Tom Jones, Harvey Schmidt Honored At William Inge Festival

Tom Jones and Harvey Schmidt, who have fashioned American musical history, are the Honorees of the 28th annual William Inge Theatre Festival in Independence, Kansas.

Jones and Schmidt-perhaps best known for "The Fantasticks," the longest running musical in history-will receive the Inge Festival's Distinguished Achievement in the American Theatre Award during the festival, which runs April 22-25, 2009.

"Simplicity" is a supreme compliment that applies to Jones and Schmidt musicals. They broadened the scale of the Broadway musical with their engaging and innovative approach.

"This legendary writing team is bold and adventurous in their work; funny and touching, enormously romantic and sentimental without being cloying," said Inge Center Artistic Director Peter Ellenstein. "They have a long line of marvelous, innovative musicals, and I'm excited to have the public gain greater knowledge of the breadth of their shows."

The Jones and Schmidt style is bold: the musicals are characterized as "minimal," with small casts and modest sets, but are inspiring and audacious.

"The Fantasticks" exemplifies that simple yet limitless style. Inspired by an Edmond Rostand play, this story of a young couple and their conniving parents opened in 1960 at an off-Broadway theater--and ran 42 years, counting 16,875 performances.

Jones and Schmidt followed with their first Broadway show, "110 in the Shade." This adaption of the N. Richard Nash story "The Rainmaker" is celebrated for a glorious score and was revived on Broadway in 2007, starring multiple Tony-Winner, Audra Macdonald. Broadway was again their next stop, with "I Do! I Do!" a two-character musical, starring Mary Martin and Robert Preston.

An additional festival highlight is the reading of a new play by Carlos Murillo, titled "Diagram of an Airplane." Murillo is the Inge Festival's Otis Gurensey New Voices in the American Theatre Award-winner. The award was named for the late theater writer Otis Gurensey, who was a champion of new work and a frequent visitor to the Inge Festival.

The Honorees will be joined at the festival by actors and directors from New York and Hollywood throughout the four-day event. The guests will perform and also conduct public panels and workshops, a unique opportunity for the general public to directly learn from professionals in the field.

The Inge Festival is named for the late William Inge, the Pulitzer Prize winning playwright ("Picnic") and Oscar-winning ("Splendor in the Grass") writer. He is a native of Independence and an alumnus of Independence Community College, host of the festival. Independence is located 140 miles south of Kansas City, Mo., and 90 miles north of Tulsa, Okla.

Tickets for the Inge Festival are on sale online March 1, 2009. Information is available at www.ingefestival.org or by calling (800) 842-6063 ext. 5835.