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29-649: In 1944, the Theatre World Awards were founded by Daniel Blum, Norman McDonald, and John Willis, recognizing "Promising Personalities", actors and actresses, in debut performances, in Broadway or Off-Broadway productions. In the first year Blum presented the awards in his apartment, at a cocktail party, to Betty Comden , Judy Holliday and John Raitt , and the second year to Barbara Bel Geddes , Marlon Brando , and Burt Lancaster . At Blum's 1949 party, Carol Channing won. The Theatre World editorial staff administered

58-452: A board of directors independent of Theatre World . Winners are selected by a committee of New York-based critics. That committee includes (as of May 2015) Roma Torre (NY1), David Cote ( Time Out7 New York , NY1), Joe Dziemianowicz ( New York Daily News ), Peter Filichia ( The Newark Star-Ledger , Eme6ritus), Harry Haun ( Playbill ), Matthew Murray (TalkinBroadway.com), and Frank Scheck ( New York Post ). . The Dorothy Loudon Starbaby Award

87-505: A song, with each having an input into both words and tune. Usually a lyricist fills in the words to a tune already fully written out. Dorothy Fields worked in this way. Lyricists have often added words to an established tune, as Johnny Burke did with the Erroll Garner jazz standard " Misty ". Some partnerships work almost totally independently, for example, Bernie Taupin would write lyrics and hand them over to Elton John , who composed

116-614: The Christian hymn -singing tradition, many of the popular pieces have words written to fit existing melodies. The Christmas carol " What Child Is This? " had its words set to an old English folk tune that had been a lover's lament, " Greensleeves ". The English composer Ralph Vaughan Williams set existing poems, such as those by William Cowper and Charles Wesley , to traditional folk tunes to create hymns, many of which he published in The English Hymnal . A different way this happened

145-570: The 1950s included Two on the Aisle , starring Bert Lahr and Dolores Gray , with music by Jule Styne ; Wonderful Town , a musical adaptation of the play My Sister Eileen , with music by Bernstein; and Bells Are Ringing , which reunited them with Judy Holliday and Jule Styne. The score, including the standards " Just in Time ", "Long Before I Knew You", and " The Party's Over ", proved to be one of their richest. The duo contributed additional lyrics to

174-505: The 1954 musical Peter Pan , translated and streamlined Die Fledermaus for the Metropolitan Opera , and collaborated with Styne on songs for the play-with-music Say, Darling . In 1958, they appeared on Broadway in A Party with Betty Comden and Adolph Green , a revue that included some of their early sketches. It was a critical and commercial success, and they brought an updated version back to Broadway in 1977. The pair wrote

203-544: The Awards, under the supervision of Daniel Blum. In 1964, after Daniel Blum's death, John Willis supervised the Awards. In 1969, the award was renamed the Theatre World Award . The early awards were a framed certificate, then a plaque, later in 1973, the bronze Janus Award, sculpted by Harry Marinsky. In 1998, the Theatre World Awards were incorporated as a 501 (c) 3 nonprofit organization and are currently overseen by

232-714: The Rain , as part of the famed " Freed unit " at MGM . Betty Comden was born Basya Cohen in Brooklyn, New York in 1917, the younger child of Leo Cohen (originally Astershinsky), a lawyer, and Rebecca ( née Sadvoransky) Cohen, an English teacher. Both were Russian immigrants and observant Jews. She had an older brother, Nathaniel ("Nat"), born c.  1915 . Basya "attended Erasmus Hall High School and studied drama at New York University , graduating in 1938," according to The New York Times . In 1938, mutual friends introduced her to Adolph Green , an aspiring actor. Along with

261-501: The Town , a musical about three sailors on leave in New York City that was an expansion of a ballet entitled Fancy Free on which Bernstein had been working with choreographer Jerome Robbins . Comden and Green wrote the book and lyrics, which included sizable parts for themselves (as "Claire" and "Ozzie"). Their next musical, Billion Dollar Baby in 1945, with music by Morton Gould

