Chita Rivera, Ben Vereen, Cady Huffman And Others Set To Honor Tony Walton

By: May. 27, 2005
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On Monday, June 6, 2005, The York Theatre Company will present the international stage and film designer Tony Walton with the fifteenth Oscar Hammerstein Award for Lifetime Achievement in Musical Theatre at its annual spring benefit at Broadway's Hudson Theatre, 145 West 44th Street.  Honorary Chairs are Julie Andrews, Stephen Sondheim and Alice Hammerstein Mathias.  The award is presented as the highlight of a gala concert evening which begins with cocktails and dinner at 6:00 pm and continues with a star-studded concert performance and award ceremony at 8:00 pm.  Scheduled to appear are Chita Rivera, Ben Vereen, Judd Hirsch, Tony Walton, Veanne Cox,  Emma Walton, Kate Burton, Cady Huffman, Nancy Hess, Jenny Fellner and many others.  The evening concludes with a cast party dessert reception.  The evening, directed by Kathleen Marshall, benefits the York Theatre's developmental work with new musicals.  Music Director is Stephen Lutvak.

The Oscar Hammerstein Award is named for the lyricist-librettist who helped to define the American musical theatre. The award was created by the late Janet Hayes Walker, and is administered by The York Theatre Company with the endorsement of the Hammerstein family and the Rodgers & Hammerstein Organization.   Past recipients include Stephen Sondheim, Harold Prince, Betty Comden and Adolph Green, Cy Coleman, Jerry Herman, Charles Strouse, John Kander and Fred Ebb, and Carol Channing.

Tony Walton is a designer of settings--and, frequently, costumes--for theatre and film. His many Broadway designs include the recent revivals of Our Town, I'm Not Rappaport, The Man Who Came to Dinner, Uncle Vanya, Annie Get Your Gun, 1776, A Funny Thing Happened On the Way to the Forum, She Loves Me, Guys and Dolls, and Anything Goes. Other designs for Broadway include Bob Fosse's original productions of Chicago and Pippin, Pinter's Moonlight and Ashes to Ashes, Grand Hotel, The Real Thing, The Will Rogers Follies and The House of Blue Leaves.  He was the Production Designer for Madison Square Garden's

Christmas Carol and for Julie Andrews' triumphant Bay Street Theatre revival of The Boy Friend which they will recreate this summer for Goodspeed Musicals and a U.S. tour.  His film designs include Mary Poppins, Murder on the Orient Express, Fahrenheit 451, The Wiz, The Boy Friend, All That Jazz, Death of a Salesman, Regarding Henry, and Deathtrap, for such directors as Bob Fosse, Sidney Lumet, Paul Newman, Mike Nichols, Ken Russell, and Francois Truffaut.  More recently, Walton has branched out into directing, staging and designing a revival of Oscar Wilde's The Importance of Being Earnest and the American premiere of After the Ball (Coward after Wilde), both for The Irish Repertory Theatre, and Where's Charley? for Goodspeed.  His many citations include the Oscar, the Emmy, and three Tonys (16 nominations), and he is a member of the Theatre Hall of Fame.

The York Theatre Company, celebrating its 36th season, is the only theatre in New York City -and one of very few in the world - dedicated to developing and fully producing new musicals, and preserving neglected, notable shows from the past.  For over three decades, York's intimate, imaginative style of producing both original and neglected classic musicals has resulted in critical acclaim and recognition from artists and audiences alike.  Recent productions include LingoLand, Souvenir, The Musical of Musicals (The Musical!), The IT Girl, Suburb, Fermat's Last Tango, After the Fair, Taking a Chance on Love, Jolson and Company, No Way to Treat a Lady, Roadside, The Last Sweet Days, The Show Goes On, Prodigal, Porterphiles, Max Morath:  Ragtime and Again and Exactly Like You.  Many of these have recorded cast albums, making a total of over twenty York recordings to date.  In addition, the York has presented over fifty concert revivals of musical theatre gems from the past in its acclaimed "Musical in Mufti" series.  Over forty readings of new musicals are presented each year in York's Developmental Reading Series, the incubator for such shows as Avenue Q, The Musical of Musicals (The Musical!), The Summer of '42, and Children's Letters to God, and its current production of Thrill Me: The Leopold & Loeb Story.  York also presents workshops of new musicals, a number of which have been recipients of the prestigious Richard Rodgers Development Award, administered by The American Academy of Arts and Letters.

The York Theatre Gala honoring Tony Walton will be held at the Hudson Theatre at the Millennium Hotel, 145 West 44th Street, New York City.  Cocktails and Dinner begin at 6:00pm; the Concert performance and Awards Ceremony begins at 8:00pm; a dessert reception follows.  For information and reservations, please call 212 867-1117.

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