The Theatre Alliance of Greater Philadelphia announced the nominations in 25 categories for the 2007 Barrymore Awards for Excellence in Theatre at a press conference held today on the F. Otto Haas Stage at the Arden Theatre. The organization also announced big changes to this year's Gala Barrymore Award Ceremony, the premier annual event in Philadelphia theatre, to be held on Monday, October 1st at 7:00 p.m. at the Crystal Tea Room, located in the Wannamaker Building, 100 Penn Square East.

For the first time at the Barrymore Awards, audiences will have an opportunity to preview some of the 2007-2008 season's most exciting productions. The event will also include an elegant three-course meal prepared by the Crystal Tea Room's exclusive caterer Finley Catering. The ceremony, directed by Vincent Marini, celebrates the entire community's artistic achievements and the collective winning quality that the region's theatrical stages consistently offer.

Theatre Alliance Executive Director, Margie Salvante, who recently relocated from New York City to head the organization, spoke of her excitement about being involved in such an impressive theatre community. "I have been struck by the sense of joy that surrounds the work here," she said, "and how that joy infects your audiences so that there is a palpable sense of community that crosses between the stage and the house. The Philadelphia theatre community has a lot to celebrate and be proud of, and we'll work to ensure that the broader community will be ready to celebrate the Barrymore Awards with us and recognize - as we do - what an important resource the theatre industry is for all of Greater Philadelphia."

Actors Chris Faith and Greg Wood were announced as the hosts of this year's ceremony. They are currently garnering laughs as Grumio and Petruchio in Taming of the Shrew at the Pennsylvania Shakespeare Festival. At the end of last season, Faith appeared as Hucklebee in Mum Puppettheatre's production of The Fantasticks while Wood portrayed four characters in The Wilma Theater's production of Bertolt Brecht's The Life of Galileo.

The Barrymore Awards program is produced by the Theatre Alliance of Greater Philadelphia and is the only comprehensive awards program in the region, recognizing artistic excellence in theatre. Each year, over 100 productions, produced by professional theatres in the region, are reviewed by the Barrymore nominating committee. More than 100 actors, directors and designers representing 22 companies became nominees for the 2007 Barrymore Awards.

A diverse group representing both large and small theatre companies received nominations for their work in the 2006-2007 season. Walnut Street Theatre led the nominated theatres with 22 nominations; followed by Arden Theatre Company and Philadelphia Theatre Company, both with 13 nominations; The Wilma Theater with 12 nominations; People's Light & Theatre Company with 8 nominations; 11th Hour Theatre Company, Mum Puppettheatre, and Theatre Exile, all with 7 nominations; and Lantern Theater Company with 6 nominations.

Nerds://A Musical Software Satire from Philadelphia Theatre Company led the musicals category with 9 nominations. The Arden's Caroline, or Change followed with 8 nominations and Walnut Street's 42nd Street, 11th Hour's The Bomb-itty of Errors, and Mum Puppettheatre's The Fantasticks all received 7 nominations.

The Wilma's The Pillowman and Walnut Street's Of Mice and Men led the way for nominations in the straight play category with 6 nominations each, followed by The Wilma's The Life of Galileo with 5 nominations, and Theatre Exile's Glengarry Glen Ross, and Lantern Theatre Company's Master Harold...and the boys with 4 nominations each.

The F. Otto Haas Award for an Emerging Philadelphia Theatre Artist, which includes a $10,000 cash prize, is given to a Philadelphia theatre artist who shows outstanding promise in his or her field and is dedicated to working in the Philadelphia theatre community. Named after the late F. Otto Haas, noted philanthropist, civic leader, and former Chairman of Rohm & Haas, the award is sponsored through the generosity of Carole Haas Gravagno and is specifically designed to help cover the artist's living expenses for one year to allow the individual to focus solely on his or her craft. The runners-up each receive a $1,000 cash award. The 2007 Emerging Artist Award nominees are Lee Ann Etzold, Millie Hiibel, Jeb Kreager, Matt Pfeiffer, and Matt Saunders.

