TUTS Announces 2012 Tommy Tune Awards Winners!

The 2012 Tommy Tune Awards winners have been announced! To a crowd of more than 2,500 people, Theatre Under The Stars (TUTS) declared the winners of TUTS' tenth annual Tommy Tune Awardson the evening of Tuesday, April 17, at the Hobby Center for the Performing Arts.  Adding extra excitement to the evening, the award ceremony's namesake and nine-time Tony Award winner Tommy Tune made a special appearance to kick off the show and to present the night's top honor. 

"To celebrate the tenth anniversary of the Tommy Tune Awards is an achievement that makes me and the entire TUTS team very proud.  Our city is filled with young performers, and we're glad we can provide a spotlight for the next generation of musical theatre talent," said John Breckenridge, TUTS President and CEO.

Developed by TUTS, the Tommy Tune Awards honor musical theatre excellence at the high school level.  After reviewing and evaluating the 44 participating Houston-area high school productions during the 2011-12 school year, a team of 32 Houston-based theatre professionals made 154 nominations in 15 categories.  The winners are as follows:

• Best Musical – Episcopal High School / Dirty Rotten Scoundrels

• Best Leading Actor – Billy Cohen as Freddy Benson in Episcopal High School's Dirty Rotten Scoundrels     

• Best Leading Actress – Caitlin Finnie as Belle in John Cooper School's Beauty and the Beast

• Best Supporting Actor - Mason Patterson as Vernon Hines in Friendswood High School's The Pajama Game

• Best Supporting Actress – Morgan Starr as Smitty in Klein Oak High School's How To Succeed….

• Best Featured Performer – Cheryl Cedillo as Penny Pingleton in Morton Ranch High School'sHairspray

• Best Direction – Klein High School / Once Upon A Mattress

• Best Musical Direction - Episcopal High School / Dirty Rotten Scoundrels

• Best Choreography - St. John's School / Chicago
• Best Orchestra - Woodlands High School / Singin' In The Rain
   
• Best Ensemble / Chorus – Klein High School / Once Upon A Mattress

• Best Crew & Technical Execution – Clear Springs High School / The Drowsy Chaperone

• Best Scenic Design – Friendswood High School / The Pajama Game

• Best Costume Design – Stratford High School / Will Rogers Follies

• Best Lighting Design – Klein Forest High School / Seussical

In addition to the Tony-awards-style ceremony, the evening featured many noteworthy performances. Tommy Tune kicked off the show with Seesaw's "It's Not Where You Start," Tune's first Tony Award-winning number, with the all the nominees for Best Leading Actor and Actress as well as Best Supporting Actor and Actress. Other memorable acts included performances from nominees in the Best Musical category, a musical medley with this year's Best Leading Actor and Best Leading Actress nominees, and a grand finale including two students from each participating school.  

Co-hosts for the award ceremony include Jim Bernhard and Ayana Mack.  Bernhard has written several original productions that have debuted at TUTS and authored the theatrical history Stars in Your Eyes.  Mack is a well-known local radio personality.  To commemorate a decade of the awards program, Stephanie Gibson, the first ever Tommy Tune Award winner for Best Actress, presented the Best Leading Actor and Best Leading Actress awards.  Since winning the award in 2003, Gibson has gone on to play in the national tour ofA Chorus Line and Happy Days and covered a major role in Spamalot and The Addams Family on Broadway.  

Among the other notable presenters were TUTS' Board Chairman Steve Burkett, Ernie Manouse of PBS, St. John Flynn of NPR's The Front Row, Don Nelson of ABC 13, Stanton Welch of the Houston Ballet, Paul Hope from the Alley Theatre, and Humphreys School of Musical Theatre graduate and cast member from "Smash" Manuel Santos.   

