Tony Award-Winning Actress Kelli O’Hara to Receive Sarah Siddons Society Award at Annual Benefit

The Sarah Siddons Society is will present its 2024 Award to Tony Award-winner and eight-time nominee Kelli O’Hara, whose numerous Broadway credits include The King and I, Days of Wine and Roses, Kiss Me Kate, The Bridges of Madison County, among a host of others.

The Society’s annual award is presented to an individual who has achieved outstanding artistic achievement in theater. Ms. O’Hara will be honored at the society’s 2024 Benefit on Wednesday, November 6, 2024, at The Arts Club of Chicago, 201 E. Ontario St. in Chicago. (6 p.m. reception, 7 p.m. program).

Following a reception, the evening’s program will include songs from Ms. O’Hara’s most memorable shows performed by some of Chicago’s most acclaimed theater artists under the direction of Joan Curto and music direction of Beckie Menzie. The evening, hosted by NBC 5 Chicago, will feature reporter LeeAnn Trotter and will include the induction of the Sarah Siddons Society 2024 scholarship recipients.

Since its inception, the mission of the society has been to fund scholarships to promising theater arts students at top Chicago area universities.

Sarah Siddons Society President Martin Balogh notes, “We are honored to present the incredibly talented Kelli O’Hara with Chicago’s oldest and most prestigious theatre award. Her performances from memorable revivals to spectacular new works on Broadway are always awe inspiring. There’s no recipient more deserving of this year’s award than Kelli O’Hara.”

O’Hara is a frequent performer on PBS’s live telecasts, The Kennedy Center Honors, and performs often alongside The New York Philharmonic and The New York Pops. Along with her two Grammy nominations, her solo albums, Always and Wonder in the World, are available on Ghostlight.

O’Hara recently completed a critically-acclaimed limited Broadway engagement of the new musical Days of Wine and Roses, which also garnered rave reviews during its Off-Broadway run at The Atlantic Theatre Company last summer. She won the Outer Critics Circle Award and the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Lead Performer in a Broadway Musical in addition to receiving Tony and Drama League Nominations for her role. This production has been a labor of love for O’Hara and composer Adam Guettel, who dedicated the last 21 years to its development. Upcoming projects include Season 3 of The Gilded Age.

Single tickets and a variety of sponsorship opportunities are currently available at sarahsiddonssociety.org . All proceeds benefit the Sarah Siddons Society Scholarship Program.