The award for Excellence in Theatre Education and Community Service promotes the participation of theatres and theatre artists who provide innovative theatre and educational experiences as a vehicle for betterment within the community. The 2007 nominees are 1812 Production's 1812 Outreach, Lantern Theater Company's Illumination, Philadelphia Theatre Company's My Philly Reality, and Walnut Street Theater's Adopt-A-School.

The nominees for The Ted and Stevie Wolf Award for New Approaches to Collaborations are Brat Productions & the rock bands: Toothless George, Allison Polans, Danny Mackane, and Devin Greenwood for Three Chord Fiction; InterAct Theatre Company, Mural Arts Program & Art-Reach for The Norris Square Project; and The Vagabond Acting Troupe & University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology for The Trial of Akhenaten.

THE NOMINEES ARE:

OUTSTANDING OVERALL PRODUCTION OF A PLAY: The Four of Us - 1812 Productions; Master Harold...and the boys - Lantern Theater Company; Glengarry Glen Ross - Theatre Exile; Of Mice and Men - Walnut Street Theatre; The Pillowman - The Wilma Theater

OUTSTANDING OVERALL PRODUCTION OF A MUSICAL: The Bomb-itty of Errors - 11th Hour Theatre Company; Caroline, or Change - Arden Theatre Company; The Fantasticks - Mum Puppettheatre; Nerds://A Musical Software Satire - Philadelphia Theatre Company; 42nd Street - Walnut Street Theatre

OUTSTANDING DIRECTION OF A PLAY: Mark Clements - Of Mice and Men - Walnut Street Theatre; Terrence J. Nolen - A Prayer for Owen Meany - Arden Theatre Company; David O'Connor - Master Harold...and the boys - Lantern Theater Company; Matt Pfeiffer - Glengarry Glen Ross - Theatre Exile; Jiri Zizka - The Pillowman - The Wilma Theater

HAROLD PRINCE AWARD FOR OUTSTANDING DIRECTION OF A MUSICAL: Charles Abbott - 42nd Street - Walnut Street Theatre; Aaron Cromie - The Fantasticks - Mum Puppettheatre; Philip Wm. McKinley - Nerds: //A Musical Software Satire - Philadelphia Theatre Company; Terrence J. Nolen - Caroline, or Change - Arden Theatre Company; Megan Nicole O'Brien - The Bomb-itty of Errors - 11th Hour Theatre Company

OUTSTANDING MUSIC DIRECTION: Thomas DelPizzo, Rob McClure, Michael Philip O'Brien, Steve Pacek, & Mark Valenzuela - The Bomb-itty of Errors - 11th Hour Theatre Company; Eric Ebbenga - Caroline, or Change - Arden Theatre Company; Douglass G. Lutz - Carousel - Walnut Street Theatre; Mat Wright & Aaron Cromie - The Fantasticks - Mum Puppettheatre; Mark Yurkanin - Side by Side by Sondheim - Walnut Street Theatre, Independence Studio 3

OUTSTANDING LEADING ACTOR IN A PLAY: John Campion as Galileo - The Life of Galileo - The Wilma Theater; Scott Greer as Lennie - Of Mice and Men - Walnut Street Theatre; Brent Harris as Larry Olivier - Orson's Shadow - Philadelphia Theatre Company; Matt Pfeiffer as Matt - Red Light Winter - Theatre Exile; Frank X as Sam - Master Harold...and the boys - Lantern Theater Company

OUTSTANDING LEADING ACTRESS IN A PLAY: Louisa Flaningam as Daisy - Driving Miss Daisy - Delaware Theatre Company; Erin Clare Hurley as Anne Shirley - Anne of Green Gables - The People's Light & Theatre Company; Christie Parker as Desdemona - Othello - Philadelphia Shakespeare Festival; Susan Riley Stevens as Haley Walker - Bad Dates - Act II Playhouse; Eunice Wong as Hope - Infinite Ache - Walnut Street Theatre, Independence Studio 3

OUTSTANDING LEADING ACTOR IN A MUSICAL: Bev Appleton - The Fantasticks - Mum Puppettheatre; Jeffrey Coon as Billy Bigelow - Carousel - Walnut Street Theatre; Mark Jacoby as Julian Marsh - 42nd Street - Walnut Street Theatre; Rob McClure as Antipholus of Syracuse - The Bomb-itty of Errors - 11th Hour Theatre Company; Jim Poulos as Gates - Nerds://A Musical Software Satire - Philadelphia Theatre Company