TUTS' Tommy Tune Awards are designed not only to acknowledge remarkable musical theatre talent at the high school level, but also to encourage future development.  TUTS presented ten scholarships to outstanding participating students of the Tommy Tune Awards including the Ruth Denney Scholarship, named in honor of Tune's mentor and legendary Lamar High School drama teacher. Students under consideration were required to meet specific criteria set out by the Scholarship Committee, as well as submit an application and essay. The winners include Alma Acosta (Elsik High School), Monica Brown (Kingwood High School), Kate Court (Pearland High School), Elisabeth Del Toro (Friendswood High School), Nathaly Garcia (Elsik High School), Haylee Hoelscher (Houston Christian High School), Jeremiah James (Cypress Ranch High School), Shelby Stark (Klein High School), and Eleonore Verkerk (Stafford High School).  The prestigious Ruth Denny Award, which carries an increased stipend, was presented to Billy Cohen of Episcopal High School.

As Best Leading Actor and Actress, Cohen and Finnie will go on to compete at the national level for the Jimmy Award at the National High School Musical Theater Awards in New York City. Established in 2009, the Jimmy Awards are named after Broadway theater owner and producer, James M. Nederlander.  This year, the program will bring the country's best high school performers together to compete on Broadway at the Minskoff Theatre on Monday, June 25, 2012.

Theatre Under The Stars will cover all expenses for Cohen and Finnie to represent TUTS in this week-long national event. While in New York, Jimmy Award participants will have the opportunity to participate in rehearsals and master classes; receive one-on-one coaching from theater professionals; be seen by casting agents; meet and converse with Broadway actors; and compete for scholarships and other prizes.  The week's events will culminate in a live awards show where the Jimmy Award for Best Performance by an Actor and Best Performance by an Actress will be presented.

The Theatre Under The Stars Tommy Tune Awards are named for Houston native and Lamar High School alumnus, Tommy Tune.  A performer, director, and choreographer with more than 50 years of stage experience, Tune received nine Tony Awards for his work in the following productions: Seesaw, My One and Only, A Day in Hollywood/A Night in the Ukraine, Nine, Grand Hotel, and The Will Rogers Follies.  He was also awarded the National Medal of Arts in 2003 by President Bush.

Sponsors for the 2012 Tommy Tune Awards include The Brown Foundation, Inc. and ConocoPhillips.

Theatre Under The Stars 2011-12 Seeing Is Believing Season is generously sponsored by St. Luke's Episcopal Health System. For all of Theatre Under The Stars' 2011-12 shows, air transportation is provided by United Airlines, the official airline of Theatre Under The Stars. Media sponsors include ABC-13 andHouston Chronicle.  Season support is funded in part by grants from the City of Houston through theTheater District Association and the Texas Commission on the Arts.

Theatre Under The Stars (TUTS) is Houston's acclaimed nonprofit musical theatre company whose mission is to enrich life through the experience of quality musical theatre and to positively impact lives beyond the stage through innovative education & community outreach programs.  TUTS was the first theatrical organization in Houston to perform free to the public when it was founded in 1968 at Miller Outdoor Theatre in Hermann Park and is the only Houston arts organization that has performed there free to the public every year since the theatre opened.  Founded by Frank M. Young and currently under the direction of President and CEO John C. Breckenridge, TUTS has produced more than 300 musicals including many local, national and world premieres such as Kopit and Yeston's Phantom, Disney's Beauty and the Beast, Jekyll & Hyde, and Irving Berlin's White Christmas as well as critically acclaimed re-inventions of classics Cabaret and Les Miserables.  Through its membership in the Independent Presenters Network, TUTS has helped bringBombay Dreams, 9 to 5, Thoroughly Modern Millie, Spamalot, Legally Blonde, Ragtime, Curtains and The Color Purple to Broadway and ultimately back to Houston audiences.

In support of TUTS' mission, TUTS Education programs provide instruction and stage experience for more than 21,000 students annually, allowing them to flourish in a year-round schedule of classes.  TheHumphreys School of Musical Theatre (HSMT) offers technique-driven classes for all ability levels and ages, ranging from four to adult.  Through a merger with The River Performing and Visual Arts Center (The River), TUTS provides an accessible and inclusive arts education for children of all abilities that will enhance their development into confident, balanced individuals.  TUTS Education provides extended on-site programming as well as off-site programming for children in schools, hospitals and other community-based sites.