Shall Someday, After Midnight, Assassins, Blackbeard, Ain’t Misbehavin’, Jelly’s Last Jam, La Cage aux Folles, Diner, Defying Gravity: Making of a SuperNOVA, Dreamgirls, The Best Little Whorehouse…, Xanadu, Hairspray. TOUR: 3 Mo’ Divas, Smokey Joe’s Café. DC AREA: Round House: Caroline, or Change; Shakespeare Theatre: The Amen Corner, Kiss Me, Kate; Ford’s Theatre: Grace the Musical, Ragtime, Freedom’s Song; Olney Theatre: Hello, Dolly!, World Goes Round, Godspell; Arena Stage: Newsies, Smokey Joe’s Café; Kennedy Center: How To Succeed…. REGIONAL: ZACH Theatre: Into the Woods; The 5th: Man of La Mancha, A Night with Janis Joplin; Milwaukee Rep: Dreamgirls. AWA SAL SECKA: SIGNATURE: Play On! (Lady Liv), Where the Mountain Meets the Sea (Natalie/Musician 2), Ragtime (Sarah), Gun and Powder (Flo), Jesus Christ Superstar (Simon). NEW YORK: The Public: GODDESS (Zawadi/Nadira u/s). NATIONAL TOUR: Jaja’s African Hair Braiding (Bea). REGIONAL: Paper Mill: After Midnight (Sassy); Berkeley Rep: GODDESS (Zawadi). DC AREA: Arena Stage: Chez Joey (Linda English); Kennedy Center: RENT (Joanne), Me…Jane (Maisie), Chasing the Wind (Abby); Ford’s: Into the Woods (Baker’s Wife), The Wiz (Glinda/Dorothy u/s); Theater J: Intimate Apparel (Mayme); Round House: School Girls (Ama); Caroline, or Change (Dottie); Imagination: Charlie Brown (Lucy); ArtsCentric: AIDA (Aida), MEMPHIS (Felicia); Studio: SILENCE! (Ardelia); OTC: Co-Writer of The Joy That Carries You, Children of Eden Concert (Eve). Multi HH Award Winner/Nominee. EDUCATION: Montgomery College. REP: Nicolosi Co. ABOUT THE STEPHEN SONDHEIM AWARDIn 2009, Signature Theatre inaugurated the Stephen Sondheim Award in recognition of the importance of Sondheim’s work to Signature and to theater in general. Previous award recipients have included Angela Lansbury (2010), Bernadette Peters (2011), Patti LuPone (2012), Harold “Hal” Prince (2013), Jonathan Tunick (2014), James Lapine (2015), John Weidman (2016), Sir Cameron Mackintosh (2017), John Kander (2018), Audra McDonald (2019), Carol Burnett (2022), Chita Rivera (2023), Nathan Lane (2024), and Mandy Patinkin (2025). The award, established in 2009, is given to an individual for their career contributions to the American Musical Theater along with interpreting, supporting, or collaborating on works by Sondheim. Signature has produced 35 total Stephen Sondheim productions, more than any other theater in the United States.   ABOUT SIGNATURESignature Theatre is a Tony Award-winning regional theater that broadens and brightens the region’s cultural landscape with its bold productions of challenging new and established works and engaging education and outreach programs. Founded in 1989 by Eric Schaeffer and Donna Migliaccio, and currently under the leadership of Managing Director Maggie Boland and Artistic Director Matthew Gardiner, musical theater is Signature’s “signature,” and the Theatre is renowned for its definitive Sondheim productions, inventive adaptations of overlooked or forgotten works, and investment in fresh new projects. Signature combines Broadway-caliber productions with intimate playing spaces and aims to be a leading force in U.S. musical theater.   Since its inception, the Theatre has produced 61 world premiere works — including 20 new musical commissions. Signature opens its doors to more than 100,000 people annually from the Washington, DC region and beyond and reaches more than 10,000 students every year through its innovative education programs, including the award-winning initiative Signature in the Schools. Signature has won 148 Helen Hayes Awards for excellence in the Washington, DC region’s professional theater and has been honored with 527 nominations. The post Ariana DeBose and Solea Pfeiffer to join Michael Urie and Norm Lewis in honoring 2026 Sondheim Award recipient Vanessa Williams appeared first on DC Theater Arts. ...read more read less