Hal Prince, Tovah Feldshuh, et al. Set for 2011 Theatre Museum Awards, 5/16

Classic tunes from Fiddler on the Roof, Fiorello!, She Loves Me, The Apple Tree, and others will fill the air at New Yorks legendary National Arts Club on Monday May 16, 2011 as The Theatre Museum pays tribute to famed Broadway lyricist Sheldon Harnick -- its 2011 Career Achievement Award recipient.

The musical tribute, directed by renowned film, television and Broadway showman Tony Walton, boasts performances from a dynamic array of Broadway talent including Jim Brochu, Gregg Edelman, Tovah Feldshuh, Jenny Fellner, Boyd Gaines, Anita Gillette, Jessica Grove, Elizabeth Inghram, Judy Kuhn, Howard McGillin and Rita Moreno. Mary-Mitchell Campbell serves as the evenings musical director.

Sparkling stage song and dance man John Bolton will once again take the stage as the evenings Master of Ceremonies.

Hal Prince, who produced the original productions of Fiorello! and Fiddler on the Roof, and both produced and directed She Loves Me, will present the award to his friend and colleague Harnick. Best known for his collaboration with composer Jerry Bock, Harnicks career spans six decades and features numerous honors including three Tony Awards and a Pulitzer Prize.

Prolific Tony Award winning producer Bonnie Comley, whose stage productions include The Merchant of Venice, Priscilla: Queen of the Desert, Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson, Enron, Alfred Hitchcocks The 39 Steps and Legally Blonde will be presented The Theatre Museums Service to the Theatre Award by Broadway icon Jim Dale.

The Theatre History Preservation Award will be bestowed upon Frank Cullen and Donald McNeilly for their exhaustive efforts to preserve and chronicle the history of Vaudeville which include co-founding The American Vaudeville Museum in 1982. Modern day vaudevillian Trav S. D.,best known for the book No Applause, Just Send Money, will present the award.

And The Frank Sinatra School of the Arts, founded by Tony Bennett, will receive The Theatre Museums Theatre Arts Education Award. Offering New York City 8th and 9th graders a specialized program that emphasizes the arts, the schools principal, Donna Finn, will accept the award from Peter Avery, Director of Theater, NYC Dept. of Education.

The Theatre Museums 2011 Awards Gala will kick off at 6:00 pm with a cocktail reception featuring a silent auction hosted by Judith Ripka. The Awards Presentation will begin at 7:00 pm, culminating in a sponsors toast to the honorees at 8:30 pm.

Tickets and journal opportunities are available through The Theatre Museum website, by calling the office (212 764 4112), or by emailing awards@thetheatremuseum.org.

Founded in 2003, The Theatre Museum is New Yorks first and only chartered, non-profit museum dedicated to the history of theatre. It is a museum-at-large -- presenting exhibitions on a myriad of subjects in collaboration with other cultural institutions. The Museum's community outreach includes teaching children how to write, direct and stage live theatre, as well as the presentation of the annual Theatre Museum Awards for Excellence at its annual Gala. Its primary mission is to preserve, protect and perpetuate the legacy of theatre through innovative programming.

Photo Credit: Peter James Zielinski

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