This celebratory dinner will honor four Tony Award® -winning artists currently working on the upcoming Alley production of Little Comedies
Jeremy and Wendi Monthy, Event Chairs, Dean Gladden, Alley Theatre Managing Director and Rob Melrose, Alley Theatre Artistic Director, are pleased to announce that four theatrical legends are coming to Alley Theatre. The 2023 Alley Theatre Award for Lifetime Achievement will be presented on October 9, 2023 at A Tony Award®-Winning Evening. The honorees are costume designer Susan Hilferty, sound designer Scott Lehrer, playwright and director Richard Nelson, and lighting designer Jennifer Tipton. These impressive artists are not only being awarded for their remarkable individual achievements in American Theatre, but also for their work together to realize Nelson’s words into a theatrical experience that immerses audiences with the actors and the text. Alley audiences will soon get to experience their artistry with the upcoming production of Little Comedies by Anton Chekhov.
“I’m honored to present the Alley Theatre Award for Lifetime Achievement to four artists who have changed the American theatre and are personal heroes of mine: Richard Nelson, Susan Hilferty, Jennifer Tipton, and Scott Lehrer,” shares Artistic Director Rob Melrose. “We honor them for their outstanding individual careers and for the unique collaboration the four of them have created to realize Mr. Nelson’s plays and translations in a style that is the most intimate and immediate as I have ever experienced in the theatre. All four artists have careers that span decades and have a remarkable range from Broadway musicals to some of the most exciting experimental work of the past half a century.”
These four distinguished artists have been hugely influential in the theatre industry. Combined, they boast 109 Broadway productions, five Tony Awards® including 21 nominations, one Olivier Award, one Grammy Award, nine Drama Desk Awards including 29 nominations, and many other accolades. Susan Hilferty costumed the worlds of Wicked, Wonderland, and most recently, Funny Girl and Parade. Scott Lehrer was the sound designer of Into the Woods with Sarah Bareilles, The Music Man starring Hugh Jackman and Sutton Foster, and Hello Dolly starring Bette Midler. Richard Nelson wrote the play cycle The Rhinebeck Panorama, the books of musicals James Joyce’s The Dead and Chess, and co-translated plays of Anton Chekhov including the Alley’s upcoming production of Little Comedies. Jennifer Tipton, a MacArthur Fellow and a celebrated educator, is frequently described as one of modern theatre’s most influential and innovative lighting designers. She designed Jerome Robbins’ Broadway, Andrei Serban’s production of The Cherry Orchard, and a wide range of productions from operas at the largest houses in the world to innovative experimental work with companies like The Wooster Group and The Builders Association.
This evening will raise funds for Alley Theatre’s artistic, educational, and community engagement initiatives.
