A distinguished mix of entertainment professionals--including two lighting legends, a very busy set designer, a top West Coast technical director, a Hollywood-turned-Broadway producer, and three hot projection designers—will be the presenters for this year’s Entertainment Design EDDY Awards, to be held Friday, June 18 in New York.
With the theme “Raising the Bar Backstage,” this year’s awards will be highlighted by presentations of the coveted EDDY crystal from the following individuals:
Lighting designer/consultant Richard Pilbrow will present an EDDY to Entertainment Services & Technology Association (ESTA), for its ongoing efforts in certification, standards, and other programs designed to create a safer and more productive industry. Pilbrow, whose consulting firm Theatre Projects won an EDDY last year, is one of the world's leading theatre design consultants and an internationally known author and stage lighting designer. He was the lighting designer of the Hal Prince hit revival of Show Boat on Broadway (Drama Desk Award, Outer Circle Critics Award-lighting); His most recent Broadway productions were Our Town, The Life, for which he received a Tony Award nomination, and the Roundabout Theatre production of Harold Pinter's Ashes to Ashes. Under his leadership, Theatre Projects has become the pre-eminent theatre consulting organization in the world, with over 600 projects in 50 countries to its credit. This award for ESTA is being sponsored by Primedia Business.
Film/theatre producer Marc Platt will present an EDDY to costume designer Susan Hilferty and the entire costume team from Wicked for excellence in a theatrical production. A well-established producer in Hollywood, Platt recently made his Broadway producing debut with Wicked. He has served as president of production for three movie studios (Orion, TriStar and Universal). During his tenure as a studio president, Platt developed and guided the production of such films as Silence of the Lambs, Sleepless in Seattle, Philadelphia, As Good As It Gets, My Best Friend's Wedding and Jerry Maguire. He recently formed Marc Platt Productions, and among the films he has produced are the smash hits Legally Blonde and its sequel Legally Blonde 2: Red, White & Blonde. Upcoming films include an adaptation of the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel Empire Falls starring Ed Harris, Helen Hunt, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Paul Newman and Joanne Woodward. This award for Hilferty and company is being sponsored by USITT.
Ever-busy Broadway set designer (and yet another former EDDY winner) John Lee Beatty will present an EDDY to the Actors Theatre of Louisville/Humana Festival Design and Technical Department for sustained excellence in theatrical stagecraft. Beatty’s Broadway credits this year alone include Twentieth Century, The Caretaker, Wonderful Town, and Retreat From Moscow. Other notable Broadway credits include Chicago, Dinner at Eight, Frankie and Johnny, Morning's at Seven, Major Barbara, Footloose, A Delicate Balance, and The Heiress, among others. Off-Broadway: Big Bill; House and Garden; Sylvia; and many seasons at MTC, Circle Rep and City Center's Encores! A recipient of Tony, Obie, Drama Desk and Outer Critics Circle Awards, graduate of Brown and the Yale School of Drama. This award is for the Humana Festival team is being sponsored by Meyer Sound.
A trio of talented projection designers--Bob and Colleen Bonniol of Mode Studios and former EDDY winner Elaine McCarthy—will present an EDDY Award to Scharff Weisberg for creative support and solutions in audio, video, and lighting. McCarthy's résumé encompasses Broadway (Into the Woods, Man of LaMancha, Judgment at Nuremberg), Off Broadway (Speaking in Tongues, Boys Don't Wear Lipstick), and opera (War and Peace, Dead Man Walking). Her work can currently be seen in the Broadway production of Wicked. The Bonniols, in addition to being regular columnists for Entertainment Design, have also worked in a variety of media, from opera (Parsifal at Seattle Opera) to theatre (Dame Edna, Burn The Floor, Godspell) to dance (The Vivian Girls). This award is for Scharff Weisberg is being sponsored by High End Systems.
Technical director Bill Ballou will present an EDDY to Lorrie Snyder, technical director of the new REDCAT Theatre in LA, for sustained excellence in technical direction. Ballou, a CalArts faculty member for design technology and technical direction, has worked in the performing arts for three decades. He has designed lighting, scenery and sound, and created rigging, sets, props and stage machinery for regional, Broadway and European Theatres. Recently, he designed and built the interactive interfaces for Sounds From the Vaults, an exhibition at Chicago's Field Museum, and is currently project manager for eHenge, an interactive visitor attraction at the Earth Centre, Yorkshire, England. This award for Lorrie Snyder is being sponsored by LA Propoint, MICE Creative, Proskenion, and Strand Lighting.
UK lighting veteran Brian Croft will present an EDDY to LD Patrick Woodroffe, assistant lighting designer Adam Bassett, and lighting director/programmer Dave Hill as the consummate lighting design team, in a pre-recorded presentation. Croft, who recently retired as chairman of VLPS Europe, has a long and varied career in England’s lighting community, as stint as a theatre production manager, a road warrior for rock bands such as the Rolling Stones and The Who, the co-founder of ESP Lighting, the managing director of TFA Electrosound, administration director of Theatre Projects services, and finally a long association with Vari-Lite and VLPS. This award is being sponsored by Fourth Phase.
You can read more about all the winners in the May issue of Entertainment Design, or by clicking here.
The EDDY Awards will be held on Friday, June 18, 2004, at John Jay College Theatre, 899 10th Avenue (between 58th and 59th Streets) in New York City. This year’s ceremony will begin with a cocktail reception at 7:30pm, followed by the awards presentation beginning at 8:30pm. The 2003 EDDY Awards are presented in conjunction with the 10th annual Broadway Lighting Master Classes and the second annual Broadway Sound Master Classes, a two-part professional training program that runs from June 16 through June 20, 2004.
Celebrating their 12th anniversary this year, the prestigious EDDYs pay tribute to those whose work has made an impact in our industry. The editors of Entertainment Design select the winners with an eye toward true excellence in technical and design-related fields. Since 1991, nearly 40 individuals, nine design or production teams, one union, one creature shop, one consultancy, one concert construction company, one full-service scenic shop, and one theatrical production department have been so honored. In recent years, the EDDY Awards have celebrated both the spirit of collaboration, and remarkable individual achievement, as well as technical advancement with a series of product awards in professional audio, lighting, staging, and projection categories.