Tuesday, June 05, 2007

The 63rd Annual Theatre World Awards

Today Noah, Kevin and I spent an exciting afternoon at the Theatre World Awards. This was my second time to attend. It is a special and delightful event. It is an awards show with performances, speeches, presentations, but it's completely heart-felt and heart-rendered. The winners of the 2007 Theatre World Award are recognized for their outstanding Broadway or off-Broadway debut. The awards were presented by a previous winner. Each presenter shares his or her own debut story and it's completely spontaneous and wonderful. It was a chance to catch up with old friends and meet some new. We had great visits with Rick McKay, Alice Playten, Barbara Cook, Julie Wilson, Linda Hart and so many more. The winners of the 2007 Theatre World Award are recognized for their outstanding Broadway or off-Broadway debut. The awards were presented by a previous winner. Each presenter shares his or her own debut story and it's completely spontaneous and wonderful. Being at the after party at Trattoria Dopo Teatro was like being in a sea of legends.



1973 Winner Patricia Elliott for A Little Night Music







1988 Winner Brian Stokes Mitchell for Mail accepts a special award for The Actors Fund







1986 Winner Alec Baldwin for Loot







2007 Winner Eve Best for A Moon for the Misbegotten







Host Peter Filichia







2000 Winner Jennifer Ehle for The Real Thing(and she's Rosemary Harris' daughter!)







2007 Winner Mary Birdsong for Martin Short: Fame Becomes Me







1953 Winner Rosemary Harris for The Climate of Eden(She also accepted for Bill Nighy who won for The Vertical Hour)







2007 Winner Nilaja Sun for No Child...







2004 Winner John Tartaglia for Avenue Q performed and presented







2007 Winner Jonathan Groff for Spring Awakening







1966 Winner John Cullum for On a Clear Day You Can See Forever recognized John Willis, the founder of Theatre World. Over the last 60 years, he has seen as many as 5 shows a week, approximately 25,000 productions.







1993 Winner Michael Cerveris for The Who's Tommy







2007 Winner Xanthe Elbrick for Coram Boy







2001 Winner Raúl Esparza for The Rocky Horror Show







2007 Winner Lin-Manuel Miranda for In the Heights







1980 Winner Boyd Gaines for A Month in the Country







2007 Winner Stark Sands for Journey's End







1945 Winner Bambi Linn for Carousel - Bambi presented Gavin Lee. She went on to read a letter from Dick Van Dyke who praised Gavin's performance and thrilled to hear a "real cockney accent".







2007 Winner Gavin Lee for Mary Poppins







1960 Winner John McMartin for Little Mary Sunshine - he presented to Erin Davie, who plays his granddaughter in Grey Gardens. He said she saved "his ass".







2007 Winner Erin Davie for Grey Gardens







1945 Winner Estelle Parsons for Mrs. Dally Has a Lover presented to 2007 Winner Johnny Galecki
for The Little Dog Laughed - Estelle and Johnny knew each other when they worked on the Rosanne Barr Show. She saw his performance both off and on Broadway.







1955 Winner Barbara Cook for Plain and Fancy - When Barbara, who watches American Idol, heard that Fantasia would be joining the cast of The Color Purple, she arranged to be at the first preview. She said she knew Fantasia could sing it but was blown away by her acting.







2007 Winner Fantasia Barrino
for The Color Purple

3 comments:

Bob said...

AWESOME photos! Fantasia really seems to be taking this to heart.

Msbossy said...

Great post and pics. Congrats to all the winners. I'm especially thrilled for Fantasia. I agree with what Bob said. She is just living and basking in the moment right now. Can't wait to see her this Sunday singing (I'm Here) at the Tonys. That song is so appropiate as well because she is definitely here. LOVE HER!

Anonymous said...

Thanks so much for a peak into the awards ceremony. Congratulations to all the recepients! I'm SO thrilled that Barbara Cook presented Fantasia with her award. Ms. Cook spoke years ago about her admiration for Fantasia (when she was on AI). To now see them together on the same stage is incredible.