Well. That was fun.
Eldest daughter won her high school’s drama award, which in this town means you get to go to the Drama Desk Awards ceremony with your parents and get your scholarship presented to you by Brian D’Arcy James, the star of the Broadway production of Shrek. Not to mention share your school auditorium stage with the likes of Harvey Fierstein, Liza Minelli, Stockard Channing, John Lithgow, Geoffrey Rush, Victor Gerber, Jane Fonda, Audra McDonald and Angela Landsbury (just to name a few).
Congratulations, honey – We are so proud!
The other moving moment tonight was seeing Laguardia alumnus and Pulizer prize winner Lynn Nottage return to her alma mater to receive the drama desk award for her play Ruined.
The most inspirational moment was when Angela Lansbury, age 83, danced across the stage to accept her award for best feature actress in a musical (Madame Arcady in Blythe Spirit), reminding us that age is just a number.
The gayest moment was a toss up between Carson Kressley’s monologue and when Cheyenne Jackson kissed James Donegan, the actor who spoofed him in Forbidden Broadway, full on the lips, saying “I always wondered what it would be like to kiss myself”.
The funniest moment was when Alison Janney, who won the award for best actress in a musical, slapped herself across the cheek to remind herself that she was in a musical, not a play.
The only disappointing moment was when I realized that Audra McDonald, who presented several awards, was not going to sing. Actually, there would be no production numbers or entertainment other than the awards themselves. It was a very low key and low budget ceremony that felt, well, just about right for theater in a recession. As a result of this, and the fact that a fair number of award recipients (such as Elton John) were not present to make acceptance speeches, host Harvey Fierstein was able to congratulate us on the historic completion of an awards ceremony in under two hours.
Afterwards, in a real New York moment, we rode the crosstown bus where we had a nice chat with the President of the Drama Desk and the producers of Hair (who also won tonight – congrats ladies!).
Congratulations to all the nominees and winners of this year’s Drama Desk Awards, the prize that doesn’t care if your play is Broadway, off-Broadway or off-off Broadway, how big your audience is or how much money you bring in – if it’s great theater, it’s great theater.
And as for the rest of you – Get out there and see some theater! There are some amazing productions up this year.
Oh yeah, I took a few more photos…
wow! congratulations!
That is so great! Tell her congratulations! Paige will be so excited to bunk with an award winning actress this summer!
congratulations to your daughter!
Congratulations to your daughter. A friend just forwarded your post to me because I’m the actor Cheyenne Jackson kissed. Proud to make your gayest moment. 🙂
It was a fun night, right?
James –
Thanks so much for your comment ! Now I can put your name up there, since I am ashamed to say I did not know it last night.
Please, please let them bring back Forbidden Broadway!
Peggy
We’re kvelling!! She’s so special.
We love her to pieces.
We’re kvelling!! Let the successes start here. Wishing you many, many more.
Love you to pieces.
Congratulations to your daughter! What an evening for her to remember.
And thanks for sharing it. A true NY experience!