‘Ain’t No Mo’ Playwright Jordan E. Cooper, ‘KPOP’ Composer Helen Park Join Tony Awards Nominating Committee

Caitlin Huston
·3 min read
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The Tony Awards has added new members to its nominating committee, including Ain’t No Mo star and playwright Jordan E. Cooper and KPOP composer Helen Park, who have both been outspoken about the need for change within the industry.

Other new members joining for the 2023-2024 Broadway season include The Greatest Showman and Dear Evan Hansen songwriter Benj Pasek, actor Bob Balaban, actor and playwright Adam Chanler-Berat, interdisciplinary artist Ty Defoe and director Miranda Haymon.

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The Tony Awards nominating committee is typically younger and more diverse than the larger Tony Awards voting body. However, the addition of Cooper and Park is particularly notable, as both had shows this past season that posted early closing notices and have spoken out about the need for Broadway to improve how it markets to and welcomes diverse audiences (KPOP is about competing Korean pop bands, while Ain’t No Mo’ follows a series of Black characters grappling with whether or not to leave the U.S.)

Both Cooper and Park were nominated for Tony Awards this past season (as was Ain’t No Mo’ for best play), amid fears that they may be overlooked due to the early closings. Both have also called for greater recognition of new work that is not based on known brands and tells diverse stories.

“This is so much bigger than Ain’t No Mo‘. We have to shift for the people that are coming after us. We can’t let this happen to this kind of work,” Cooper told THR in December. “It deserves to be in a commercial space, too.”

All members serve a three-year term. In total, the nominating committee consists of 60 members, who include directors, actors, theater administrators, composers, designers and more. Members attend all Broadway productions throughout the season and designate by vote the nominees for the season.

Full list of the 2023-2024 Nominating Committee:

  • Warren Adams – Director/Choreographer/Producer 

  • Becky Ann Baker – Actor

  • Bob Balaban** – Actor/Producer/Director/Writer

  • Pun Bandhu – Actor/Producer

  • Danielle Barlow** – Theatre Administrator

  • Sarah Benson** – Director

  • Rick Boynton** – Creative Producer, Chicago Shakespeare Theater

  • Christopher Burney – Producer and Educator

  • Kathleen Chalfant – Actor

  • Adam Chanler-Berat **– Actor/Playwright

  • Jordan E. Cooper** – Playwright/Actor/Director/Producer

  • Carmel Dean – Composer/Arranger/Orchestrator/Music Director

  • Ty Defoe** – Interdisciplinary Artist/Writer/Storyteller

  • Jill BC Du Boff – Sound Designer

  • Andy Einhorn** – Music Supervisor/Conductor

  • Dionne Figgins – Choreographer, Co-Founder of Broadway Serves, Artistic Director of Ballet Tech

  • Kamilah Forbes – Executive Producer, The Apollo Theater

  • Dan Foster** – Actor/Director/Producer

  • M L Geiger – Lighting Designer 

  • Linda Goodrich** –Director/Choreographer

  • Miranda Haymon** – Director

  • Michael R. Jackson – Bookwriter/Composer/Lyricist

  • Christine Toy Johnson** – Playwright/Actor/Director

  • Raja Feather Kelly – Choreographer/Director

  • John Kilgore – Sound Designer

  • Michael Korie** – Librettist/Lyricist

  • Kathy Landau – Executive Director, Symphony Space

  • Andrea Lauer – Costume Designer

  • Zhailon Levingston – Director

  • Jonathan McCrory – Director/Artistic Director, National Black Theatre

  • Lisa McNulty** – Producing Artistic Director, WP Theater

  • Jess McLeod – Director

  • Ira Mont** – Actor/Production Stage Manager

  • Jacqueline Diane Moscou** – Actor/Director

  • James C. Nicola – Director/Producer/Former Artistic Director, New York Theatre Workshop

  • Antoinette Nwandu – Playwright 

  • Benj Pasek** – Songwriter

  • Helen Park** – Composer/Lyricist

  • Neil Patel – Scenic Designer

  • Ralph B. Peña – Playwright/Artistic Director, Ma-Yi Theater Company

  • Nancy Piccione – Retired Casting Director

  • Jill Rafson** – Producing Artist Director, Classic Stage Co.

  • Bill Rauch – Director/Artistic Director, The Ronald O. Perelman Performing Arts Center

  • Susan Sampliner – Retired Company Manager

  • Dick Scanlan – Librettist/Lyricist/Playwright/Director

  • Florie Seery** – Associate Dean/Managing Director, David School of Drama/Yale Repertory Theatre

  • Rachel Sheinkin – Playwright/Librettist

  • Devario Simmons – Costume Designer

  • Natasha Sinha – Associate Artistic Director, Playwrights Horizons

  • Walt Spangler** – Scenic Designer

  • Michael Stotts – Executive Director, Paper Mill Playhouse

  • Jason Tam** – Actor

  • Cori Thomas** – Playwright/Actor

  • Reginald Van Lee – Theatre Arts Advocate/Patron and National Leader

  • Michael Benjamin Washington – Playwright/Actor

  • Ben Wexler – Composer/Lyricist

  • Whitney White – Actor/Director/Musician

  • Tracey Scott Wilson – Playwright/Television Writer, Producer/Screenwriter

  • Patricia Wilcox** – Choreographer

  • David C. Woolard** – Costume Designer

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