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On behalf of all of us in the Theatre World Award family, the Board of Theatre World Awards, Inc. would like to recognize all recipients, colleagues, and friends of the theatre, both past and present, without whom there would be no us. Thank you for the many important ways you have assisted in keeping these well-respected accolades alive since 1944. We appreciate your desire to know more about TWA, Inc., so please visit the History, Home, and Award Winners pages of our website as well. But first, read on to learn who we are and the role the Board plays in the ongoing life of this wonderful award. And we would love to hear from you! Using the addresses below, please write any of us with your questions or comments about TWA, Inc., our annual award ceremony every spring, or how you can be more involved.
In the spring, prior to the annual Award ceremony, those Board members acting as co-producers and director of the event will be posted here for direct contact.
JOHN WILLIS, Founder JOHN WILLIS has been the editor-in-chief of both Theatre World and its companion volume Screen World for over forty years. Theatre World and Screen World are the oldest definitive pictorial and statistical records of each American theatrical and foreign and domestic film season, and are referenced daily by industry professionals, students and historians worldwide.
Mr. Willis has also served as editor of Dance World, Opera World, A Pictorial History of the American Theatre 1860-1985, and A Pictorial History of the Silent Screen. Previously, he served as assistant to Theatre World founder Daniel Blum on Great Stars of the American Stage, Great Stars of Film, A Pictorial History of the Talkies, A Pictorial History of Television, and A Pictorial Treasury of Opera in America.
For the past forty years he has presided over the presentation of the Theatre World Awards. Begun in 1945 and presented by past winners, they are the oldest awards given to actors in a debut role on or Off-Broadway. On behalf of Theatre World, Mr. Willis has received a Special Tony Honor for Excellence in the Theatre, as well as received awards from Drama Desk, Lucille Lortel, the Broadway Theater Institute, National Board of Review, Marquis Who's Who Publications Board, and Milligan College. He has served on the nominating committees for the Tony Awards and the New York University Hall of Fame, and is currently on the board of the University of Tennessee Clarence Brown Theatre. Mr. Willis is a graduate of Milligan College and has done graduate work at Indiana University, Harvard University, and the University of Tennessee, and has also served as an educator in the New York public school system for twenty years.
PETER FILICHIA, Host
PETER FILICHIA is a theater critic in print for The Star-Ledger in Newark, New Jersey, and on television for News 12 New Jersey. He is the author of Let's Put on a Musical: How to Choose the Right Show for Your Community Theatre, currently available through Back Stage Books. He served four terms as president and chairman of the nominating committee of the Drama Desk, the New York Association of Drama Critics, for which he wrote and emceed its annual Drama Desk Awards. He has also been a member of the nominating committee for the Lucille Lortel Awards. In addition, he has written the liner notes for many Broadway cast albums, is the critic-in-residence for the University of Cincinnati-Conservatory of Music, serves on the ASCAP Popular Awards Panel, and has made appearances on Sally Jesse Raphael, Phil Donahue, and Saturday Night Live. |
Host
Board of Directors
Board Emeritus
Advisors
Committee |
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LEIGH GIROUX, President LEIGH A. GIROUX is a partner in the New York City entertainment law firm of Dumler & Giroux. Mr. Giroux practices in almost all areas of the entertainment industry, with a focus on theatre arts. His clients run the gamut, including producers, writers, directors, actors, and designers. He also represents or is on the board of a number of not-for-profit theatre companies, such as The Irish Repertory Theatre, The Ensemble Studio Theatre and The Women’s Project, to name a few. Mr. Giroux is a member of the Entertainment, Arts and Sports Law Section Committee on Theatre and Performing Arts of the New York State Bar Association and the Forum on the Entertainment and Sports Industries of the American Bar Association. He is a 1986 graduate of Boston University School of Law and 1983 graduate of Tufts University. Raised in Manhattan, he resides in Rye, New York, with his wife, Stephanie, and daughters Alexandra, Charlotte and Olivia.
KATI MEISTER, Vice-President
KATI MEISTER produces in film, television, and theatre. She is currently a Producer on Unnatural History, an animated children's TV series in development with Thirteen/WNET. She recently produced Lights! Action! Music! (a WLIW public television documentary on music scoring for the movies) and was the Associate Producer on two other PBS programs: a documentary (BBC co-production) entitled The World of Jewish Humor and the pioneering, interactive children's series, I'll Do It.
