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On behalf of 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 ongoing TWA annual awards ceremony. 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 the Theatre World Awards, so please visit the History, Home, and Award Winners pages of our website to learn more about us. We would love to hear from you! E-mail us at info@theatreworldawards.org with your questions or comments about the organization, our annual award ceremony, and how you can be more involved.
Mr. Willis 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 over 40 years, he 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 received a Special Tony Honor for Excellence in the Theatre, as well as awards from Drama Desk, Lucille Lortel, the Broadway Theater Institute, National Board of Review, Marquis Who's Who Publications Board, and Milligan College. He served on the nominating committees for the Tony Awards and the New York University Hall of Fame, and was on the board of the University of Tennessee Clarence Brown Theatre. Mr. Willis was a graduate of Milligan College and did graduate work at Indiana University, Harvard University, and the University of Tennessee, and served as an educator in the New York public school system for 20 years. Mr. Willis, at 93 years young, passed away only a few weeks after attending the 2010 Awards Ceremony. At his memorial, Rosemary Harris (1953 Theatre World Award winner for The Climate of Eden) remarked: "The Theatre World Award he bestowed to 'newcomers to Broadway' was like a benediction; a sign, that somehow, someway, one was on the right path.” The goal of the TWA Board of Directors is to continue his legacy of "encouraging promising talent in an often challenging business."
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. His new book, The Biggest Hit of the Season / The Biggest Flop of the Season, will be published by Hal Leonard Books in October 2010. 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.
BARRY KEATING, Interim Board President 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 worldwide 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, and is founder and CEO of Starmites Kids Parties, the longest-running children's entertainment company in NYC. He has directed the last three Theatre World Awards ceremonies. |
Host
Board of Directors
Board Emeritus
Advisors
Committee |
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ERIN OESTREICH, Board Vice-President Erin Oestreich has been working in the field of Theatrical Producing and Management for nearly 15 years. She has worked with Stage Entertainment, Dodger Stage Holding, Hello Entertainment and Edwards-Adams Theatricals. Her work with Stage Entertainment and Dodger Stage Holding covers over 50 productions in 7 countries. These include the Broadway productions of Urinetown, 42nd Street, Titanic, Into the Woods, Blast!, and The Music Man. International productions include The Lion King, Mamma Mia!, Les Misérables, Chicago, Elisabeth, 42nd Street, Aida, Titanic, Rent, Fosse, and The Phantom of the Opera. Erin has had a long-term relationship developing and producing theatrical projects with the late Tony Adams. Projects include Spider-Man: Turn off the Dark (Director, Julie Taymor; Music and Lyrics, Bono and The Edge); Ghost the Musical (Director, Matthew Warchus; Music and Lyrics, Dave Steward and Glen Ballard); The Immigrant; Lullaby of Broadway: Opening Night on 42nd Street (a PBS television special); Dudley Moore: A Man for All Seasons (a final tribute to Dudley Moore at Carnegie Hall, hosted by Barbara Walters); My Favorite Broadway: The Love Songs (a live concert hosted by Julie Andrews). She also worked closely with Tony Adams on the development of ICE, an entertainment extravaganza on ice for Las Vegas, presented to major hotel owners in Las Vegas. Erin began her career in theatre as a Stage Manager. She was formerly on the Board of Trustees of The Bloomsburg Theatre Ensemble, one of the longest running Ensemble Theatres in the country. Erin has been a Theatre World Awards Board Member and a Producer of the ceremony since 2007.
