Steinem Presents at First Annual Lilly Awards; 5/24; Honors Rogers, Chenoweth & More

 

The Committee for Recognizing Women in Theater has announced the first annual "Lilly Awards" in honor of Lillian Hellman.

This year, the Lilly Awards will honor 17 women theater artists who have been produced in the past year in New York City.

They will also give their first annual Lifetime Achievement Award to Mary Rodgers. Kristin Chenoweth, among other accomplished women will present the awards throughout the ceremony, which begins at 5 pm on Monday, May 24th at Playwrights Horizons. Gloria Steinem will present the invocation.

The committee, consisting of Julie Crosby, John Eisner, Gary Garrison, Tina Howe, Julia Jordan, Marsha Norman, Theresa Rebeck, Susan Rose, Tim Sanford and the Dramatists Guild of America was founded out of a desire to celebrate the work of outstanding, successful and up-and-coming women playwrights, directors, designers and advocates in the theater.

Pulitzer-Award Winning Playwright Marsha Norman recalls when she interviewed Lillian Hellman late in her life, for the New York Times. "She warned me it was going to be tough to be a woman working in the theater. She said I'd need to write like the devil and also act like one when necessary. She was right on all counts. This party is just to remind everybody that there are so many great women working in the theatre now.

In New York alone, 51 plays this year, on Broadway and off, were written by women. And the work is stunning. I wish Ms. Hellman could see this."

Artistic Director of Playwrights Horizons, Tim Sanford, concurs. "It's such a robust time for new writing in the U.S., especially from emerging writers. Women playwrights are leading the way, and women are also increasingly the go-to directors for developing new plays. Having premiered work by women for years, Playwrights Horizons is proud to host this event."

"There are a thousand stories to tell, and women are telling half of them," says playwright Theresa Rebeck. "This award hopes to honor and recognize those stories."

A reception will follow at The West Bank Café.

 

 

 

Photo Credit: Walter McBride/Retna Ltd.