NYIT Announces 2008 Honorary Award Recipients

The New York Innovative Theatre Awards (IT Awards), the organization dedicated to celebrating Off-Off-Broadway, is pleased to announce the 2008 Honorary Award Recipients.

The IT Awards will announce its fourth annual production awards in a ceremony on Monday, September 22, 2008 at the Haft Auditorium at the Fashion Institute of Technology (Building C, W. 27th St., bet. 7th and 8th aves.). Tickets: $25 in advance, $30 at the door, available at www.nyitawards.com.

According to Leonard Jacobs, National Theatre Editor, Back Stage and Chair of the Honorary Awards Committee, "Off-Off-Broadway's evolution over the last decade has been thrilling, especially given the economic challenges faced by independent artists. That the Honorary Awards Committee has had so many qualified applicants to choose from for four straight years suggests the community is strengthening and asserting its rightful place as one of the industry's premier laboratories, the place where some of the most dynamic work can be found."

The 2008 Artistic Achievement Award, presented to an individual who has made a significant artistic contribution to the Off-Off-Broadway community.

Judith Malina
A poet, writer, political activist, director, producer and actress, Malina founded The Living Theatre, the oldest experimental theatre group still existing in the US, with her husband Julian Beck. Many people believe that the Living Theatre inaugurated the Off-Off-Broadway movement and introduce the U.S. to avant-garde theatre.

The 2008 Stewardship Award, presented to an individual or organization demonstrating a significant contribution to the Off-Off-Broadway community through service, support and leadership.

New York Theatre Experience (nytheatre.com)
mission is to build audience for and interest in theatre in New York City, with a particular emphasis on emerging artists in the nonprofit sector, by using new and traditional media to connect them with the theatre-going public and advocate for them within the broad cultural community.

The 2008 Caffe Cino Fellowship, presented to an Off-Off-Broadway theatre company that consistently produces outstanding work. This award also includes a fellowship to be used toward an Off-Off-Broadway production.

The Boomerang Theatre Company
Celebrating its tenth season, the Boomerang Theatre Company annually produces a season composed of three programs: free outdoor Shakespeare productions in parks throughout NYC; an indoor repertory series of new, classic and neglected plays; and First Flight, a new play development series of workshops and readings.

SAVE THE DATE:
4th Annual IT Awards Ceremony
Monday, September 22, 2008
Haft Auditorium at the Fashion Institute of Technology

Blue Man Group, the wildly popular Off-Broadway sensation at the Astor Place Theater and international entertainment phenomenon which combines music, comedy and multimedia theatrics to create a totally unique form of entertainment, will be performing the opening number at this year's award ceremony on September 22, 2008.

"We are excited about participating in this New York tradition of honoring diverse theater in NYC," states Blue Man performer, Wes Day. "Blue Man Group celebrates its New York roots and is proud to be grounded in this vibrant New York theatre culture."

Sponsors: Back Stage, United Stages, Kampfire Films PR, Yeungling Beer, Drew & Rogers promotions and GuS Soda

Judith Malina (Artistic Achievement Award), a poet, writer, political activist, director, producer and actress, Malina was interested in acting from an early age and began studying theatre at the New School for Social Research in 1945. She was greatly influenced by her mentor Erwin Piscator's philosophy of theatre, which was based on Bertolt Brecht's principles of "epic theatre." Malina created theatre, that departed from traditional narrative forms, and was used as a form of political communication.

Malina met her longtime collaborator and husband, Julian Beck, when she was 17. Beck soon came to share her interest in political theatre, and in 1947 the two founded The Living Theatre, the oldest experimental theatre group still existing in the U.S., which Malina and Beck directed together until his death from cancer in 1985. From its conception, The Living Theatre was dedicated to transforming the organization of power within society from a competitive, hierarchical structure to cooperative and communal expression.

Many people believe that the Living Theatre inaugurated the Off-Off-Broadway movement and introduce the U.S. to avant-garde theatre. During Malina's 63-year career, she has demonstrated a courage, tenacity and dedication that are hallmarks of Off-Off-Broadway artists today and set the standard for the generation of artists that followed. At the age of 83 she is still a vital part of the Off-Off-Broadway theatre community. She continues to perform, direct and act as an outspoken ambassador for grassroots and independent theatre.

NEW YORK THEATRE EXPERIENCE (nytheatre.com) (Stewardship Award) has been a New York nonprofit corporation since 1999. Its mission is to build audience for and interest in theatre in New York City, with a particular emphasis on emerging artists in the nonprofit sector, by using new and traditional media to connect them with the theatre-going public and advocate for them within the broad cultural community.

NYTE operates three major programs in support of this mission: 1. New Media serves the artistic and audience communities with innovative, free, online resources, including nytheatre.com (now 12 years old and one of the pioneer theatre websites on the Internet), indietheater.org, nytheatrecast (which was the first regularly scheduled NY-theatre related podcast), and mobile.nytheatre.com (the only NY-theatre-exclusive content for PDAs, smartphones, etc.). 2. NYTE Small Press has published (since 2000) annual anthologies of new plays by never-before-published playwrights. 3. Community outreach, which includes a diverse array of programs providing educational and enrichment opportunities to theatre artists and audience members, ranging from the creation in 2002 of an all-volunteer community of contributors (theatre artists who provide content for our websites, including hundreds of theater reviews every year) to the two Indie Theatre Convocations (one in 2006, another in 2008) that have brought together members of the community to share their common goals and needs to continue as a viable force in the larger theatre community.

NYTE's vision for the future is to make theatre going as much a part of their cultural activities as museum exhibits, concerts, and film.

THE BOOMERANG THEATRE COMPANY (Caffe Cino Fellowship), celebrating its tenth season, the Boomerang Theatre Company annually produces a season composed of three programs: free outdoor Shakespeare productions in parks throughout NYC; an indoor repertory series of new, classic and neglected plays; and First Flight, a new play development series of workshops and readings.

In the past nine years, the Boomerang Theatre Company has produced 37 full productions, including five world premieres, seven New York City premieres and reinvented producing in repertory for small theatres. Boomerang has been awarded two New York Innovative Theatre Awards for Burning the Old Man by Kelly McAllister, an OOBR Award for The Misanthrope by Moliere, and was selected as a September 2005 recipient of The STAR Initiative from WNYC radio. The company also presented the United States premiere of Irvine (Trainspotting) Welsh's You'll Have Had Your Hole in the NYC International Fringe Festival. Two plays produced by Boomerang have been published in annual Plays and Playwrights anthologies.

Boomerang Theatre Company's senior leaders are Tim Errickson (Artistic Director), Francis Kuzler (Managing Director), Rachel Wood (Associate Artistic Director), Cailin Heffernan, Cheryl McCarron and Philip Emeott.

THE NEW YORK INNOVATIVE THEATRE FOUNDATION present annually the IT Awards to honor individuals and organizations who have achieved artistic excellence in Off-Off-Broadway theatre. The New York Innovative Theatre Foundation recognizes the unique and essential role Off-Off-Broadway plays in contributing to American and global culture, and believes that publicly recognizing excellence in Off-Off-Broadway theatre will expand audience awareness and appreciation of the full New York theatre experience.

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