So What About Those Tony Awards?

Tony Award

Sixty-five years ago the first ever Tony Award was presented to eleven individuals for their work as actors, directors, costume designers, choreographers and composers in the theater world during the preceding 1946-47 season.  In addition, eight individuals were recognized with special awards including Arthur Miller (for Best Author) and Vincent Sardi, Sr., founder of the eponymous restaurant that he opened in 1947 which has been credited as being the birthplace of the Tony Award.  

The Antoinette Perry Awards for Excellence in Theater (that’s the official name of the Tony), were first handed out on April 6, 1947 in the Grand Ballroom of the Waldorf Astoria Hotel in New York City. The winners received a scroll and a silver compact case for the women; and either an engraved gold money clip or a cigarette lighter for the men.  Following along at home was only possible thanks to Radio Station WOR, as the ceremony would not be broadcast on television until much later in 1967.

And just who was Antoinette Perry?  Antoinette Perry (1888-1946) was an American actress, director and co-founder of the American Theatre Wing.  She produced several successful plays in partnership with Brock Pemberton, a press agent from New York, with whom she was linked both professionally and romantically.  Their most famous production was Harvey based upon the Mary Chase novel.  In 1939 Perry, along with Rachel Crothers, founded The American Theatre Wing (the Wing for short) in Manhattan, an organization whose mission statement proclaimed it to be “dedicated to supporting excellence and education in theatre.”  During WWII the Wing established the Stage Door Canteen to entertain American servicemen and then later, after the war, founded the Community Players to assist war veterans and their families as they returned home.

During the extended Broadway run of Harvey -- it ran for more than 4 years and was staged for 1775 performances before closing in January 1949 -- Perry died from a heart attack one day after her 58^th birthday.  Subsequently,  Brock Pemberton suggested to the Wing that they create a series of awards to be given in her honor -- an idea he came up while having lunch at Sardi’s. Pemberton would go on to host the very first award ceremony during which he coined the now much more common name “Toni,” when he referred to his nickname for Perry while handing out an award to a recipient.

The times have changed. This year the Tony Awards ceremony will be held at the Beacon Theater in NY for the second year in a row after 50 years at the Waldorf Astoria and more than a decade-long run at Radio City Music Hall. Televised nationally since 1967, the awards still signify achievement in live Broadway theater but the compacts and cigarette lighters have given way to a more substantial award that features a base upon which the medallion, originally designed by  Art Director Herman Rosse, rests. Tony Award producers swear they are not trying to keep up with the Joneses… or in this particular case, the Oscars… but that the new design is easier to handle onstage during the presentation of the awards.

Yes, times have changed… but some things never change. The Firehouse New Works Festival Committee should take heart:  you are not alone!  The Tony Awards Official Site lists the rules and regulations of the awards process and they too continue to have difficulty year after year in discerning the exact definition of a “new play!”  

The Tony Awards not only recognize the contributions to the theater world for on-stage contributions but also for off-stage contributions. One of the newly created non-competitive awards recognizes an individual who has made substantial contributions of volunteered time and effort on behalf of one or more humanitarian, social service or charitable organizations.

It is here that that the Tony Awards and the First Annual Townie Awards intersect.   
Townie Award The Firehouse Center for the Arts is pleased to be able to present these awards to the local individuals and organizations that contribute selflessly of their time and resources to make our lives richer and more enjoyable here in our home town.  We thank you and we salute you. The newly created Townie Award is a very small token of our appreciation for your efforts and for all that you do to make the North Shore area such a vibrant place to call home.

What? You still haven’t voted your favorite Townie? Click the Way-Off-Broadway Party logo now…voting ends April 23^rd and the winners will be announced at the Way-Off-Broadway Party at the Firehouse on Saturday, May 5^th.

Sponsorship opportunities are available. Click here for downloadable forms or call Beth Falconer, Director of Development at 978/499-9931 for more information and check the website often for updates to be posted as received. In the mean time... mark your calendars!

Click the logo to cast your Townie Award vote NOW!

The Christina Experiment: proof there's good theater.

An early experiment...

Pavlov's dogs helped us to understand the effects of classical conditioning, a cornerstone principle in modern-day psychology. When Benjamin Franklin sent his kite up in Philadelphia he was able to show that lightning is a form of electrical discharge. Roger W. Sperry showed us the potential independence of the two sides of the human brain using split-brain patients in his studies made during the 1960s.

Even a young child is curious about her world and sometimes cannot resist testing the "why" behind her parents warning about never touching a snow covered, frosty metal pipe with the tip of her tongue. Face it, we humans are endlessly inquisitive. Investigating our world has led to scientific discoveries that have taken us to the moon and beyond and have made us more intimate with the intricacies of our own bodies.

In The Christina Experiment, through the craft of good story-telling byposter by Sandy Farrier Deirdre Girard*, we the viewers are invited to witness our own reactions as the scenes unfold and to play the role of the scientific observer. Who are these people really? What have they done in their pasts and how are we to base our decisions of the future based upon our knowledge of the facts as we see them? There is an air of mystery that pervades the story and as the scenes progress it becomes clear that this device is instrumental in creating the correct context for us, the viewers, to experience a wealth of emotions. Are we making judgments based upon racial profiling? Are we rooting for the parent or for the child? Are we siding with the science of an issue or are we leading with our hearts, with our emotions? How much risk are we willing to take aboard?

If we watch ourselves watching The Christina Experiment we may learn a little bit about human nature. At the very least we may discover something about ourselves...and isn't that, after all, the point of good theater?

Director Stephen Haley has put together a superb cast that includes Teresa Donahoe (Christina), Sandy Farrier (Jack), Aisha Chodat (Abby), Damon Singletary (Justin) and Charlie Van Eman (Tony) who appears courtesy of Actors' Equity. As their dialogue unfolds, we watch, we listen and we pass judgment. When we watch and listen some more, our previous judgments may begin to falter. The more we watch and the more we listen, the greater is the chance that something akin to compassion has seeped into our thought processes and rendered us into beings left flailing about in our own uncertainty.

Playwright Deirdre Girard has captured numerous accolades for her plays in the past…not just here in Newburyport but also farther afield. Fans of the Firehouse New Works Festival have come to regard Girard as a “regular” since she first began submitting her work in 2009. In addition she has been recognized at the Boston Theater Marathon, SlamBoston, The Kennedy Center American College Festival, Our Voices Festival (Weston, MA) Playwright’s Theater (Boston) and the O’Neil Playwriting Conference to name a few.

Watch The Christina Experiment. Watch yourself watching the play. In the final analysis you’ll be watching good theater at the Firehouse Center in Newburyport.

*Read an interview with playwright Deirdre Girard here at
Playwrights' Perspective.

*Read the Newburyport Daily News story by Katie Lovett here.