LPTW Lucille Lortel Award 2009 - Debra Ann Byrd

DEBRA ANN BYRD, Founder & Producing Artistic Director of Take Wing And Soar Productions, Inc.

Debra Ann Byrd is the Founder of Take Wing And Soar Productions, Inc., where she currently serves as Chief Executive and Producing Artistic Director. She has guided this company's growth from its birth, forging a viable support organization for classical artists of color and theatre arts groups throughout New York. As an actor, producer, arts manager, and business leader Debra Ann has received more than 20 awards and citations including the 2006 Josephine Abady Award. She was recently selected for inclusion in the 2010 Editions of Who’s Who in the World and Who’s Who of American Women. She received a B.F.A. in acting from Marymount Manhattan College, did advanced studies at The Public Theater’s Shakespeare Lab, completed producer training at the Commercial Theater Institute and received additional training from the Arts Leadership Institute, a unique Leadership Training Program for Arts Managers at Teacher’s College/Columbia University.

Debra Anne Byrd and Jane White

LPTW Co-President Naomi Grabel, Debra Ann Byrd, Jane White, LPTW Co-President Rachel Reiner