The Tony Awards Administration Committee announced on April 29 that Tony Award-winning actor Celia Keenan-Bolger will receive the 2025 Isabelle Stevenson Tony Award. The honor recognizes her enduring commitment to advocacy and community engagement through the arts.
Presented annually, the Isabelle Stevenson Award celebrates members of the theater community who have made significant contributions through volunteer work with humanitarian, social service or charitable organizations. Past recipients include Billy Porter, Judith Light, Brian Stokes Mitchell and Bernadette Peters.
Keenan-Bolger has devoted more than a decade to causes including civic engagement, LGBTQ+ rights, public health and arts education. She served on the advisory board of Broadway Impact, an organization that advocated for marriage equality. Her ongoing work includes her position as an artist-ambassador for the New York Civil Liberties Union, from which she received the inaugural Michael Friedman Freedom Award in 2019. Keenan-Bolger is also a member of the New 42 Artists Council and has participated in leadership roles with TDF’s Young Patron’s Committee and the Entertainment Community Fund’s Looking Ahead Advisory Committee.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, she co-founded Broadway Feeds Bellevue, a meal train initiative that provided food to healthcare workers at Bellevue Hospital in New York City. She also launched the podcast “Sunday Pancakes,” featuring conversations with artists about connection, creativity and resilience during lockdown.
Alongside fellow artist Gavin Creel, Keenan-Bolger created the Activist Artist Endowed Scholarship Fund, which supports students in the University of Michigan’s Department of Musical Theatre who are committed to service and social justice.
Keenan-Bolger is also an end-of-life doula, offering support to individuals and families facing terminal illness. According to the Tony Awards Administration Committee, her work in this role has been deeply felt within the theater community.
“Celia’s star shines far beyond the Broadway stages, illuminating her peers, passions and purposes with generosity of spirit, integrity and compassion,” said Heather Hitchens, president and CEO of the American Theatre Wing, and Jason Laks, president of the Broadway League, in a joint statement.
Keenan-Bolger won a Tony Award in 2019 for her performance as Scout Finch in “To Kill a Mockingbird.” She most recently appeared in Paula Vogel’s “Mother Play” in 2024, earning a Tony nomination and winning a Drama Desk Award. She was nominated for three additional Tonys for her turns in “The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee,” “Peter and the Starcatcher” and “The Glass Menagerie.”
The 78th Annual Tony Awards will be held at Radio City Music Hall on Sunday, June 8, 2025, and will air live on CBS and stream on Paramount+.
