Established
in 2006, the Henry Awards honor outstanding achievements during the
past season and serves as the Colorado Theatre Guild's annual
fundraising event. The awards are named for longtime local theatre
producer Henry Lowenstein.
The Special Award categories are nominated by the theatre community and the winners determined by a vote of the CTG Board.
Lifetime Achievement in Theatre goes to Ed Baierlein and Sallie Diamond
Sallie
Diamond was born in Tucson AZ, raised in Philadelphia PA, and received
her BA in Theatre Arts from Penn State University in 1965; Ed Baierlein
was born in Wilmington, DE and raised in Jersey City, NJ and in
Claymont, DE. He received his BA in English from Gettysburg College in
1965 and his MA in Theatre Arts from Penn State University in 1967.
In 1967 Sallie and Ed married and moved to Denver after Ed enlisted in the Air Force. He was assigned to Lowry AFB, where he was an instructional film writer for three years.
During
that time Sallie acted at The Changing Scene Theatre in Denver from
1968 through 1971 and helped form the resident company at The Third Eye
Theatre in 1972. Ed was Playwright-in-Residence at The Changing Scene
Theatre in Denver from 1970 to 1972 and Associate Director and
Production Coordinator at The Third Eye Theatre in Denver from 1972 to
1973.
In 1973 they co-founded Germinal Stage and, in 1974, opened their 82-seat theatre at 1820 Market St with “The Entertainer.”
At
Germinal Stage, Sallie has played numerous leading roles since 1974,
many of them twice. In addition, she has costumed more than 125
productions at Germinal Stage and has directed On the Verge and All in the Timing.
She has received three Denver Critics Circle awards: "Best Performance by a Leading Actress" (Julia in The Philanderer, 1984), "Best Supporting Actress" (Melanie in Quartermaine's Terms,
1986), and "Best Season for an Actress" (1988-89), and has been
nominated for three more. With Ed Baierlein, she received achievement
awards from the Rocky Mountain Women’s’ Institute and from Zeta Phi Eta.
Ed
has staged more than 190 productions and performed more than 100
leading roles since 1974. Often, he plays in the productions he directs
and designs set and lights. He has been nominated twice by the Denver
Drama Critics Circle for "Best Performance by a Leading Actor" and, in
1985, won the award for "Best Season for an Actor.” He was nominated
four times by the Denver Drama Critics Circle for "Best Director"
(winning twice) and, in 1987, received Westword's "Best Director" Award.
He received the Denver Post Ovation "Best Year for a Director" award in
both 2005 and 2010 and, in 2007, received the Ovation as "Theatre
Person of the Year." Productions he has produced or directed have been
nominated for more than 125 local awards.
Ed
received a Governor's Award for Excellence in the Arts from Colorado
Governor Richard D. Lamm, a Mayor's Award for Excellence from Denver
Mayor Federico Pena and the Bonfils-Stanton Foundation Award for the
Arts & Humanities. From 1998 to 2001, he was a member of the
National Theatre Conference. For twenty years, Ed served as Chairman of
the Colorado Theatre Producers Guild, which he helped found. He has sat
on the boards of the Greater Denver Arts Council and the Metro Denver
Arts Alliance, on the advisory board of KCFR-FM (NPR), and on the Denver
Mayor's Commission on Art, Culture, and Film. As a teacher, he has been
a guest instructor in acting and directing at the University of
Colorado at Denver, Colorado Womens' College, Denver University, and has
also taught privately.
Sallie Diamond and Ed Baierlein side by side for 50 years.
Todd Debreceni for Excellence in Special Makeup Effects
Todd
Debreceni began his career in entertainment with PBS while a graduate
student in television at the University of Tennessee.
Before
starting his own small effects shop in Denver, Todd worked for cable
pioneer Ted Turner at TBS in Atlanta, 20th Century-Fox Television in Los
Angeles, Warner Bros., Walt Disney Pictures and Walt Disney Television
Animation. Among his feature credits are Die Hard II, Contact and Batman
and Robin. He sculpted and molded wounds used in the 2013 Tom Hanks
film, Captain Phillips. Television credits include JAG, and numerous
projects for Starz/Encore.