SCOTT DENNY, Board Member SCOTT DENNY is an actor and singer and currently an editor on the Theatre World publication. He served as an assistant editor on Volume 60 (2003–2004) and as an associate for volumes 61, 62, and upcoming volumes 63 and 64. He has been an avid collector of Theatre World since college. In 2005 and 2006 Scott served as an associate producer to Ben Hodges for the Theatre World Awards. He was the co-producer for the 2007 Awards, and will serve as co-producer of the 2008 Awards with Erin Oestreich and Kati Meister. Originally from Terre Haute, Indiana, Scott received a Bachelor in Performing Arts from Western Kentucky University in 1989. He has worked professionally as an actor for over twenty years. He toured nationally with Big League Theatrical’s productions of 1776 (Richard Henry Lee), Footloose (Uncle Wes), and more recently The Music Man (where he served as the swing and the Assistant Company Manger). Scott has also worked for numerous regional, stock, and dinner theatres, including Theatre Under the Stars in Houston, Beef and Boards Dinner Theatre in Indianapolis, Coastal Arts Center of South Carolina, Galveston Outdoor Musicals (where he also served as an assistant to the producer), and over 25 productions for the Prather family of theatres (Broadway Palm Dinner Theatre in Fort Myers, Florida and the Dutch Apple Dinner Theatre in Lancaster, Pennsylvania). In New York, Scott has performed in several showcases and readings, including Election Day at the American Theatre of Actors, Like You Like It at the York Theatre, False Profits at 224 Waverly, and Vanity Fair at the Lark Theatre. Regionally he appeared in the Midwest premieres of Paper Moon and world premiere of Silver Dollar, both at Stage One in Wichita, Kansas. Scott is honored to join the Theatre World Awards Board of Directors and hopes to continue the legacy of Daniel Blum and John Willis. It is his goal and mission to educate younger generations about the publication, the Theatre World Awards, and their important history in the New York Theatre.
BARRY KEATING, Board Member BARRY KEATING is best known for writing the music, lyrics, and co-authoring the book (with Stuart Ross) for the Broadway musical Starmites. The show was nominated for six Tony Awards, including Best Musical of the Year (1988-1989). His gospel/rap/rock Jungle Book (written with David Schechter) opened to unanimous raves at The New Victory Theatre on the New 42nd Street and toured the country for several years for TheatreWorks USA. He graduated with honors from Amherst College where he teamed with Wendy Wasserstein, Jim Steinman, Jerry Zaks, and Teller to produce, direct, and perform original works, among them Steinman's Dream Engine, which he later directed and starred in at the Kennedy Center (re-titled Neverland). The score of Neverland became the basis of Meat Loaf/Bat Out of Hell, one of the top three selling albums World Wide of all time. In the mid 1980s he wrote The Muppet Babies' Magic Box, working closely with Jim Henson to create a multimedia, live-action puppet extravaganza which played Madison Square Garden to great acclaim and toured the USA. He wrote the book, music, and lyrics for the MAC Award-nominated cabaret Hollywood Opera and performed it for several years at New York's legendary The Ballroom and Don't Tell Mama's. Two eco musicals followed: The Slick of '76--A Musical Catastrophe (co-written with David Schechter), about an infamous oil spill on the St. Lawrence River, and The Garbage Can-tata (with Jon Lonoff), a live action/puppet piece about solid waste disposal that was performed throughout New York City schools and subsequently produced as a film by the United Nations. Barry was the director for Penn & Teller's first stage show, and the musical Rhinegold based on Wagner's Das Rheingold (with an original rock score by Jim Steinman, and book and lyrics by Mr. Keating). He is the author of four children's books for Jim Henson and Associates.
TOM LYNCH, Board Member
TOM LYNCH is associate editor of the Theatre World volumes, is a contributing editor to the Screen World annuals, and has assisted John Willis since 1988 with the Theatre World book. He has served on the Board of Theatre World Awards since its incorporation. Tom strongly believes in the mission of the Theatre World Awards to encourage promising talent in an often unfair and discouraging business, and worked with other current board members to achieve nonprofit status for the Awards in 1998. Tom has been a columnist for Theatre.com and writes for Scarlett Street magazine. Tom has been stage-struck since he entered the Palace Theatre, to see Sweet Charity at age 6!
Board Emeritus
THOM CHRISTOPHER served as Board Treasurer from 1997 to 2000. He received his Theatre World Award in 1974 for Noel Coward in Two Keys.
JAMIE DeROY served on the Board from 2005-2007. Celebrated by the New York entertainment community, she is a talented performer/actress and host/producer of the critically acclaimed variety show Jamie deRoy & Friends, which also appears on cable. Her awards include eight MAC Awards, four BackStage Bistro Awards, nine Telly Awards, and CaB Magazine's Lifetime Achievement Award for her extensive work on both stage and screen. Jamie has produced six CDs on Harbinger Records of the Jamie deRoy & Friends series.
PATRICIA ELLIOTT created the Theatre World Awards fund in 1994 to preserve the Awards and John Willis’s legacy. In 1997, with the assistance of Tom Lynch and Marianne Tatum, she formed the not-for-profit Theatre World Awards, Inc. and served as its Secretary until her retirement from the Board in February 2007. In 1973, Patricia received Broadway’s triple crown—the Theatre World Award, the Drama Desk Award, and the Tony award—for her performance as the Countess Charlotte in Stephen Sondheim’s A Little Night Music, directed and produced by Harold Prince. She received a second Tony nomination for A Shadow Box, a Drama Desk for Dorine in Tartuffe, and starred as Mrs. Kendal opposite David Bowie in The Elephant Man. Her 40 years as an actress include many other awards for her appearances in at least 60 roles On and Off-Broadway, in regional theater and London, as well as an in film and television.
