Pamela Berlin
Jamil Jude + Kenny Leon
Jeff Kuperman, Erica Schmidt + Rick Kuperman
Taibi Magar
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SDC JOURNAL FOUNDATION SECTION | SPRING 2020
We began with the Joe A. Callaway Awards, which recognize excellence in both stage direction and choreography for the most recent Off-Broadway season. Pamela Berlin, Chair of the Callaway Committee and former SDC President, thanked the Callaway Committee Members, especially Jonathan Cerullo, who departed the committee this year after seven seasons, a tremendous service to SDCF. Berlin first honored the finalists for the Callaway Award: for directing, Annie Tippe for Octet at Signature Theatre and Stephen Brackett for A Strange Loop at Playwrights Horizons; and for choreography, Camille A. Brown for Much Ado About Nothing at the Public Theater and Raja Feather Kelly for his work on both A Strange Loop and SoHo Rep’s production of Fairview at Theatre for a New Audience. Berlin then introduced Jamil Jude, Artistic Director of Kenny Leon’s True Colors Theatre Company in Atlanta, who took the stage to present Kenny Leon with the Callaway Award for directing Much Ado About Nothing at the Public Theater. The production, set in current-day Atlanta, was staged as part of the Public’s annual Shakespeare in the Park festival at the Delacorte Theater in Central Park. Jude reminded us that, despite much success and accolades, Leon always “finds a way to lift up the best idea in the room to give it space and support its brilliance.” Leon joined Jude to make his own remarks, a spirited address ranging from admiration of the attendees to an exhortation to diversify Broadway. Said Leon: “[Much Ado] was running 1500 into 2019. I think Shakespeare would be really proud, because Shakespeare was writing for all of the people, not some of the people. I will use this as fuel to continue to do the work and to continue to be relevant.” Next, Erica Schmidt presented the Callaway Award for choreography to Rick and Jeff Kuperman in recognition of their work on Alice by Heart at MCC Theater. Schmidt collaborated with the Kupermans on Cyrano this season, also at MCC, and shared endearing descriptions of watching the two collaborators and brothers work together on their athletic, fluid style of movement: “Whose idea is being used is always trading, changing, and evolving. It’s a true partnership and amazing to watch.” The Kupermans then spoke with humble gratitude, saying: “It is a tremendous honor, privilege, and responsibility to tell stories on the stage. These stories increase our empathy; they shape our culture; they connect us all. We are infinitely lucky for the chance to tell stories and to be a part of this inspiring community.”
Following the Callaway Awards, Saheem Ali presented the Breakout Award, which honors an SDC Member director or choreographer experiencing a breakthrough moment in their work OffBroadway, to Taibi Magar. Magar’s recent work on Underground Railroad Game at Ars Nova, Is God Is at SoHo Rep, and The Great Leap at Atlantic Theater Company, have all earned her praise from colleagues, critics, and audience members alike. Ali described Magar as an artist who has “carved out a name for herself as an inspiring and prolific American director,” and shared from Neil Pepe, Artistic Director of Atlantic Theater Company, that Magar’s work is “consistently smart, visceral, and rigorous.” Magar used her acceptance, as many recipients did, to hark back to her initial calling to the craft: “[It’s] so delicious getting the Breakout Award after literally 20 years of being a director almost to the exact day. It was indeed a cold November when I was 17, that my acting teacher pulled me aside and said, ‘I think you’re a director.’ After some serious teenage attitude, I agreed to watch his rehearsal that night. He was rehearsing “Master Harold”…and the Boys, the final scene, and it took approximately 15 seconds of watching him to know that was going to be the rest of my life.” With the New York-centric awards wrapped up, we turned to honoring achievements in regional theatre. First: the Zelda Fichandler Award. Named for the venerable founding Artistic Director of Arena Stage in Washington, DC, this award honors midcareer choreographers and directors who have devoted their talents to enriching the national theatrical landscape. Each year focuses on one of three national regions; this year’s Fichandler Award focused on the central United States. Lisa Portes, Chair of the Fichandler Committee and a previous Fichandler Award recipient herself, introduced the three finalists: Rick Dildine, Ron OJ Parson, and Blake Robison. A resident artist at Chicago’s Court Theatre for 12 years, Ron OJ Parson is also a cofounder and former Artistic Director of The Onyx Theatre Ensemble. He is a company member of TimeLine Theatre and Associate Artist at Writers Theatre and Teatro Vista. While Parson was unfortunately unable to attend that night, Portes honored him in his absence: “Ron OJ is a Chicago treasure who has devoted his entire career to centering black work in Chicago, the region, and the nation.” Rick Dildine is the Artistic Director of Alabama Shakespeare Festival in Montgomery; before that, he served as Artistic Director of the Shakespeare