Recap of Awards Ceremony Honoring Des McAnuff
February 1st, 2007BroadwayWorld.com and NCTimes.com report that La Jolla Playhouse Artistic Director Des McAnuff was the leading honoree Monday evening (January 29) at the San Diego Theatre Critics Circle’s annual presentation of the Craig Noel Awards for Theatrical Excellence.
Along with winning an “Outstanding Musical” award for his direction of the musical The Wiz, McAnuff was given a special Artistic Visionary Award for his work in propelling the Playhouse to national prominence.The critics also announced that a perpetual award has been named for McAnuff. The Des McAnuff New Visions Award will be given in future years to artists who “exhibit McAnuff’s spirit of risk, innovation and adventure.”
The highlight of the evening was the tribute to McAnuff, which featured an appearance by the Tony-winning star of Jersey Boys, Christian Hoff. Hoff flew in from New York to speak at the ceremony and sing a song to McAnuff (Rodgers and Hammerstein’s “I Could Write a Book” with Hoff’s own lyrics about McAnuff). Filmmaker Martin Morawski assembled a film featuring a biography of McAnuff and his tenure in La Jolla with videotaped tributes by some of his most famous collaborators and colleagues, including Billy Crystal, the casts of Jersey Boys and The Wiz, and Jack O’Brien, artistic director of the Old Globe.
Congratulations to Des on his latest honor!
