For Immediate Release

May 11, 2026

Atlanta Performing Arts Legend Freddie Hendricks Wins Tony Award for Excellence in Theatre Education as Teacher at Utopian Academy for the Arts

ATLANTA — Metro Atlanta performing arts legend Freddie Hendricks, a theatre teacher at Utopian Academy for the Arts Charter School Network, was named the recipient of a Tony Award and honored for excellence in teaching at the national ceremony on June 7 in New York.

Hendricks is an accomplished actor, singer, writer, director, and producer who has worked in the arts and entertainment industry for nearly 50 years. But Hendricks says his career highlight has been his time spent as an educator. In 1996 and 1998, Hendricks was honored with a Distinguished Teacher of America Award by President Bill Clinton.

He has taught, created, and directed productions at the Atlanta University Center and Fulton Public Schools. Two years ago, he returned to work as a theatre teacher at Utopian Academy for the Arts, Georgia’s first arts-focused public charter school.

“It’s all God — He gave me a vision to work with kids, and I said, ‘Yes.’ It was a big sacrifice for me because I wanted to be an actor. That was everything to me. I was acting around most of the stages in Atlanta. But God had placed a calling on me to teach. And I am glad that I said yes. Being recognized with a Tony Award as an educator is an honor of a lifetime.”

In addition to serving as a teacher, Hendricks also trained students in the performing arts through his Freddie Hendricks Youth Ensemble of Atlanta program for young actors. Many of his students have gone on to experience successful careers on Broadway and in Hollywood.

“As a former student of Mr. Freddie Hendricks, I am thrilled that he is being recognized with a prestigious Tony Award. Freddie is a force for excellence in both theatre and the classrooms at Utopian Academy for the Arts. Freddie is a true quintuple threat — a mesmerizing actor, a gifted singer and dancer, an accomplished director, and, above all, a transformative educator who sees the potential in his students, regardless of their circumstances, and draws it out, empowering them to shine with confidence onstage.

“Several of his former students have gone on to successful careers on Broadway and in film and television, including this year’s Tony Award nominees Justin Ellington and Kandi Burruss. Freddie also inspired me to open Georgia’s first charter school for the performing arts, expanding access for students of all backgrounds to learn from top creative professionals. His entire Utopian Academy family — students, faculty, and staff — could not be prouder of his Tony win or more honored to celebrate this well-deserved recognition.”

— Dr. Artesius Miller, Founder and CEO, Utopian Academy for the Arts Charter School Network

The Utopian Academy for the Arts Charter Schools Network (UAFA) offers students a transformative, arts-infused K-12 education at UAFA Elementary School, UAFA Middle School, and UAFA High School, all in Clayton County, with a 100% graduation rate. UAFA also operates a middle school with statewide attendance zones, UAFA at Trilith, located in Fayette County in the shadow of Trilith Studios.

UAFA students — known as scholar-artists — have been cast in a variety of industry jobs, including roles in television and feature films, commercials, a Netflix series, Broadway and Atlanta’s Alliance Theatre musicals, and American Idol. Some have also become employed and danced professionally with Alvin Ailey Dance Theater and the Atlanta Ballet.

Hendricks’ recognition for teaching excellence is another significant milestone in UAFA’s story to preserve arts education in Georgia’s schools. UAFA was denied the right to open three times by the Clayton County Board of Education, which rejected its charter application in 2011, 2012, and 2013. UAFA was finally greenlit by the State Charter Schools Commission in 2013, only to have its doors chained on the first day of classes by the City of Riverdale. The local government resistance sparked national news coverage, prompting a change in Georgia law.

Gov. Nathan Deal and the Georgia Legislature unanimously approved HB 372, “the Utopian Academy for the Arts Act,” to protect other state charter schools from similar fates of having their operations hindered by local authorities outside the State Department of Education.

Hendricks’ Tony Award win is not the only national accolade presented to a teaching artist at UAFA. UAFA’s faculty of teaching artists includes Grammy-nominated musician and producer Musiq Soulchild, an Emmy Award winner who teaches students filmmaking and editing, and production professionals with Trilith Studios. UAFA dancers learn from The Atlanta Ballet and the Alvin Ailey Dance Theatre Company. Artists from Netflix films, world-touring musicals, and Kenny Leon True Colors Theatre Company teach theatre in the network’s Linda Faye Stevenson Black Box Theatre.

UAFA’s curriculum provides hands-on lessons in music, dance, theatre, coding, animation, game design, journalism, and film and television production — equipping scholar-artists with the critical thinking skills and creative vocabulary of professional creatives.

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