OUTSTANDING LEADING ACTRESS IN A MUSICAL: Demetria Joyce Bailey as Ethel Waters - Ethel Waters, His Eye is On the Sparrow - Bristol Riverside Theatre; Kim Carson - The Fantasticks - Mum Puppettheatre; Cara Cooper as Peggy Sawyer - 42nd Street - Walnut Street Theatre; Joilet F. Harris as Caroline Thibodeaux - Caroline, or Change - Arden Theatre Company; Leslie Uggams as Lena Horne - Stormy Weather, Imagining Lena Horne - Prince Music Theater

OUTSTANDING SUPPORTING ACTOR IN A PLAY: Jeb Kreager as Ellard Simms - The Foreigner - The People's Light & Theatre Company; Christopher Patrick Mullen as Pap, Mrs. Loftus, Tom Sawyer, Ensemble - Splittin' the Raft - The People's Light & Theatre Company; Ian Merrill Peakes as Davis - Red Light Winter - Theatre Exile; Harry Philibosian as Shelly Levine - Glengarry Glen Ross - Theatre Exile; Pete Pryor as Michal - The Pillowman - The Wilma Theater

OUTSTANDING SUPPORTING ACTRESS IN A PLAY: Rachel Botchan as Joan Plowright - Orson's Shadow - Philadelphia Theatre Company; Charlotte Ford as Christina - Red Light Winter - Theatre Exile; Meghan Heimbecker as Isabel Dyson - My Children! My Africa! - The Wilma Theater; Charlotte Northeast as Ida - Skin in Flames - InterAct Theatre Company; Susan Wilder as Vivien Leigh - Orson's Shadow - Philadelphia Theatre Company

OUTSTANDING SUPPORTING ACTOR IN A MUSICAL: Thomas DelPizzo as Dromio of Ephesus - The Bomb-itty of Errors - 11th Hour Theatre Company; Dave Jadico - The Fantasticks - Mum Puppettheatre; Christopher Patrick Mullen as Midge, the Miller - Robin Hood - The People's Light & Theatre Company; Patrick O'Hara as Amos Hart - Chicago - The New Candlelight Theatre; David Rossmer as Woz - Nerds://A Musical Software Satire - Philadelphia Theatre Company

OUTSTANDING SUPPORTING ACTRESS IN A MUSICAL: Susan Cella as Dorothy Brock - 42nd Street - Walnut Street Theatre; Sherri L. Edelen as Rose Stopnick Gellman - Caroline, or Change - Arden Theatre Company; Dee Hoty as Kay Thompson - Stormy Weather, Imagining Lena Horne - Prince Music Theater; Kelly J. Rucker as Dotty Moffett - Caroline, or Change - Arden Theatre Company; Chandra Lee Schwartz as Sally - Nerds://A Musical Software Satire - Philadelphia Theatre Company

OUTSTANDING SET DESIGN: Jorge Cousineau - The Four of Us - 1812 Productions; Todd Edward Ivins - Of Mice and Men - Walnut Street Theatre; Mimi Lien - The Life of Galileo - The Wilma Theater; Arthur R. Rotch - Splittin' the Raft - The People's Light & Theatre Company; James Wolk - Dex and Julie Sittin' in a Tree - Arden Theatre Company

PECO AWARD FOR OUTSTANDING LIGHTING DESIGN: Jerold R. Forsyth - Dex and Julie Sittin' in a Tree - Arden Theatre Company; Jerold R. Forsyth - The Pillowman - The Wilma Theater; Shelley Hicklin - Of Mice and Men - Walnut Street Theatre; Tyler Micoleau - The Life of Galileo - The Wilma Theater; Kenton Yeager - A Prayer for Owen Meany - Arden Theatre Company

OUTSTANDING COSTUME DESIGN: Millie Hiibel - La Ronde - Lantern Theater Company; Rosemarie E. McKelvey - Caroline, or Change - Arden Theatre Company; Janus Stefanowicz - The Tempest - Villanova Theatre; Janus Stefanowicz - The Life of Galileo - The Wilma Theater; Ellis Tillman - Enchanted April - Walnut Street Theatre

