TUTS to Honor Berger with 2007 Ruth Denney Award

Theatre Under The Stars (TUTS) will present its 2007 Ruth Denney Award - a Lifetime Achievement Award given annually to an individual who has been instrumental in shaping lives of young artists in Houston - to Dr. Sidney Berger, founder of the Houston Shakespeare Festival, Houston's Children's Theatre Festival, and head of the University of Houston's School of Theatre since 1969.
 
The award to Dr. Berger will be presented at an April 24 ceremony at the Hobby Center for the Performing Arts (800 Bagby St.) in Houston.  The Ruth Denney Award is named in honor of Ruth Denney, the beloved drama teacher at Lamar High School in Houston, whose many students through the years have included Houston native and Tony-winner Tommy Tune.
 
Dr. Berger holds a Ph.D. from the University of Kansas and was a member of the faculty and Director of Graduate Studies at Michigan State University prior to his appointment at the University of Houston in 1969.  In recognition of his role in the theatre life of Houston, Dr. Berger is a recipient of the Mayor's Award for Outstanding Contribution by a Performing Artist. The City Council and the Mayor again recognized his accomplishments by issuing special proclamations in 1989 and 1993 for outstanding service to the arts.
 
He recently directed the University of Houston production of Arthur Miller's Death of a Salesman, and this summer he will direct the Houston Shakespeare Festival production of Love's Labor's Lost and The Children's Theatre Festival production of the new musical The Princess Who Could Not Be Heard, written by Berger and legendary Broadway composer Jerry Bock.
 
He has previously received the Esther Farfel Award in 1992, the University of Houston's highest academic award bestowed to the most outstanding faculty member of the year.  In 1996, he was named the John and Rebecca Moores Professor of Theatre by the University of Houston.

An Associate Artist at the Alley Theatre, he directed Frankie and Johnny in the Clair de Lune, T Bone N Weasel and All in the Timing.  Some of Dr. Berger's other professional directing credits include Betrayal, Sight Unseen, The Substance of Fire, A Delicate Balance and All Over at Stages Repertory Theatre, where he also served as Artistic Director. He also adapted and directed The Fall and Rise of Bertolt Brecht, wrote the book and lyrics for The Last Temptation of Christ, the libretto for Where is the Sun?, both with noted composer Theo Fanidi, and Tickets, Please for Texas Opera Theatre with music by Robert Nelson.

Previous Ruth Denney Award recipients have included Denney, choreographer Patsy Swayze, and Sam Houston State University for its Bachelor of Fine Arts in Musical Theatre Program.

Theatre Under The Stars (TUTS) has been a staple of the musical theatre scene since it was founded in 1968.  Since its founding, TUTS has produced more than 275 musicals including national and international premieres such as Beauty and the Beast, now celebrating its 13th year on Broadway. 
 
"The University of Houston's School of Theatre is one of the most ambitious and fastest growing theatre programs in the United States.  Under the leadership of Dr. Sidney L. Berger, who joined the faculty in 1969, the University of Houston School of Theatre presents a bold, challenging roster of plays year round -- from Strindberg, Anouilh and Shakespeare to Williams and Miller -- in its on-campus Wortham Theatre (566 seats) and Jose Quintero Theatre Lab (150 seats), and in the 1,700-seat arena where the Houston Shakespeare Festival performs free Shakespeare every summer, attracting a half-million theatergoers in its recent history," state press notes.
 
In 2007, the School of Theatre's Edward Albee New Playwright's Workshop -- founded in 1989 by the Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright -- will convene in the spring, culminating with the presentation of six original plays during public performances from April 25 to 30 at University of Houston's Jose Quintero Theatre.  Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Lanford Wilson (Talley's Folley, Burn This) has taught the Albee Workshop since 2003.
 
Also in 2007, the legendary Broadway producer Stuart Ostrow -- winner of 2 Tony Awards as producer of such renowned Broadway productions as 1776, M. Butterfly, Pippin and The Apple Tree-- will teach two popular programs at the School of Theatre:  The Broadway Musical Theatre Canon and Auditioning for the Professional Theatre.   Mr. Ostrow has been a Distinguished Professor at UH since 1995.

Visit www.tuts.org for more information.