JON LONOFF, Board Treasurer
CARA LUSTIK, Board Secretary
MARY K. BOTOSAN, Board Member MARY K. BOTOSAN has served as Production Manager for the Theatre World Awards Ceremonies since 2007 and joined the Board in 2009. Over her career in Production Management and Stage Management (member Actors’ Equity Association), Mary has worked with The Cleveland Play House, Berkshire Theatre Festival, San Jose Repertory Theatre, American Players Theatre, Williamstown Theatre Festival, Lincoln Center Theatre, Radio City Christmas Spectacular starring The Rockettes, DreamWorks SKG, Billy Crystal's 700 Sundays on Broadway, Production Arts, Production Resource Group and Design & Production Inc. Currently, Mary leads a life split between a home in Costa Rica, where she and her husband are actively involved in private conservation and reforestation projects, and a NYC freelance career in production and project management of theatre and theatrical installations. Most recent projects include technical supervision for a new permanent installation at the Smithsonian Natural History Museum in DC.
VERN CALHOUN, Board Member VERN T. CALHOUN moved to New York to work on the Tony Awards with Broadway and television impresario Alexander H. Cohen. Since then, he has produced a vast array of shows for television and the stage, including high-profile, big-budget specials and series for network and cable television. Vern won an Emmy Award as the co-producer of Free to Be ... A Family, a family special starring Marlo Thomas, Lily Tomlin, Whoopi Goldberg and Robin Williams. He has produced benefits for a wide variety of organizations, including the Actors’ Fund of America, Brooklyn Academy of Music, Children’s Defense Fund, City Parks Foundation, and Motion Picture Fund Home and Hospital, among others. Among his accomplishments is producing the first Presidential Gala of the Clinton administration at Lincoln Center, which was the most successful benefit ever to that time for the Democratic National Committee. He was Executive Director and Producer for the multi-award-winning Off-Broadway Worth Street Theater Company. During his tenure, he produced Samuel Beckett’s Happy Days at Classic Stage Company (Drama League nomination), Larry Kramer’s The Normal Heart at The Public Theater (GLAAD Media Award, Drama Desk and Drama League nominations), Tristine Skyler’s The Moonlight Room at The Tribeca Playhouse and The Beckett Theatre on Theatre Row (Lucille Lortel and John Gassner Playwriting Award nominations), and Voices of Peace & Dissent from Ground Zero at The Tribeca Playhouse and Classic Stage Company. He also produced the inaugural season of the still-running Oxford-style debate series Intelligence Squared. He is currently in charge of communications for the Greater New York City Affiliate of Susan G. Komen for the Cure, where he is producing all of their special events as well as running marketing, advertising, public relations and press, and their website. He is a graduate of Northwestern University.
DOROTHY KOPELMAN, Board Member
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!
KATI MEISTER, Board Member KATI MEISTER is an independent producer in theatre, film, and television. As the first Executive Director of the Northern Berkshire Council of the Arts, she coordinated arts programs for 15 diverse towns in Massachusetts. After moving to New York, Kati was a Producer on The First Annual Nightlife Awards, honoring top nightclub performers in cabaret, jazz, and comedy. In 2009, she co-produced Broadway for a New America, a marriage equality benefit. She is on the advisory board of Dancing With Horses, a dance company creating works for dancers, horses and equestrians. A veteran of the film and television industry, Kati has produced various PBS specials and was Associate Producer on the pioneering, interactive children's TV series, I'll Do It. She is currently a Producer on several arts and education children’s TV projects in development. As Supervisor of Research, Rights and Clearances, Kati’s film and TV credits include Woody Allen's Zelig, Broadway Danny Rose, and Crimes and Misdemeanors; Frequency; Hart's War; The Manchurian Candidate; Kinsey; The Producers: The Movie Musical; Saturday Night Live (NBC); Dear America: Letters Home From Vietnam (HBO); Inside the Actors' Studio (Bravo); and Hip to the Tip: The Atlantic Records Story (Channel Four, UK). Kati supervised Picture Research on What’d I Say—The Atlantic Story, a pictorial history of Atlantic Records. She has shepherded several books to publication, including The Jazz Image, a history of jazz photography. In addition, Kati manages the Carole Reiff Photo Archive of rare vintage jazz photos. Kati has been a Theatre World Award board member since 2005 and a Producer of the ceremony since 2006.