OUTSTANDING SOUND DESIGN: Jorge Cousineau - The Giver - The People's Light & Theatre Company; Troy Herion - The Life of Galileo - The Wilma Theater; Nick Kourtides - Chekhov Lizardbrain - Pig Iron Theatre Company; Bill Moriarty - The Pillowman - The Wilma Theater; Fitz Patton - Nerds://A Musical Software Satire - Philadelphia Theatre Company

OUTSTANDING ORIGINAL MUSIC: Jorge Cousineau - The Giver - The People's Light & Theatre Company; Ben Edwards with Aaron Cromie, Madi Distefano, and Bradford Trojan - EYE-95 Retarred - Brat Productions; Hal Goldberg - Nerds://A Musical Software Satire - Philadelphia Theatre Company; Tony Macaulay - Windy City - Walnut Street Theatre; Jim Ryan - This Is The Week That Is: Political Humor for the Holidays - 1812 Productions

OUTSTANDING CHOREOGRAPHY/MOVEMENT: Michelle Gaudette - Carousel - Walnut Street Theatre; Karen Getz - Hair - Prince Music Theater; Mary Jane Houdina - 42nd Street - Walnut Street Theatre; Jody Anderson Miller - Chicago - The New Candlelight Theatre; Samuel Antonio Reyes - The Bomb-itty of Errors - 11th Hour Theatre Company

OUTSTANDING NEW PLAY: Nerds://A Musical Software Satire - Book & Lyrics by Jordan Allen-Dutton & Erik Weiner, Music by Hal Goldberg - Philadelphia Theatre Company; Anne of Green Gables - Adapted by Peter DeLaurier, from the novel by L.M. Montgomery - The People's Light & Theatre Company; A House with No Walls - By Thomas Gibbons - InterAct Theatre Company; Dex and Julie Sittin' in a Tree - By Bruce Graham - Arden Theatre Company; Windy City - Music by Tony Macaulay, Book & Lyrics by Dick Vosburgh with additional material by Tony Macaulay - Walnut Street Theatre

OUTSTANDING ENSEMBLE IN A PLAY: Spring Awakening - EgoPo Productions; Master Harold...and the boys - Lantern Theater Company; Glengarry Glen Ross - Theatre Exile; Of Mice and Men - Walnut Street Theatre; The Pillowman - The Wilma Theater

OUTSTANDING ENSEMBLE IN A MUSICAL: The Bomb-itty of Errors - 11th Hour Theatre Company; Caroline, or Change - Arden Theatre Company; The Fantasticks - Mum Puppettheatre; Nerds://A Musical Software Satire - Philadelphia Theatre Company; 42nd Street - Walnut Street Theatre

THE TED AND STEVIE WOLF AWARD FOR NEW APPROACHES TO COLLABORATIONS: Brat Productions & the rock bands: Toothless George, Allison Polans, Danny Mackane, and Devin Greenwood - Three Chord Fiction; InterAct Theatre Company & Mural Arts Program & Art-Reach - The Norris Square Project; The Vagabond Acting Troupe & University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology - The Trial of Akhenaten

EXCELLENCE IN THEATRE EDUCATION AND COMMUNITY SERVICE AWARD: 1812 Outreach - 1812 Productions; Illumination - Lantern Theater Company; My Philly Reality - Philadelphia Theatre Company; Adopt-A-School - Walnut Street Theatre

F. OTTO HAAS AWARD FOR AN EMERGING PHILADELPHIA THEATRE ARTIST: Lee Ann Etzold; Millie Hiibel; Jeb Kreager; Matt Pfeiffer; Matt Saunders

LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD: Carole Haas Gravagno

Major support for the Barrymore Awards is provided by Ark Media, Clear Sound, Earl Girls, PECO, An Exelon Company, Philadelphia City Paper, The Phoebe W. Haas Charitable Trust "A" as recommended by Carole Haas Gravagno, Anne Shuff @ MindLabs.net, William Penn Foundation, and Ted & Stevie Wolf.

