"Tommy Awards" Will Honor the Best in Area Musicals
Overture Center for the Arts Announces First Regional Awards Program for Excellence in High School Musical Theater
The Tom Wopat Awards for Excellence in Musical Theater will employ local and touring theater professionals to educate and reward local high school singers, dancers and actors in the first program of its kind in Wisconsin, Overture Center for the Arts officials announced today.
"We bring in the big shows from New York, but there is plenty of up-and-coming Broadway-caliber talent right in our own backyard," said Overture Center President Tom Carto. "We want to nurture and nourish that talent any way we can."
Nearly 100 schools in Dane, Dodge, Columbia, Sauk, Iowa, Rock, Green and Jefferson Counties are being invited to participate. Participating schools will have theater professionals evaluate and adjudicate their musical productions. Students will also have the opportunity to attend workshops led by touring Broadway professionals when The 39 Steps, Grease, Little House on the Prairie: The Musical, and Rent: The Broadway Tour visit Overture Center.
The program will culminate in June 2010 with a red-carpet gala celebration and performance at Overture Center, during which outstanding productions, performers, set designers and technicians will be honored.
The Tommy Awards are named in honor of local musical theater hero Tom Wopat, a critically acclaimed and Tony Award-nominated singer and actor.
“Between the influence of Don Roebuck at Lodi High School and my experience at the UW Summer Music Clinic , I feel that I was blessed, “ Wopat said. “It's important to nurture and reward talent and hard work. I'm excited and honored to be associated with these awards.”
Born in Lodi, Wisconsin, Wopat first started singing and dancing in high school musicals, and studied music at the University of Wisconsin-Madison before getting his "big break" in 1978 as Luke Duke in the immensely popular Dukes of Hazzard television show. After the series ended, Wopat made his triumphant return to Broadway in Annie Get Your Gun and continued to appear on television, acting in shows like Cybill and Home Improvement, and hosting his own show on TNN/The Nashville Network. He also appeared as the lead in Chicago, and starred alongside Alan Alda, Jeffrey Tambor and Liev Schreiber in David Mamet's Glengarry Glen Ross.
The reviewers for the 2009/10 Tommy Awards are:
· Andrew Abrams, Artistic Director, Four Seasons Theatre
· Gretchen Bourg, Education and Outreach Coordinator, Madison Ballet
· Darrell Francis Dieringer, Independent Ballroom Dance Instructor, Art of Dance LLC
· Adam Erdmann, Development Coordinator, Madison Children's Museum
· Laurie Fellenz, Band Director, Cherokee Heights Middle School
· Tiffany Fier, Freelance Set Designer
· Ed Flesch, Artistic Director, Fireside Theatre
· Emily Gruenewald, Executive Director, Janesville Performing Arts Center
· Marla Hahn, Marketing and Sales Manager, Overture Center for the Arts
· Brian Hinrichs, Manager of Communications and Community Outreach, Madison Opera
· Terry Kerr, Director of Education, Children's Theater of Madison
· Jeannie McCarville, House Manager, American Players Theatre
· Heather Murn, Group Sales Coordinator, Overture Center for the Arts
· Davide Novelli, Co-Artistic Director, Wisconsin Story Project
· Tim Sauers, Director of Marketing and Community Engagement, Overture Center for the Arts
· Frank Schneeberger, Theater Technician, Overture Center for the Arts
· Michael Stanek, Artistic Director, Broadway Dinner Theatre
· Jennifer Stewart, Director/Choreographer
· Erin Wenzel, Development Associate, Overture Center for the Arts
Schools interested in participating or students seeking more information should visit overturecenter.com/community/tommy-awards.
The Tommy Awards are funded in part by Alliant Energy Foundation; the Dane County Cultural Affairs Commission with additional funds from the American Girl's Fund for Children. the Evjue Foundation, Inc., the charitable arm of The Capital Times, and the Overture Foundation; and by contributions to the Ovation Fund.
About Overture Center for the Arts
Overture Center for the Arts in Madison, Wisconsin features seven state-of-the-art performance spaces and five galleries where national and international touring artists, ten resident companies, and hundreds of local artists engage nearly half a million people in artistic and educational experiences each year. Visit overturecenter.com for more information.
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