He
has created a variety of makeup effects for many stage productions,
including Shrek the Musical; Spamalot; The Whipping Man; Young
Frankenstein; Man of La Mancha; Peter Pan; Oliver!; Dracula; Bat Boy,
the Musical; Hoping to See God; Into the Woods; The Wiz; The Lion, the
Witch and the Wardrobe; Urinetown, the Musical; Elephant Man; The Snow
Queen; Sleuth and Sideshow.
Todd
is the recipient of a 2015 True West Award, as well as a 2006 and 2009
Denver Post Ovation Award for special makeup effects, and a 2010 Henry
Award nomination for Disney's Beauty and the Beast. He is also the
recipient of a 1992 Los Angeles Drama Critics Award.
Todd
conducts regular seminars, workshops and classes in special makeup
effects for film, television and theatre both in the U.S. and overseas,
consults internationally, and has literally written the book on special
makeup effects for Focal Press called Special Makeup Effects for Stage
and Screen (2009). It is hailed worldwide in the entertainment industry
as' the bible' for makeup effects artists. The much anticipated second
edition was released in January, 2013.
Outstanding Improvisational Theatre - SCRIPTprov™
SCRIPTprov™
is an award winning show, developed by the comedic minds behind the
Dishwater Blondes improv group and co-produced by Cindy Laudadio-Hill,
LeighAnn Gould and Linda Klein. Since 2010 they have performed a unique
blend of theatrical scenes and long-form improv comedy that is unlike
anything else.
Creator/Producer Cindy Laudadio-Hill says, “The
show began as a product of my love of both improv and scripted theatre.
As a member of the Dishwater Blondes and starting to work in the Denver
scripted world, it felt like a natural fit to develop, produce and
perform with my favorite people in a show that celebrates and welcomes
artists from both worlds.”
How it works is this. In
the first act, after two “legit” actors perform a classic scene
word-for-word, we swap in an improv performer with no idea what’s going
on. It’s up to them to try to patch the scene together as they react to
the scripted lines and create their own context on the spot. In the
second act, the “legits’ perform cold monologues and the improvisers
create an improvised long form on the information gleaned from the
monologues.
The
Dishwater Blondes includes Cindy Laudadio-Hill, Sarah Kirwin, Nanna
Thompson, Natalie Kilkenny, Britt Swenson and Kathleen Boland. Linda
Klein, Barbara Gehring, Matthew Taylor and Jessica Austgen have all been
special guest improv players. Along with the core “Legits” LeighAnn
Gould, Shauna Earp and in the earlier years, Megan Heffernan, SCRIPTprov
has had the honor of welcoming more than 75 different artists from a
variety of theater companies.
SCRIPTprov has performed at the Avenue Theater, Boulder Fringe Festival,
The Bug, CCTF Festival (winning the “Out of the Box” award), DCPA as
part of OFF Center, The Dairy Center, Miners Alley and Vintage Theatre.
The tag line is - We put improv in their scripts, they put scripts in our improv. Hilarity ensues.
Outstanding Theatre Benefactors: Les Crispelle and Glenn Tiedt
Les Crispelle,
a Colorado native, is a retired attorney who has served in a number of
roles in the substance abuse and mental health fields. He incorporated
the Colorado Lawyers Health Program in 1993. Les was instrumental in
founding the Mile High Institute on Alcohol and Addictive Behaviors,
offering summer programs for mental health and substance abuse
professionals.
Les
states, “My parents tried to expose me to as many things as they could
but, many years ago, Denver didn't have a great deal. However, those
early experiences with touring shows began my lifelong love of the
theatre. When
Stories
on Stage invited me to be on their board it ignited my desire to get
involved more with small theatres and it has grown since then.”
Glenn Tiedt,
also a retired attorney, was born in Alaska and raised in eastern
Washington. He served the National Park Service in a variety of
positions, including those with the Bureau of Outdoor Recreation and the
Heritage Conservation and Recreation Service and served as an advisor
to the National Conference of Commissioners on Uniform State Laws.
He
says, “My first exposure to live theater came when I went to college in
Seattle. I arrived in Colorado in 1973 where my spare time was quickly
consumed with officiating soccer. After I retired from both work and
soccer I began to attend more live theater than had ever been possible
for me before. I soon wanted to do more than merely attending
performances, but since I couldn't act or direct, I began making modest
financial contributions to the theaters.”