The Theatre Alliance of Greater Philadelphia strengthens and leads the region's richly diverse theater community, with more than 100 member organizations and 300 individuals, by promoting awareness and serving as a resource for information, professional development and advocacy. Tickets for the Barrymore Award Ceremony and more information are available online at www.theatrealliance.org or by calling (215) 413-7150.

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ABOUT THE HOSTS
This year's Barrymore Awards ceremony will be hosted by celebrated actors Greg Wood and Chris Faith. Both actors can currently be seen in the Pennsylvania Shakespeare Festival's Taming of the Shrew, hailed by the Philadelphia Inquirer as "Fascinating, a laff-riot."

Named the "next theatrical star" by Philadelphia Weekly, Chris Faith has appeared in 1812 Productions' The Uneasy Chair and Recent Tragic Events, both nominated for the Barrymore Award for Outstanding Ensemble. Locally, he has performed with Lenape Regional Performing Arts Center, The Wilma Theater, Arden Theatre Company, Act II Playhouse, Bristol Riverside Theatre, and Mum Puppettheatre, among others. In New York City, Faith performed in the off-Broadway productions The Secret Garden and Like It Is at the York Theatre. His regional credits include The American Stage Festival, Tulane Summer Lyric Theatre, The Wellfleet Harbor Actors Theatre, and the Missouri Rep. Alongside his wife, Reina, Faith owns and operates Dance Arts Collaborative, a children's performing arts school.

Greg Wood has performed extensively in the Philadelphia theatre community including roles in The Wilma Theater's The Life of Galileo, The Constant Wife at Walnut Street Theatre, and Hedda Gabler, Sunday in the Park With George, and The Grapes of Wrath, among others with Arden Theatre Company. Wood has performed the title roles in both Hamlet and Richard III and appeared in Moon for the Misbegotten and others for the Pennsylvania Shakespeare Festival. He has also performed with the Orlando Shakespeare Festival, Delaware Theatre Company, Philadelphia Theatre Company, and Actors Theatre of Louisville. Wood's film and television credits include: The Sixth Sense, Signs, Law & Order, Ed, Hack, and Homicide: Life on the Street. He will begin filming M. Night Shyamalan's new film The Happening and Baton with Peter O'Toole this fall.

LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD
This year's Lifetime Achievement Award honors the incredible generosity and vision of Carole Haas Gravagno, whose leadership and inspiration have reached across the artistic landscape of the region. Her efforts on behalf of the Philadelphia Theatre Community are showcased each year at the Barrymore Awards with her gift award, the F. Otto Haas Award for An Emerging Philadelphia Theatre Artist, which gives $10,000 to a Philadelphia theatre artist for living expenses to help further his or her career.

Arts and music have always been a part of Carole's life. Her parents were staunch arts supporters and instilled that passion in her. She began her career as a teacher and has maintained her support of youth by becoming an advocate for programs that provide opportunities to enrich the lives of young people. She is a lead financial supporter of the Children's Theatre at the Arden Theatre Company. Her efforts on behalf of that program have allowed thousands of young people to attend theatre productions free-of-charge, exposing most of them to live theatre for the first time.

Widely regarded as the ultimate board member, Carole's leadership has provided knowledge, connections, resources, and the hands-on work needed to turn an artistic mission into reality. She currently serves on the boards of: American Symphony Orchestra League, Arden Theatre Company, Arts in Motion, Educating Children for Parenting, Intercultural Journeys, National Liberty Museum, Morris Arboretum, Pennsylvania's Children's Trust Fund, The People's Light & Theatre Company, Philadelphia Chamber Music Society, Philadelphia's Children First Fund, Philadelphia Orchestra, Please Touch Museum, and Settlement Music School.

