Our Town's David Cromer, Jennifer Grace and Jonathan Mastro

She didn’t make the Jeff committee’s cut, but the Hypocrites‘ Jennifer Grace has been singled out for making one of the season’s finest New York stage debuts: Grace was announced this morning as a winner of the Theatre World Awards. First given in 1945, the awards honor actors making their first appearance on a New York stage; Grace won as Our Town’s Emily Webb at off-Broadway’s Barrow Street Theatre, a role she first played in the Hypocrites’ production at the Chopin Theatre last year.

A committee of theater writers (including Time Out New York theater editor David Cote) chooses the Theatre World Award honorees, traditionally six men and six women. Grace’s company includes Exit the King’s Geoffrey Rush, West Side Story’s Josefina Scaglione, the boys of Billy Elliott and Ruined’s Condola Rashad (also seen here in that play’s premiere at the Goodman). The awards will be presented at a June 2 ceremony.