BEN HODGES served on the board as well as producer of the Theatre World Awards ceremony from 2003 to 2006. He is an actor, director, producer, author, and co-editor with John Willis of the annual Theatre World publication. He was presented with a Special Theatre World Award by John Willis in 2003 for his service to both organizations. Hodges also edited Forbidden Acts, the first collected anthology of gay and lesbian plays from the 20th century (a finalist for the 2004 LAMBDA Literary Award for Drama), and co-edited The Commercial Theater Institute Guide to Producing Plays and Musicals, both of which are published by Applause Theatre and Cinema Books. His Out Plays: Landmark Gay and Lesbian Plays from the Twentieth Century, and with a foreword by Harvey Fierstein, is due from Alyson Books in March 2008. Additionally, he serves as an at-large judge as well as on the honorary awards voting committee of the New York Innovative Theatre Awards.
DOUGLAS HOLMES served as Board Treasurer in 2006. He is an actor, performer, and collaborator who previously assisted John Willis on several volumes of the Theatre World and Screen World books. Among his many performances, he garnered PAT Awards as Scrooge in Sheldon Harnick & Michel LeGrande's A Christmas Carol on tour, and as Sir Evelyn Oakleigh in Anything Goes in Indianapolis. Mr. Holmes is currently the Executive Director of Wright & Forrest, Inc., where he oversees such musicals by the legendary songwriters as Kismet, Song of Norway, and Grand Hotel: The Musical. In addition to his successful acting career, Mr. Holmes wrote the book for Wonderful Life!: The Musical, with lyrics by Walter Willison and music by John Kroner, which has been produced annually around the US since its 1989 premiere. He also collaborated with Walter Willison on the book of the acclaimed revival of Frank Loesser’s Greenwillow.
MARIANNE TATUM served as Board Vice President from 1997 to 2004. She received her Theatre World Award in 1980 for the role of Jenny Lind in
Barnum. Other notable Broadway work includes her Drama Desk nominations for Milady deWinter in The Three Musketeers and Baroness Elsa Shraeder in the Lincoln Center revival of The Sound of Music. She counts her relationship with John Willis and the Theatre World "family" as the most pleasurable and rewarding of her career. She is currently working on a second career which includes receiving a nursing degree and a second master's program in Clinical Social Work from Florida State University with the aim of doing humanitarian aid work overseas.
WALTER WILLISON served as Board Vice President from 2004-2006 and was Director for both the 2005 and 2006 ceremonies. Walter received the Theatre World Award as well as a Tony nomination for his Broadway musical debut in Richard Rodgers's Two By Two, directed by Joe Layton. Grand Hotel: The Musical, directed by Tommy Tune; Pippin (as Pippin), directed by Bob Fosse; Norman, Is That You?, directed by George Abbott, are only a few of his many successes in his extensive career as an actor, director, lyricist and producer. His recordings include Two By Two, Grand Hotel, Broadway Scandals of 1928, A Christmas Carol, Anyone Can Whistle: Live at Carnegie Hall, Unsung Sondheim, Lost in Boston I & II, Unsung Irving Berlin, among others. Walter also collaborated with John Willis as Associate Editor for volumes #37, 38, 39, and 40 of Screen World, and volumes #42, 43, and 44 of Theatre World. He is currently writing the book and lyrics (music by Jeffrey Silverman) for Bus Stop: The Musical, based on the classic play by William Inge.
Advisors
CHRISTOPHER COHEN executive produced and directed both the highly acclaimed Broadway's Lost Treasures I and Broadway’s Lost Treasures II, as well as Broadway’s Lost Treasures III: The Best of the Tony Awards. He has also executive produced for PBS’s Great Performances series. His father Alexander Cohen, renowned Broadway producer, was, during his lifetime, a great supporter of John Willis and the Theatre World Awards. JASON CICCI is the Producing Artistic Director of Monday Morning Productions, which produced the 2003 Theatre World Awards for PBS. Since its incorporation, MMP has produced the world premieres of A Month of Sundays at Theatre Row Theatre, him & her at Ground Floor Theatre, and 7 Reece Mews at the Westbeth Arts Center. Other productions include Closet Chronicles starring Marilyn Sokol and Hate Mail starring Theatre World Award winner Danielle Ferland. Jason is also the Producing Artistic Director of Summerstage New York, a professional theatre company in Syracuse. In additon to his producing duties, Jason is an actor, writer and instructor. He is thrilled to be a part of Theatre World, an organization he has much admired for years.
MICHAEL MESSINA is the publisher of Applause Theatre & Cinema Books and Limelight Editions. He is proud to continue to publish the Theatre World annual book series. He has also worked for Da Capo Press, Cooper Square Press, and for the American Booksellers Association. Michael resides in New York City. BARRY MONUSH. a longtime associate of John Willis, was selected by John in 1995 to succeed him as Editor of the Screen World book. |