Liz McCartney and Steve Blanchard Set for Column Awards Gala, 2/24

By: Feb. 21, 2014
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The COLUMN Awards Organization has announced that two more stars from Broadway will be appearing at the 15thAnnual COLUMN Awards Gala.

THE COLUMN Awards honors excellence in theater (Equity and Non-Equity) within the Dallas-Fort Worth Theatre community. The gala is open to the general public and will be held Monday February 24, 2014 at the Patty Granville Performing Arts Center. Cocktail reception at 7:00pm, curtain at 8:00pm. For ticket and all other info go to: www.thecolumnawards.org.

THE COLUMN Awards holds the esteemed honor of being the only awards organization in the United States that uses this gala as a major fundraiser for BROADWAY CARES/EQUITY FIGHTS AIDS.

Broadway stars Liz McCartney and Steve Blanchard, both currently headlining the national tour of DISNEY'S THE LITTLE MERMAID will serve as special guest star presenters at the gala, as well as attending the VIP private reception. DISNEY'S THE LITTLE MERMAID recently opened Tuesday evening at Dallas Summer Musicals.

They join previously announced Broadway sensation Rachel York, who just this month earned critical acclaim in City Center's revival of LITTLE ME. Ms. York will serve as Co-host at the gala and will also be performing!

LIZ McCARTNEY portrays the evil sea witch Ursula in the current national tour of THE LITTLE MERMAID. She came directly from the recent Broadway revival of ANNIE. Ms. McCartney was in the original Broadway casts of PHANTOM OF OPERA, MAMMA MIA!, THROUGHLY MODERN MILLIE, LES MISERABLES, & DANCE OF THE VAMPIRES. She also was in the critically acclaimed 2008 Broadway revival of SOUTH PACIFIC, which was telecast on PBS. Ms. McCartney earned cult status acclaim for her portrayal of "Big Sue" in the Broadway debut of the Boy George penned musical TABOO. With this year's theme, she will feel quite at home as Liz also did the national tour of WICKED as Madame Morrible! She is also a writer and working on two musicals.

STEVE BLANCHARD holds a very unique and special Broadway record. He has the great distinction of having portrayed the role of the Beast in DISNEY'S BEAUTY AND THE BEAST longer than ANY other actor on Broadway (over an 8 year run!). He was also on Broadway in such productions as the 1993 revival of CAMELOT in the role of Lancelot & co-starring with Robert Goulet; & THE THEE MUSKETEERS. Mr. Blanchard's national tour credits include LITTLE HOUSE ON THE PRAIRIE, CAMELOT, PHANTOM OF THE OPERA, FORUM, & HANS CHRISTIAN ANDERSON . He has had numerous opportunities to originate roles in new original musicals such as Johnny Guitar, Sundown, Gladiator, & Frankenstein. On television he has been seen in Ed, Third Watch, Law and Order, Sunset Beat, Police Story, Another World, One Life to Live, Guiding Light, and Rapmaster Ronnie for HBO.

RACHEL YORK is a dynamic and versatile actress, singer, dancer and comedienne. She is best known for her critically acclaimed Broadway performances in City of Angels, LES MISERABLES, Victor/Victoria (Drama Desk Award), with Dame Julie Andrews, The Scarlet Pimpernel, Sly Fox with Richard Dreyfuss, and Dirty Rotten Scoundrels co-starring Jonathan Pryce. She also turned heads on television with her courageous portrayal of Lucille Ball in the CBS movie, Lucy.

Ms. York recently completed the national tour of the Tony-Award winning production of Anything Goes, headlining the tour as Reno Sweeney. Also on tour, she has created the role of Cruella de Vil in The 101 Dalmatians Musical; starred as Guenevere in Camelot (Carbonell Award) opposite Michael York; and portrayed Lilli Vanessi/Kate in Kiss Me, Kate (US and West End). Off-Broadway Ms. York has starred in The Best Is Yet to Come: The Music of Cy Coleman; Stephen Sondheim's Putting It Together (MTC, Drama Desk nomination) also with Julie Andrews, Dessa Rose (Lincoln Center Theater, Drama Desk nomination), and most recently as Dorothy Shaw in the acclaimed Encores! production of Gentlemen Prefer Blondes.

Favorite regional productions include The King and I; The Game (a musical adaptation of Les Liaisons Dangereuses); Turn of the Century opposite Jeff Daniels (Goodman Theatre, Chicago); Hello, Dolly! (Boston, IRNE Award); Into the Woods (Boston, IRNE Award); Spamalot; Ragtime; Evita; Summer and Smoke; and The Odd Couple with Jason Alexander and Martin Short.

In concert, Ms. York's has performed with the New York Pops at Carnegie Hall; the National Symphony and the Pittsburgh Pops under the direction of conductor Marvin Hamlisch; Broadway Showstoppers with Peter Nero and the Philly Pops; The Sound of Music at the Hollywood Bowl with the Los Angeles Philharmonic; the San Francisco Symphony; the Detroit Symphony; the Minnesota Orchestra; the Utah Symphony; the St. Louis Symphony; and the Jerusalem Symphony Orchestra among others. She has also performed her celebrated cabaret For the Love of It to rave reviews nationwide.

Ms. York's film credits include One Fine Day, Happy Feet, Billy Bathgate, Second Honeymoon, Au Pair II, and the CBS made for television movie, Lucy. Her performances in Kiss Me, Kate (filmed for PBS's Great Performances series) and Victor/Victoria are available on video/DVD. Ms. York has also appeared on several popular TV series including Hannah Montana, Frasier, Reba, Numb3rs, Close to Home, Spin City, and Diagnosis Murder. She is the voice of Bitty in Higglytown Heroes and Circe on The Justice League.

Ms. York's debut solo album, Let's Fall in Love, has been an enormous success since its release and was named one of the Top Ten Vocal CDs of the year by Talkin' Broadway. For more information, visit her on the web at www.rachelyork.com.

Photo by Walter McBride



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