SAL SCAMARDO, Board Member With over two decades of entertainment industry experience working with Hollywood studios, worldwide music companies, television networks, major sports leagues, independent film distributors and heading his own production and marketing company, SAL SCAMARDO is an Emmy Award–winning seasoned entertainment industry veteran. With stints at CBS/FOX Video, PolyGram Video, USA Films, Chris Blackwell’s Palm Pictures, and recently President of NYC based City Lights Pictures, Sal is known for building up companies and divisions generating hundreds of millions in sales. He possesses a very unique and broad range of experience as an executive having held key positions in marketing, public relations, production, business development and promotions. He has been responsible for successfully managing brands, libraries and releases from a wide-range of programming sources and partners including BBC, CBS, ABC, NBC, NBA Entertainment, NFL Films, Major League Baseball, The National Hockey League, NIKE, and Reebok, and has worked alongside major on screen talent and sports superstars including Cher, Michael Jordan, Andrew Lloyd Webber and Mitzi Gaynor in addition to Academy Award–winning producers and many acclaimed film directors.
JANE STUART, Board Member JANE STUART currently is the President and General Manager of home.work.people, a firm specializing in real estate and executive search, marketing primarily to the entertainment industry. Ms. Stuart formerly was the president of Cabana, one of the country’s largest television commercial post production companies as well as Big Picture, a commercial production company. She left the television commercial business to learn commercial real estate, ultimately starting her own firm in August 2001. A newspaper reporter by first profession, Ms Stuart worked for the Record of Bergen County, NJ; the Times Herald Record of Middletown, NY, and the Daily News. Following a path of covering local politics, education, the courts and police, Ms. Stuart also did political public relations and speech writing. Ms. Stuart was later lured into residential real estate, where she became vice president of the firm Elizabeth Gretsch Realty in Monroe, NY. Five years later, she was lured from the suburbs to New York City by a well-known television commercial director/editor. She went on to merge her first company, Even Time, with a subsequent company, Big Picture Editorial and a joint venture she had formed between the two, Station I Editorial and sold the entities to International Post Limited in 1995. Along the way she became steeped in the advertising and marketing worlds. Ms. Stuart was bought out of her contract in late 1999 and was lured into commercial real estate. A year into her commercial real estate career she began receiving inquiries from customers asking about residential real estate and staffing, Ms Stuart formed home.work.people to serve their needs. The company, while marketing to the entertainment and advertising communities, finds office space and buildings for all businesses from doctors to lawyers to Indian chiefs. During the week while working in New York, Ms Stuart is an avid theatergoer. She spends her free time at her home in East Hampton where she also paints.
Board EmeritusTHOM CHRISTOPHER served as Board Treasurer from 1997 to 2000. He received his Theatre World Award in 1974 for Noel Coward in Two Keys. He also received for that performance the Clarence Derwent Award. He appeared on Broadway with Rex Harrison in Caesar and Cleopatra and Pirandello's Emperor Henry IV. Many Off-Broadway performances include One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest, Triumph of Love, Another Vermeer, Night Blooming Jasmine, The Changeling, and more. Many regional theatre performances include the title roles in King Lear, Zorba, A Picasso, and Trumbo. He is a recipient of a Daytime Emmy Award for his work in One Life to Live and a two-time Emmy Nominee for One Life to Live and Loving. He has also been seen as a series regular as The Hawk in NBC's Buck Rogers in the 25th Century, Aristotle Onassis in the miniseries Women of Camelot, in many guest appearances on nighttime television, and in many independent feature films and experimental film projects.
SCOTT DENNY served on the Board through 2009. He 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 61-63 and upcoming volume 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 2007-2009 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 premiere of Paper Moon and world premiere of Silver Dollar, both at Stage One in Wichita, Kansas.
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. 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.
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.
AdvisorsJASON 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.
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.
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. |
JOHN WILLIS, Founder (October 16, 1916–June 25, 2010)