F. OTTO HAAS AWARD FOR AN EMERGING PHILADELPHIA THEATRE ARTIST NOMINEES

A 2006 F. Otto Haas Award finalist, Lee Ann Etzold is a founding member of the OBIE award-winning experimental movement theatre company, New Paradise Laboratories (NPL), under the artistic direction of Whit MacLaughlin. Commissioned by The Actors Theatre of Louisville, NPL, with playwright Alice Tuan, premiered BATCH at the 2007 Humana Festival and will present the production in the upcoming Philadelphia Live Arts Festival. She has performed, directed and/or choreographed for The Children's Theatre Company of Minneapolis, Pig Iron Theatre Company, Headlong Dance Theater, Arden Theatre Company, and The Philadelphia Shakespeare Festival, among others. In 2006, she premiered P's & Q's, her first original work, at the 2006 Live Arts Festival. She recently collaborated with Brat Productions on the Barrymore nominated Three Chord Fiction series and is working with Azuka Theatre Collective's forthcoming production of Hedwig and the Angry Inch with long-time collaborator, Dito van Reigersberg. In 2005, she received a Barrymore nomination for Outstanding Original Music for Brat Productions' Grease and Desist, and is the recipient of a 2004 Barrymore for her role as a member of the Outstanding Ensemble in a Play in Lantern Theatre Company's The Comedy of Errors. Etzold was recently accepted to participate in the Director's Lab on "New Play Development Today" at Lincoln Center in New York.

Costume designer Millie Hiibel has designed extensively within the Philadelphia theatre community, and most recently created costumes for Lantern Theatre's Taming of the Shrew and La Ronde for which she is nominated this year for Outstanding Costume Design, Philadelphia Shakespeare Festival's Othello, and The Wilma Theater's My Children! My Africa!. In 2006, she made her off-Broadway debut, designing the Village Theater's I Love You Because, directed by Daniel Kutner. A 2004 Barrymore Award nominee for Outstanding Costume Design for Lantern's Comedy of Errors, Hiibel has created costumes for Theatre Exile, Pig Iron Theatre Company, 1812 Productions, Koresh Dance Company, Bristol Riverside Theatre, Brat Productions, Philadelphia Theater Company, and Philadelphia Young Playwrights, among others. She continues to explore different aspects of theater including three dimensional forms such as millinery, masks and puppetry and is an adjunct professor at Moore College of Art and Design where she teaches Fashion Design and Draping.

A company member of the OBIE award-winning New Paradise Laboratories, Jeb Kreager has performed extensively within the Philadelphia theatre community. He is a 2007 nominee for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Play for his work in The Foreigner with The People's Light & Theatre Company, and was most recently seen in 1812 Productions' The Four of Us (2007 Outstanding Overall Production of a Play nominee), Arden Theatre Company's The BFG and New Paradise Laboratories' world premiere of BATCH at the 2007 Humana Festival. He has performed with Brat Productions, Early Morning Opera (Whitney), Lucidity Suitcase Intercontinental, and Headlong Dance Theater, whose production Hippie Elegy was presented in New York at the Harkness Dance Festival, P.S. 122 and at the Edanco Festival in the Dominican Republic. Supported by a 2006 Independence Foundation Fellowship in the Arts, Kreager researched and developed Contest, his first theatrical dance work, which premiered at the Painted Bride Arts Center as part of the 2006 Philadelphia Live Arts Festival. A 2005 Barrymore Award nominee for 1812's Recent Tragic Events, Kreager continues to collaborate with renowned local artists including Geoff Sobelle & Trey Lyford, Nichole Canuso Dance Company, Emmanuelle Delpech-Ramey, and Thaddeus Phillips.

Actor and director Matt Pfeiffer is the Associate Artistic Director of Theatre Exile and is nominated this year for Outstanding Leading Actor in a Play and Outstanding Direction of a Play for the company's productions of Red Light Winter and Glengarry Glen Ross, respectively. He also recently directed Walnut Street Theatre's An Infinite Ache, and as an actor, he performed in Pennsylvania Shakespeare Festival's The Taming of the Shrew and 1812 Productions' Barrymore nominated The Four of Us. Named by the Philadelphia City Paper as the "Hardest Working Man in Stage Biz", Pfeiffer has worked extensively with the Philadelphia theatre community including collaborating with Joe Canuso, Pete Pryor, Madi Distefano, Aaron Posner, and Patrick Mulcahy, among others. As a performer and director, he has worked with Arden Theatre Company, Pig Iron Theatre Company, Brat Productions, Lantern Theater Company, Inis Nua Theatre Company, InterAct Theatre Company, and the Pennsylvania Shakespeare Festival, among others.

