DISTINGUISHED LIFETIME SERVICE AWARD: 
Thomas Schumacher

LEAGUE AWARD RECIPIENTS:
Anne McNiff-Gaeta, DJ Martin, Lisa Mitchell, Anne Francis, and Clark Transfer Inc.

IMPACT AWARD:
Black Theatre Coalition 

STAR OF TOURING BROADWAY HONOREES:
Ora Reynolds and The Peabody Hotel

The annual League Awards were held today during The Broadway League’s 2024 Spring Road Conference as esteemed members and partners were honored for their incredible achievements working on behalf of Touring Broadway. Since 1992, the League Awards recognize those who have shown exemplary service to the Touring Broadway industry and are regarded as innovators in their profession. 

This year’s League Awards recipients include: Thomas Schumacher (Distinguished Lifetime Service Award), Anne McNiff-Gaeta (Outstanding Achievement in Road Group Sales), DJ Martin (Outstanding Achievement in Road Marketing & Press), Lisa Mitchell (Outstanding Achievement in Education and Engagement), Anne Francis (Outstanding Achievement in Presenter Management), and Clark Transfer Inc. (George MacPherson Road Award). 

New this year is the presentation of the Impact Award that was bestowed to Black Theatre Coalition. This new award category honors a partner of The Broadway League who has made an outstanding contribution to the industry or community-at-large. This award recognizes the work of an organization or individual, rather than the League Members or their staff historically honored during the League Awards, who deserves recognition and celebration for their achievements, and have made a genuine measurable and felt impact on our business.

The Star of Touring Broadway honorees include Ora Reynolds (President & CEO of Hunt Midwest, Kansas City, MO), and The Peabody Hotel (Memphis, TN).

"Touring Broadway productions allow audiences to experience Broadway in their own cities and their incredible local theatres across the country – whether as an introduction for new theatregoers or a tradition for those who have been before. In the 2023-2024 season, Touring Broadway recorded approximately 15.5 million attendances, and we are enormously grateful to our members and partners whose efforts are pivotal to the success of Broadway across North America, none more so than today’s amazing award recipients," said Jason Laks, Interim President of The Broadway League.

“You’re Invited: To the Theatre, To the Table, and To the Conversation” was the theme for this year’s Broadway League Spring Road Conference as more than 830 attendees arrived in New York City representing approximately 120 markets around the U.S. and internationally. The conference welcomed League members and their staff of presenters, producers, general managers, marketing and press directors, education coordinators, and box office and group sales teams who day in and day out make it possible to present Touring Broadway across the nation and around the world. The conference brings the community together to discuss the state of Broadway on the Road, celebrate recent accomplishments, and provide networking opportunities, all while looking ahead to the future.

2024 LEAGUE AWARD RECIPIENTS

DISTINGUISHED LIFETIME SERVICE AWARD

THOMAS SCHUMACHER (Chief Creative Officer, Disney Theatrical Group) Since 1988, Thomas Schumacher has worked with The Walt Disney Company, setting new standards of excellence in film, television, and theatre. He currently develops new stage works for Disney Theatrical Group as Chief Creative Officer. 
 
In his 30 years at Disney Theatrical Group, he's overseen the development, creation, and execution of Disney’s legitimate stage entertainment around the globe, including Beauty and the Beast, King David, The Lion King, Der Glöckner von Notre Dame, Elton John and Tim Rice’s Aida, Mary Poppins, On the Record, Tarzan®, High School Musical, The Little Mermaid, Peter and the Starcatcher, Newsies, Aladdin, Freaky Friday, Shakespeare in Love, Frozen and Hercules. 
 
With Music Theatre International, Schumacher created a program to license select Disney Theatrical titles for schools, amateur, and professional theatres. This ongoing program has resulted in over 500,000 performances around the world reaching audiences of more than 150 million. 
 
Schumacher’s career at Disney began at Walt Disney Feature Animation producing the animated classic The Rescuers Down Under. He was ultimately named President of the division and oversaw animated features, including The Lion King, The Nightmare Before Christmas, Pocahontas, The Hunchback of Notre Dame, Mulan, Tarzan, Hercules, The Emperor’s New Groove, and Lilo & Stitch, and worked closely with Pixar on their first five films, beginning with the Academy Award-winning film, Toy Story. Additional film projects include the in-cinema Fathom Events release of Newsies and serving as Executive Producer for the live-action Beauty and the Beast, the Disney Channel Original Movie Freaky Friday, and the 2019 remake of The Lion King.
  