290-410: The characters of Lester and Lily, a husband-and-wife musical-writing team, were patterned after themselves. As with Singin' in the Rain , the real-life team did not write the songs. They were Oscar -nominated twice, for their screenplays for The Band Wagon and It's Always Fair Weather . Both films also received Screen Writers Guild Awards ; On the Town did too. Comden and Green's stage work of

319-651: The long-running sit-com Frasier in the episode entitled "Burying a Grudge." Comden and Green were a creative partnership, not a romantic couple. In 1942, Comden married Siegfried Schutzman, a designer and businessman, who changed his name to Steven Kyle. He died in 1979 of acute pancreatitis . They had two children, a daughter, Susanna, and a son, Alan, who died in 1990. She never remarried. Betty Comden died of heart failure following an undisclosed illness of several months at New York Presbyterian Hospital in Manhattan on Thanksgiving Day, November 23, 2006, aged 89. She

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348-555: The lyrics for Do Re Mi , and the book and lyrics for Subways Are For Sleeping , Fade Out – Fade In , and Hallelujah, Baby! Their Hallelujah, Baby! score won a Tony Award. Comden and Green wrote the libretto for the 1970 musical Applause , an adaptation of the film All About Eve , and wrote the book and lyrics for 1978's On the Twentieth Century , with music by Cy Coleman . Comden also played Letitia Primrose in that musical when original star Imogene Coca left

377-511: The music to go with it, with minimum interaction between the two writers. The collaboration of John Lennon and Paul McCartney is widely considered the most successful songwriting partnership in history, with their songs making up the majority of The Beatles' catalog. Other famous collaborations include Leiber and Stoller , the Rolling Stones lead singer Mick Jagger with Keith Richards , and Richard Carpenter with John Bettis . In

406-450: The novel of Patrick Dennis , was more like a movie script in its pile-up of pictorial business and its multiplicity of scenes. The invitation to expansion was hand-engraved in the play. Now it has been accepted by screenwriters Betty Comden and Adolph Green and by the director, Morton DaCosta , who has reveled in the greater physical range. Comden and Green's Broadway work in the 1960s included four collaborations with Jule Styne. They wrote

435-443: The real Garbo either could not be located or would refuse flatly to appear in a cameo. They asked a known associate of Garbo to ask the great actress if she would appear in the film, but received no response. So, Comden was asked to appear in the film for the brief, pivotal "over-the-shoulder" scenes. Comden and Green received Kennedy Center Honors in 1991. In 1994, Comden and Green were guest callers, "Linda" and "Walter", on

464-506: The request of Arthur Freed , who did not care for the Bernstein score. The duo reunited with Gene Kelly for their most successful project, the classic Singin' in the Rain , about Hollywood in the final days of the silent film era. Comden and Green provided the story and screenplay; the songs were hits from the late 1920s and early 1930s by Arthur Freed and Nacio Herb Brown . They followed this with another hit, The Band Wagon , in which

493-419: The screenplay for Auntie Mame in 1958. The New York Times movie review from that year lays it out as follows: In its superficial racing across several strata of rich society, it does catch some glimpses of behavior that flash a few glints of irony. The picture is every bit as potent, if not a good deal more so, than the play. Actually, the stage play, as written by Jerome Lawrence and Robert E. Lee from

522-479: The show. Comden and Green's final musical hit was 1991's The Will Rogers Follies , providing lyrics to Cy Coleman 's music. The duo's biggest failure was 1982's A Doll's Life , an attempt to figure out what Nora did after she abandoned her husband in Henrik Ibsen 's A Doll's House , which ran for only five performances, although they received Tony Award nominations for its book and score. In 1980, Comden

551-672: The song, if it was written primarily with the composer, or less if they wrote the song in collaboration. Songs are automatically copyrighted as soon as they are in tangible forms, such as a recording or sheet music . However, before a song is published or made public, its author or publisher should register it with the Copyright Office at the United States Library of Congress to better protect against copyright infringement . Songwriting collaborations can take different forms. Some composers and lyricists work closely together on

580-585: The young Judy Holliday and Leonard Bernstein , Comden and Green formed a troupe called the Revuers, which performed at the Village Vanguard , a club in Greenwich Village . Due to the act's success, the Revuers appeared in the 1944 film Greenwich Village , but their roles were so small they were barely noticed, and they returned to New York. Comden and Green's first Broadway show was in 1944, with On

