The 52nd Annual Village Voice Obie Awards were presented at a ceremony hosted by Cynthia Nixon and T.R. Knight at the Skirball Center for the Performing Arts on the campus of New York University. The 2007 Village Voice Awards were presented by Angela Lansbury, Camryn Manheim, Terrence McNally, Stephanie March, Liev Schreiber, William Ivey Long and Anika Noni Rose Award winners for the 2006-2007 season are: Lifetime Achievement Award: Alvin Epstein Emerging Playwright Award ($1000 prize): Young Jean Lee Ross Wetzsteon Award ($2000 given annually to a theater that nurtures innovative new plays): Rattlestick Playwrights Theatre
Spring Awakening the new Broadway musical by Duncan Sheik & Steven Sater was the big winner when the 2007 Tony Nominations were announced yesterday. The ground breaking musical won 11 nominations including Best Musical, Best Score, Best Book, and Best Direction of a Musical by Michael Mayer. Tom Stoppard's three part 19th Century epic tale of Russian intellectuals, The Cost of Utopia, stunningly produced by Lincoln Center took 10 nominations including Best Play.The musical Grey Gardens boasting a superb performance by Christine Ebersole, the front runner for Best Actress in a Musical, picked up 10 nominations including Best Musical and one for Ebersole's co-star Mary Louise Wilson. Curtains, a musical murder mystery by John Kander and the late Fred Ebb won 8 nominations including Best Musical and Best Score. Two grand dames of the theater, Angela Lansbury and Vanessa Redgrave, won cited as well.
Vanessa Redgrave, Angela Lansbury
Nominations were announced in 25 competitive categories by the American Theatre Wing and mark 61 years of excellence. The Tony Awards will be broadcast live from Radio City Music Hall on CBS, June 10th, from 8:00 – 11:00 pm. A limited number of tickets may be purchased online through www.TonyAwards.com or by calling 212-3074544
Photos by Barry Gordin are from the press reception attended by the nominees on the 48th floor of the Marriott Marquis this Wednesday. A Complete List of the Nominations follows with additional photos.
Bay Street Theatre held their 2007 winter benefit at The Rainbow Room atop 30 Rockefeller Plaza in New York. The evening – "Crazy Rhythm: A Night in Manhattan "- was a marvelous sit down dinner with entertainment by Mary Cleere Haran under the musical direction of Murphy Davis, co-artistic director of Bay Street Theatre.
The nominations for the 52nd Annual Drama Desk Awards will be announced on Thursday April 26th at the NY Friars Club by actress Beth Level, who received a 2006 Drama Desk, and actor James Naughton, a two time Drama Desk winner. The awards will be hosted by the multi award winning Broadway musical star and Tony Award winning actress Kristin Chenoweth on Sunday May 20 at the F.H. Laguardia Concert Hall at Lincoln Center. THE RUSSIAN TEA ROOM, a world renowned cultural enclave for artistic luminaries over the past 80 years, has agreed to host the Gala VIP Reception from 5:30pm to 8:30 pm immediately prior to the Drama Desk Awards. The VIP reception has become one of the highlights of the exciting evening over the years and this year promises to be elegant as well.
Kitty Carlisle Hart a beloved presence in our community will be dearly missed.
Christopher Hart, her son, who was at her side when she died said "She passed away peacefully on Tuesday night at her Manhattan apartment. She had such a wonderful life, and a great long run, it was a blessing."
"Jamie deRoy & friends," the award-winning variety show happens at the Metropolitan Room Thursday April 26 at 7:30pm. Special guests this week include Mary Bond Davis, Gay Marshall, Karen Mason, Jeffrey Pirrami, Jay Rogers and William Finn. Jamie continues at the Metropolitan Room with her friends on May 31, and June 28 at 7:30pm.
"Grey Gardens" was honored by The National Arts Club in Gramercy Park.
Albert Maysles
The historic club awarded Albert Maysles and the creative team behind the hit Broadway musical with the Medal of Honor for Theater at a dinner and celebration, hosted by Rose Billings, that featured performances by cast members Erin Davie, Matt Cavenaugh, and Bob Stillman accompanied by Scott Frankel on piano. Special guests Lee Roy Reams, Cristina Fontanelli, KT Sullivan and Cult Diva Phoebe Legere performed as well.
Actress Mercedes Ruehl was honored with a Lifetime Achievement Award for her contibutions to the Performing Arts by Guild Hall’s Academy of Arts at their Annual Gala held in the Rainbow Room. The lavish event Emceed by Marshal Brickman also honored John Chamberlain for Visual Arts, Paul Goldberger for Liiterary Arts, and Roy Furman received a Special Award for Leadership and Philanthropic Endeavors. Guild Hall is the cultural center of East Hampton
Broadway legends and rising stars gave their all for "Broadway Backwards 2," a benefit for the LGBT Center. The highlight of this marvelous evening at 37 Arts Theater was performances by Betty Buckley and Len Cariou
Playwright Tricia Walsh Smith presented a reading of her provocative play "The Last Journey" at The Wesport Country Playhouse on Monday January 22, 2007
“ON BROADWAY WITH MELBA MOORE,” a rare concert event will happen 2:00 pm this Sunday Feb 11 at the Brooklyn Center for the Performing Arts .Tony Award winning musical legend Melba Moore began her journey to fame as Dione in the original cast of the ground breaking Broadway musical, Hair, eventually replacing Diane Keaton, becoming the first black actress to replace a white actress in a leading role on Broadway. She won a Tony award in her next musical, Purlie, and stopped the show every night with her rendition of “I Got Love,” an amazing moment in Broadway history. Melba has never sounded better and she will be in concert at Walt Whitman Theatre on the campus of Brooklyn College this Sunday. For tickets call 718-9514500.
Witty conversation, cocktails, haute cuisine, beautiful women and ballroom dancing at the Copacabana. That was the scene on Monday, March 5th for the Pan Asian Rep’s 30th Anniversary Gala. The evening played like a Noel Coward comedy and a lot like the company’s 2006 production of “Private Lives” which featured an entirely Asian-American cast.
“Movin On," a panel of professionals from “Grey Gardens” and “Spring Awakening” addressed the pros and cons of moving theatrical productions from off Broadway to Broadway. The event at BMI w
Michael Rosenberg, Michael Korie, Tim SanfordAndy Hamingson, Tom Hulce, Ira Pittleman
as moderated by Leslie (Hoban) Blake and Ellis Nassour
Leslie (Hoban) Blake, Wiliam Wolf, Ira Pittleman, Ellis Nassour
Emmy Award winning TV Host Bill Boggs interviewed comedy headliner Lisa Lampanelli for a riotous Friar Celebrity Luncheon produced by Randie Levine-Miller at the Friar's Club
Randie Levine-Miller, Caroline HirschFrankie Valli, Bill Boggs
