Roderick Justice received the recognition of Honorable Mention in this year’s Excellence in Theatre Education Award, presented by the Tony Awards
CINCINNATI: The Children’s Theatre of Cincinnati (TCT), the Nation’s oldest theater for young audiences, is excited to announce Artistic Director Roderick Justice has received an honorable mention for Excellence in Theatre Education from the Tony Awards and Carnegie Mellon University. TCT, the only professional theater in the region that devotes its entire MainStage season to children, is a beacon of arts education and entertainment. This recognition further solidifies TCT’s position as a leader in the field.
The winner and honorable mentions for the Excellence in Theatre Education Award are selected through a rigorous process. A panel of judges, including the American Theatre Wing, The Broadway League, Carnegie Mellon University, and other leaders from the theater industry, carefully review the candidates submitted by members of the public. These are teachers who play a crucial role in shaping the next generation of theater artists. They identify talented students, nurture them, inspire them, and set them off on a lifelong journey as theater supporters and professionals.
The 2024 Award was presented to CJay Philip, a Baltimore-based actor, educator, choreographer, and Broadway veteran who has created arts opportunities for everyone from kindergartners to senior citizens. The founder and artistic director of the multidisciplinary ensemble Dance & Bmore received the 2024 Excellence in Theatre Education Award on June 16 at the Tony Awards in New York City, which was telecast on CBS.
“I am blessed to work with a dynamite group of collaborators at TCT and am incredibly honored to receive this honorable mention from the selection committee. I would also like to send a huge congratulations to CJay Philip, who is doing tremendous work in Baltimore. It is my belief that theatre educators are vital to the development of young minds. We exercise the imagination in ways that grow empathy, foster creative expression, and build confidence. I hope everyone can join in a celebration of all arts educators around the globe who are passionate about inspiring creativity and are working diligently to provide the next generation with the artistic tools needed to change the world.”
This year, Roderick celebrates 19 seasons with The Children’s Theatre of Cincinnati. Since assuming the role of Artistic Director in 2015, he’s launched over 20 world-premiere original works and adaptations of theatre for young audiences (TYA). Roderick’s work is a testament to his unwavering dedication and passion for storytelling, childhood development through arts, and the transformative power of live theatre in fostering empathy and making our world a better place.
Roderick is an award-winning director, choreographer, actor, designer, educator, Broadway producer (How to Dance in Ohio), and mentor to hundreds of young performers. Recognized by Cincinnati Business Courier’s Forty Under 40 and as the Arts Educator of the Decade by BroadwayWorld in 2021 for his work at TCT and his work as a guest artist for many local and national organizations, he is proudly involved with many non-profit boards and loves to collaborate with community partners. Closest to his heart is Cincinnati’s “Men Wear Pink Campaign,” where, for the past eight years, he’s helped to raise well over a million dollars for the American Cancer Society. A Member of TYA/USA, the Nation’s leader in Theatre for Youth, Roderick also serves on several Artistic Leadership committees/affinity groups.
Originally from eastern Kentucky, Roderick obtained his Bachelor of Fine Arts in musical theatre from Northern Kentucky University. He has trained and worked in cities throughout the United States, Canada, and Europe but proudly calls Cincinnati his home.
Roderick began his involvement with TCT in 2006 as an independent artist. Through his dedication to the company and a strong artistic vision, he was recruited to join the TCT staff as the company’s first full-time Associate Artistic Director in 2008. In 2010, Roderick was promoted to Associate Artistic Director of TCT’s MainStage and became the company’s STAR Program director, the renowned musical theatre intensive. In 2015, Roderick was promoted to TCT’s artistic leadership position. Since then, TCT’s staff and annual operating budget have nearly doubled to almost $4 million. In 2016, he launched the TCT Script Development Division, which has now produced over 20 new TYA works, including a popular musical mash-up of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland and Alice Through the Looking Glass, which is now licensed around the globe. Other Script Development Division projects of note include a collaboration with Charles Strouse, Concord Theatricals, and DC Comics in a TYA-adaption of It’s A Bird… It’s A Plane… It’s Superman and a partnership with NBC Universal for the TYA stage adaptation of Casper, The Friendly Musical.
Beyond TCT, Roderick has guest directed and choreographed for a number of educational institutions and organizations such as the School for Creative and Performing Arts (SCPA), The Carnegie Center for the Performing Arts, The Commonwealth Theatre Company, The Warsaw Federal Incline Theatre, Town Hall Theatre, The Showboat Majestic, Northern Kentucky University’s School of the Arts (SOTA), The Lincoln Amphitheatre in Lincoln City, Indiana. He has toured productions internationally to places like Sibiu, Romania, for the International Theatre Festival.
Under Artistic Leadership at TCT: Arts Educator of the Decade, 2021 BroadwayWorld. Sara Spencer Child Drama Award Southeastern Theatre Conference, 2020. Theatre for All Award. Cincinnati Magazine, 2019. Theatre of the Year, Broadway World Awards, 2018, 2019. The Best Place to Launch a Kid’s Career in Theatre, City Beat Magazine, 2019. Social Venture Partner’s Fast Pitch Winner of the Interact for Health Award, 2018.
Celebrating 105 years this season, The Children’s Theatre of Cincinnati (TCT) is the oldest children’s theatre in the country and the only professional theater in the region that devotes its entire MainStage season to children. Its mission is to educate, entertain, and engage audiences of all ages through professional theatrical productions and arts education programming. Its vision is to awaken a lifelong love of theater in children and the young at heart. Today, the Children’s Theatre brings art to life for audiences through three key programs: TCT MainStage at the Taft Theatre, TCT on Tour, and TCT Academy. TCT strives to reach more than 200,000 people each season in the Cincinnati region. For more information, visit www.thechildrenstheatre.com.
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Announcing Auditions for
Organizational Overview:
RENT: School Edition
At 5 PM on June 15, we begin with Songs Without Words (or, the Mendelssohn Play) from Jennifer Vosters out of Chicago, IL. Songs Without Words is the humorous, heartbreaking true story of one artistic soul inhabiting two very different artists. Solo performer Vosters brings composers Fanny and Felix Mendelssohn to life with a tour-de-force performance that wrestles gender and genius, family and fame, siblinghood and the power of art.
Next on the schedule at 6:45 is The Last Witch in Ireland: The Story of Bridget Cleary, from InBocca Performance out of Cincinnati, OH. In 1895, Michael Cleary declared his wife had been replaced by a changeling whom he’d burned and buried as he waited for his real wife to be returned. Who was Bridget Cleary, the last witch burned in Ireland? Who are we women – the wife or the changeling?
The final encore performance of the 2024 festival is 1-Man No Show, from Isaac Kessler out of Toronto, ON, at 8:30. This riotously funny solo clown-show-meets-performance-art piece is described by Kessler himself as “the most theatrically anti-theatre show you’ve ever seen.”
Behind the Curtain Cincinnati 