609-496: Was Alan Alda . The winners for the 2010–11 season were announced on May 10, 2011, with a ceremony held on June 7; the awards are traditionally presented by former award winners. The awards for the 2011–11 season were announced on May 8, 2012, and presented at a ceremony held on June 5, 2012, at the Belasco Theatre . The awards for the 2012–13 season were announced on May 7, 2013, and the 69th Annual Theatre World Awards Ceremony

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638-448: Was an American lyricist , playwright , and screenwriter who contributed to numerous Hollywood musicals and Broadway shows of the mid-20th century. Her writing partnership with Adolph Green spanned six decades: "the longest running creative partnership in theatre history." The musical-comedy duo of Comden and Green collaborated most notably with composers Jule Styne and Leonard Bernstein , as well enjoyed success with Singin' in

667-533: Was buried in Mount Carmel Cemetery in Glendale , New York . Lyricist A lyricist is a writer who writes lyrics (the spoken words), as opposed to a composer , who writes the song's music which may include but not limited to the melody , harmony , arrangement and accompaniment. A lyricist's income derives from royalties received from original songs. Royalties may range from 50 percent of

696-1130: Was held on June 3 at the Music Box Theater . The awards for the 2013–14 season were announced on May 6, 2014, and the ceremony was held on June 2, 2014, at Circle in the Square. The awards for the 2014–15 season were announced on May 5, 2015; the ceremony will be held on June 1, 2015, at the Lyric Theatre. Past recipients, from 1944—1945 to 2015—2016 Source: Theatre World Source: Theatre World Source: Theatre World Source: Theatre World Source: Theatre World Source: Theatre World Source: Theatre World Source: Theatre World Source:Playbill.com Source:Playbill.com Source:Playbill.com Source: Playbill.com Source:Playbill.com Source: Broadway.com Source: Playbill.com Source: Playbill.com Source: BroadwayWorld.com Betty Comden Betty Comden (May 3, 1917 – November 23, 2006)

725-602: Was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame . And, in 1981, she was inducted into the American Theatre Hall of Fame . In the early 1980s, Comden acted in Wendy Wasserstein 's play Isn't It Romantic , portraying the lead character's mother. In 1984, filmmaker Sidney Lumet directed a film about Greta Garbo , Garbo Talks , starring Anne Bancroft and Ron Silver . The producers of the film were sure that

754-551: Was instituted in 2009, named in honor of actress and singer Dorothy Loudon (1925–2003) and since 2010 has been awarded by the Dorothy Loudon Foundation in connection with these awards. The first Starbaby Award was presented to Susan Louise O'Connor ( Blithe Spirit ). Other recipients are Bobby Steggert ( Ragtime and Yank! ) (2009–10), Seth Numrich ( War Horse ) (2010–11), and Susan Pourfar ( Tribes ). In 2013, it

783-412: Was not a success, and their 1947 show Bonanza Bound closed out-of-town and never reached Broadway. Comden and Green headed to California and soon found work at MGM. They wrote the screenplays for Good News and The Barkleys of Broadway (which reunited Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers ), and then adapted On the Town for Frank Sinatra and Gene Kelly , scrapping most of Bernstein's music at

812-524: Was presented to the 21 cast members making their Broadway debuts in the revival of The Music Man . A new award, the John Willis Award , was first instituted for the 2012–13 season. It is given for "lifetime achievement in the theatre" to honor John Willis who created and maintained the Theatre World tradition for 66 years, encouraging new talent in an often challenging business." The first recipient

841-587: Was renamed Dorothy Loudon Award for Excellence in the Theater . The first annual Lunt–Fontanne Award for Ensemble Excellence was presented at the 2010–11 Awards, to the cast of The Motherf**ker with the Hat – Bobby Cannavale , Chris Rock , Annabella Sciorra , Elizabeth Rodriguez and Yul Vázquez. The award is in honor of the late Alfred Lunt and Lynn Fontanne and is presented to an outstanding Broadway or Off-Broadway ensemble. In 2022 an award for "Outstanding Ensemble"

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