Prior to joining Disney, he was associate director of the 1987 Los Angeles Festival of Arts, presenting the U.S. premiere of Cirque du Soleil and the English-language premiere of Peter Brook’s epic The Mahabharata. Before that, he spent five years on staff at the Mark Taper Forum, served as a line producer on the 1984 Olympic Arts Festival, and served as assistant general manager of the Los Angeles Ballet.

Schumacher is the author of the book “How Does the Show Go On? An Introduction to the Theater,” released in three editions. He serves on The Broadway League’s Executive Committee, The Broadway League’s Board of Governors, the Tony Administration Committee, and the College of Fellows of the American Theatre. He is the Executive Vice President for Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS Board of Trustees, the co-chair of the National High School Musical Theatre Awards (The Jimmy Awards®), and was a longtime trustee of the Entertainment Community Fund, now serving as a member of the Chairman’s Council. Schumacher previously served on the Board of Directors for Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, as a mentor for the TDF Open Doors program, and as an adjunct professor at Columbia University. He was the Chair of The Broadway League from 2017 to 2020.

Next on the Disney Theatrical schedule: the world-premiere of Hercules in Hamburg, Germany and the North American tour of a reimagined production of Beauty and The Beast in 2025.

OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT IN ROAD GROUP SALES

With over 35 years of experience in the arts and entertainment industry, ANNE MCNIFF-GAETA is a seasoned professional who has held leadership roles in ticketing, customer service, sales, and marketing. Currently the Director of Group Services at Segerstrom Center for the Arts in Orange County California, she oversees all aspects of group sales and servicing for the renowned performing arts center.

Anne began her career at Pacific Amphitheatre in public relations before transitioning to subscription manager at the Orange County Performing Arts Center (now Segerstrom Center) from 1985-1990. She then served as Assistant to the General Manager at Center Theatre Group for three years.

In 1993, Anne joined the Mighty Ducks Hockey Club as Manager of Premium Ticketing, gaining valuable experience in sports ticketing and hospitality for nearly a decade. In 2002 she returned to Segerstrom Center in the ticketing department and moved to Group sales in 2010.

Anne is a loving mom to her two children and has recently welcomed her first grandbaby! 

OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT IN ROAD MARKETING & PRESS

DJ MARTIN is a founding partner at BOND Theatrical where he oversees integrated marketing and communication strategy across teams. He also currently serves as the marketing director for Water for Elephants on Broadway. Prior to forming BOND, DJ served as Vice President at Type A Marketing where he worked for a decade providing marketing direction for dozens of Broadway national tours, as well as The Phantom of the Opera on Broadway, and was also an account executive at Keith Sherman & Associates in New York City. Originally from Indiana, DJ studied theatre at Millikin University and has a Bachelor of Science in Public Relations/Advertising and Theatre. He is a proud member of ATPAM and The Broadway League, a happy husband to Aaron, and beaming papa to Dylan.  

OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT IN EDUCATION AND ENGAGEMENT

LISA MITCHELL is the Director of Education & Audience Engagement at Disney Theatrical Group where she engages students, teachers, and audiences through Broadway performance and student-driven productions. Current and past field positions include: the Audience Engagement committee at The Broadway League, the Roger Rees Awards advisory board, and the board of directors for both the New York City Arts in Education Roundtable and the American Alliance for Theatre and Education. Lisa created Disney Musicals in Schools, an international initiative that develops sustainable theater programs in under-resourced public schools. 

She has presented at dozens of conferences and institutions, including South by Southwest and Harvard University, and has published on a range of topics. She also teaches doctoral students at Johns Hopkins University. Lisa holds a Doctorate degree in entrepreneurial leadership in education from Johns Hopkins University, an M.S. in Educational Theater from the City College of New York, and a B.A. in Theater from Arizona State University. Her research focuses on developing enduring theater programs in under-resourced schools. Her children's fiction book debut, "The Case of the Missing Cheese: a Grove Street Mystery," was published in 2023. She lives with her husband, daughter, and dogs in Mount Kisco, NY.

OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT IN PRESENTER MANAGEMENT
Samuel J. L’Hommedieu Award

ANNE FRANCIS shares that her passion for Broadway began with seeing Sugar Babies in New York in the summer of 1982.   She began her career in 1993 at The Majestic Theatre in San Antonio, Texas, before joining PACE Theatrical Group in 1996 as the Senior Marketing Director, overseeing the Milwaukee, Tempe, New Orleans, and Chicago-Rosemount Theatre markets.  In 1998, she moved to PACE’s Regional Office in Seattle to manage the marketing and operations of the Portland and Costa Mesa series, eventually becoming the General Manager for all Broadway Across America West Coast Markets in 2006. 

