Sondheim to Present Hal Prince With O'Neill Theater Center's Monte Cristo Award 4/5

Tom Viertel, Chairman of the Board of the Eugene O'Neill Theater Center, has announced that Stephen Sondheim will present Harold Prince with the organization's Monte Cristo Award at a gala benefit on Monday, April 5, 2010 at Bridgewaters (11 Fulton Street, NYC). The Award, given annually in recognition of a distinguished career exemplifying Eugene O'Neill's pioneering spirit and standard of excellence, has previously been presented to Kevin Spacey, Neil Simon, Jason Robards, Jr., Edward Albee, August Wilson, Zoe Caldwell, Brian Dennehy, Karl Malden, Arthur and Barbara Gelb, and Wendy Wasserstein.

Beginning in 1957, Sondheim and Prince collaborated on a series of ground-breaking musicals that have since achieved legendary status, including: West Side Story, Company, Follies, A Little Night Music, Pacific Overtures, Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street, and Merrily We Roll Along, making Sondheim's presentation, according to O'Neill Executive Director Preston Whiteway, "particularly poignant, and with the well deserved honors going to Steve this spring, it is fun to turn the tables and have him present to Hal, his longtime friend and collaborator."

Whiteway also noted that Lauren Bacall and Phyllis Newman have agreed to serve on the event's Honorary Committee, joining a previously-announced slate of theater luminaries, including: Co-Chairs Angela Lansbury, Stephen Sondheim, and Tom Viertel & Pat Daily; Committee Members Kate Baldwin, Pat Birch, Jerry Bock, Carol Burnett, Len Cariou, John Cullum, Michael Douglas & Catherine Zeta-Jones, Ellen Fitzhugh, Joel Grey, Sheldon Harnick, Stephen & Ruth Hendel, Shuler
Hensley, Heather Henson, John Kander, Tim Kashani, Judy Kaye, Linda Lavin, John McMartin & Charlotte Moore, Terrence McNally, James Nederlander, Sr., Richard Nelson, Mandy Patinkin, Tony Pontoro, Jordan Roth, Kevin Spacey, Elaine Stritch, Susan Stroman, Jonathan Tunick, Alfred Uhry, in addition to O'Neill founders George C. White & Betsy White.

The Monte Cristo Award Celebration will begin with cocktails at 6:30 followed by dinner and presentation. A highlight of the evening will be performances honoring Prince directed by Marc Bruni (Encores! Fanny); John Cudia, Kelli O'Hara, Len Cariou, Cheyenne Jackson and Kate Baldwin will perform, with additional artists to be announced shortly.

Prince has had tremendous success as director, producer and artistic director on Broadway over the past 50 years, playing an integral part of more than 60 productions, including: The Pajama Game, Damn Yankees, West Side Story, A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, She
Loves Me, Fiddler on the Roof, Cabaret, Candide, Sweeney Todd, Evita, The Phantom of the Opera, Kiss of the Spider Woman, and Show Boat. He has received an unprecedented 21 Tony Awards, 6 Drama Desk Awards, and the National Medal for the Arts; Prince is also a Kennedy Center Honoree and has served as trustee for the New York Public Library and on the National Council of the Arts of the NEA.

For ticket and table reservations, reserve online at http://www.theoneill.org>.

The Eugene O'Neill Theater Center, founded in 1964 in honor of Eugene O'Neill, four-time Pulitzer Prize Winner and America's only playwright to win the Nobel Prize in Literature, is the country's preeminent organization dedicated to the development of new works and new voices for the American theater. The O'Neill has been home to more than 1,000 new works for the stage and 2,500 emerging artists. Scores of projects developed at the O'Neill have gone on to full production at major regional theaters, on Broadway, on Off-Broadway, and around the world.

O'Neill programs include: National Playwrights Conference, National Music Theater Conference, National Critics Institute, National Puppetry Conference, Cabaret & Performance Conference, and the National Theater Institute, which conducts semester-long fully accredited intensive theater training programs at the O'Neill and in Russia; NTI also conducts Theatermakers, a six-week accredited summer program for advanced theater students.

In addition, The Eugene O'Neill Theater Center owns and operates Monte Cristo Cottage as a museum open to the public. Childhood summer home of Eugene O'Neill, the Cottage is a National Historic Landmark.

The Eugene O'Neill Theater Center has received a special Tony Award, the National Opera Award, the Jujamcyn Award for Theater Excellence, and the Arts and Business Council Encore Award. For more information, visit the O'Neill at http://www.theoneill.org or email theaterlives@theoneill.org<mailto:theaterlives@theoneill.org>.

Photo Credit: Walter McBride/Retna Ltd.