York Honors George S. Irving With Oscar Hammerstein Award 12/8

The York Theatre Company (James Morgan, Producing Artistic Director) will honor Tony Award-winner George S. Irving with the 17th Oscar Hammerstein Award for Lifetime Achievement in Musical Theatre Monday, December 8th.

The concert celebration of Irving’s career will be presented at The Players Club (16 Gramercy Park).  Prior to the 8:15 pm curtain will be a dinner at Japonais (111 East 18th Street), starting with a cocktail reception at 5:00 pm, featuring both live and silent auctions with dinner to follow. 

After the performance, the evening will conclude at The Players Club with a champagne/ dessert reception and cast party for all attendees.  

During the attack on Pearl Harbor, Mr. Irving was waving a beer mug in the chorus of a touring production of The Student Prince at the National Theatre in Washington. After that close brush with history, he went on to his Broadway debut in the original company of Oklahoma!

There followed a stint among the greatest generation, and when World War II closed he returned to the stage in Call Me Mister, Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, Tovarich, I Remember Mama, Me and Juliet, An Evening with Richard Nixon (Drama Desk Award), So Long, 174th Street, Irene  (Tony Award), On Your Toes and Me and My Girl, among others. At the New York City Opera, he sang in Regina, Street Scene, The Ballad of Baby Doe and a German production of The Threepenny Opera. At Lucille Lortel’s White Barn Theatre, he played in a two-person revue, Together at Last, with his late wife, Maria Karnilova, and a one-man show, An Evening with W.S. Gilbert.  George is currently reprising his role as Harrison Marlowe in York Theatre’s production of Enter Laughing: The Musical, closing Sunday, October 26th.

The Oscar Hammerstein Award is named in honor of the legendary lyricist who helped shape the American musical theatre through his collaborations with a number of different composers and writers.   The Oscar Hammerstein Award Gala is the major fundraising event of The York Theatre Company, and is presented with the endorsement of the Rodgers & Hammerstein Organization and the Hammerstein Family.  Past recipients include Stephen Sondheim, Betty Comden & Adolph Green, Harold Prince, Cy Coleman, Charles Strouse, Arthur Laurents, Jerry Herman, Stephen Schwartz, Peter Stone, David Merrick, John Kander & Fred Ebb, Terrence McNally, Sir Cameron Mackintosh, Carol Channing, Tony Walton and Joseph Stein.  The award will be presented by Alice Hammerstein Mathias.  Anita Jaffe serves as the Honorary Chairperson of the event.

Scheduled to Appear: Joy Abbott (co-author of upcoming biography of her late husband George Abbott), Loni Ackerman (Cats, Evita and original Broadway cast of So Long, 174th Street, the first Enter Laughing musical), Jim Dale (Barnum, narrator on “Pushing Daisies” and the voice on the award-winning audio book, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows), Golden Globe winner Jill Eikenberry (for “LA Law,” 5-time Emmy nominee; currently appearing in York Theatre’s Enter Laughing), Tony® nominee Anita Gillette (Theatre World winner and multiple TV and film credits from “Quincy M.E.” to “30 Rock”), Josh Grisetti (“Knights of Prosperity” and York’s Enter Laughing), TV’s Michael Tucker (170+ episodes of “LA Law” - where he played the husband of real-life wife Jill Eikenberry), MGM star Jane Powell (Royal Wedding, Seven Brides for Seven Brothers, recently seen in Stephen Sondheim’s Bounce), Tony® nominee Charlotte Rae (TV’s “Facts of Life” and “Different Strokes”), Tony®, Drama Desk and Theatre World Award winner Michael Rupert (Falsettos, Legally Blonde) and Tony®  winner Maryann Plunkett (currently on Broadway in A Man for All Seasons).  The presentation will be directed by York favorite and Tony® Award winning choreographer Donald Saddler.

The York Theatre Company 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, the York’s intimate, imaginative style of producing both new and classic musicals has resulted in critical acclaim, multiple awards, and acclamation from artists and audiences alike.  In 2006, a special Drama Desk Award was presented to the York for its “vital contributions to theater by developing and presenting new musicals.”

For tickets to the event, visit www.yorktheatre.org or call 212-935-5824, ext. 15.

Photo Credit Walter McBride/Retna Ltd.

Test and expand your Broadway knowledge with our new game - The Broadway Match-Up! How well do you know your Broadway casting trivia?	Play the Daily Game, explore current shows, and delve into past decades like the 2000s, 80s, and the Golden Age. Challenge your friends and see where you rank!
How well do you know your Tony Awards history? Take our never-ending quiz of nominations and winner history and challenge your friends.	Can you beat your friends? Play today’s daily Broadway word game, featuring a new theatrically inspired word or phrase every day!