In the fall of 2009, Anne formed her own marketing agency, Schedule A Consulting, working with such companies as the Seattle Repertory Theatre and Goldstar, before rejoining the Broadway Across America team in March 2011 as Vice President – West Coast.   Originally from Houston, Texas, Anne graduated from Trinity University in San Antonio with a B.A. in Communications and a minor in Business Communications Management.

GEORGE MACPHERSON ROAD AWARD

Since 1949, CLARK TRANSFER has been the leader in the transportation of Broadway shows and other live entertainment.

Family-owned and operated for four generations, Clark Transfer pioneered moving shows by truck, bringing live entertainment beyond the major rail corridors. 

Today, Clark Transfer continues to “Get the Show on the Road,” moving the vast majority of touring Broadway shows.

IMPACT AWARD

BLACK THEATRE COALITION’s mission is to remove the “ILLUSION OF INCLUSION,” in the American Theatre by building a sustainable ethical roadmap that will increase employment opportunities for Black theatre professionals. Their vision is to reshape the working ecosystem for those who have been marginalized by systemically racist and biased ideology in the job space.

In 1866, the first Broadway show (The Black Crook) premiered, and in its 154 years Broadway has seen 3,002 musicals and 8,326 plays. However, there have only been 39 Black creatives (Choreographers, Directors, and Lead Producers) of a play or musical on Broadway. 

To put that into perspective, the first Broadway musical premiered in 1866 and there have been 3,002 musicals and 8,326 plays. Since then, there have only been 10 Black directors of a musical (0.3%), 11 Black directors of a Play (0.13%) and 17 Black choreographers of a Musical (0.56%). All of this directly correlates with the fact that there have only ever been two Black lead producers of a musical (representing 0.06% of all Broadway musicals). In the other 20 creative and executive areas, the numbers are even more dismal, ranging from 0 to 5 employed Black Professionals. Their goal is to increase work opportunities for Black Theatre Professionals by at least 500% by the year 2030.

STAR OF TOURING BROADWAY AWARDS

The Star of Touring Broadway Awards honor board members, government officials, donors, and volunteers who have provided support to promote and enrich the Broadway Series in their hometowns.

ORA REYNOLDS, President & CEO of Hunt Midwest, leads the Kansas City-based real estate development company owned by the Lamar Hunt Family. She oversees all aspects of the Hunt entity’s real estate holdings including the company’s strategic direction and development pipeline.

Over Ora’s 30-plus year tenure, and during her current 12-year role as CEO, her leadership has led to Hunt Midwest’s exponential growth. SubTropolis has expanded to more than 8 million square feet of leased space, including a mission critical data center campus. Hunt Midwest Business Center’s footprint of 2,500 acres is home to more than 110 businesses with a final phase of construction underway that will accommodate another 1.9 million square feet of new industrial buildings and a new $1 billion Google Cloud data center campus. Ora oversaw the assemblage of a 3,300-acre mega site for development of the new KCI 29 Logistics Park, zoned for up to 20 million square feet of new industrial buildings. She guided the company into other geographic markets across the Southeast with almost 10 million square feet of industrial space planned or under construction across South Carolina, Florida, and Kentucky. Additionally, Ora was responsible for the creation of a climate-controlled self-storage platform, StorTropolis, with six projects either completed or under development in the Kansas City metro along with the initial launch of Hunt Southwest, a joint venture which has developed more than 6.6 million square feet of industrial space across Texas.

Three decades ago, Ora started a residential development division with more than 7,000 single family residential lots sold to-date in 12 master-planned communities within the KC metro. The development of luxury multifamily communities includes Mission 106, Fairway Villas at Lenexa City Center, The Vue in downtown Overland Park and the newest project, The Hudson, across from the University of Kansas Health System campus. A senior housing platform was created in Kansas City for nine area assisted living and memory care projects under the Benton House name. The senior housing footprint expanded with new Capstone-brand communities in southeast Florida, suburban Nashville, and Loveland, Colorado.

Ora’s community service stretches from corporate boards to numerous charitable and civic organizations. She is co-chair of the Kansas City Area Development Council board of directors. She also serves on the advisory board of Commerce Bank, on the KU Advancement Board, and is past chair of the Starlight Theater board. Ora is a graduate of Indiana University in Bloomington with a bachelor’s degree in finance. She lives with her family in Leawood, Kansas.

PEABODY HOTEL – With a style and tradition befitting one of Memphis' grandest, most legendary hotels, The Peabody Memphis offers a magnificent bridge between the "Blues City's" celebrated past and cosmopolitan present. Known as the “South’s Grand Hotel,” The Peabody Memphis is legendary for its charm, elegance, gracious hospitality, and rich history. This Memphis icon, opened in 1869, is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and is world-famous for its five resident Mallard ducks, who march daily through the lobby at 11am and 5pm. https://www.peabodymemphis.com/