A two-time F. Otto Haas Award finalist, Matt Saunders is a designer, performer and co-founder of New Paradise Laboratories, an OBIE award-winning theatre company. Saunders recently performed in and designed the elaborate set for BATCH, the company's new work which premiered at the 2007 Humana Festival and will be presented in the upcoming Philadelphia Live Arts Festival. Marking his 50th professional set design in only nine years, Saunders designed Theatre Exile's Glengarry Glen Ross and The Wilma Theater's My Children! My Africa!. As a performer and/or designer, he has also worked with InterAct Theatre Company, Brat Productions, Mum Puppettheatre, Walnut Street Theatre, Pig Iron Theatre Company, Headlong Dance Theater, and MOXIE Dance Collective, among others. In 2006, Saunders took on the role of both performer and scenic designer for Theatre Exile's Killer Joe, which won a Barrymore for Outstanding Ensemble, and was recognized individually with a Barrymore Award nomination for his role. In the 2006 Philadelphia Live Arts Festival, Saunders designed new works by Brat Productions and Nichole Canuso and collaborated with past Haas Award-recipients Jorge Cousineau and James Sugg on the performance installation, Still Unknown. He currently teaches Multi-Media and Performance at Drexel University.

EXCELLENCE IN THEATRE EDUCATION AND COMMUNITY SERVICE AWARD

1812 Productions' 1812 Outreach is a unique in-school theatre education program for at-risk students at South Philadelphia High and Widener Memorial School for Children with Disabilities. Now in its ninth year of operation, 1812 engages students with limited or no access to the arts in any form, utilizing theatre and comedy to enrich and further academic, social, interpersonal and creative skills. By empowering children through comedy, the program enables students to leave their limitations and inhibitions at the door, challenge their abilities and imaginations, and learn while laughing and having fun, resulting in students who are more open to learning, working with one another and expanding their idea of what is possible.

Lantern Theater Company's Illumination: Classroom Connections program is designed to enrich standardized curriculum with theatre education in some of Philadelphia's most culturally diverse, financially challenged public high schools. Working in schools with little to no established arts curriculum, Lantern engages students in the world of theatre, giving them a chance to think and work like actors, directors, designers and audiences, while utilizing their own artistic expression. Emphasizing physical, aural, visual and social approaches to plays, the program supports the efforts of Philadelphia teachers by using the tools and techniques of theatre to deepen each student's experience of studying curriculum, ultimately culminating in a deeper understanding of literature.

An expansion of Philadelphia Theatre Company's Drama Contact program, the My Philly Reality Residency used the 2007 production of In The Continuum as a springboard for students to create character driven monologues exploring their personal lives and the community. The 14-session residency engaged over 100 high school students in the Philadelphia public schools and city recreation centers, culminating in public performances of their original work at Plays and Players Theatre. Designed for the enrichment, maturation and education of students through theater, PTC's ongoing in-school and at-the-theater education program brings teaching theater artists into Philadelphia public high schools, introducing contemporary American theater to students while providing teachers with enhanced arts curriculum.

Through the Adopt-A-School program, Walnut Street Theatre aims to address the national issue of declining arts education on a local, school-by-school basis, with artists and staff from the theatre working directly in underserved area schools to bring the magic of theatre from the stage and into the classrooms of our community. This season marks the second year of a three-year adoption of Philadelphia's Laura Wheeler Waring School. In the ongoing project, the Walnut has worked with students, teachers, and administrators to build a sustainable arts curriculum, create a "theatre room," revitalize the school's drama club, and organize student performances for parents, while also offering students access to other cultural opportunities such as acting classes, the Outreach program, tickets to Mainstage performances, and scholarships to the Theatre School and Camp Walnut.

THE TED AND STEVIE WOLF AWARD FOR NEW APPROACHES TO COLLABORATIONS

Brat Productions & the rock bands: Toothless George, Allison Polans, Danny Mackane, and Devin Greenwood, Three Chord Fiction: In Three Chord Fiction, Brat Productions presented several short-term collaborations between theatre artists and rock musicians, including Toothless George, Allison Polans, Danny Mackane and Devin Greenwood. Emphasizing the common ground of expression that is shared by musicians and playwrights, Brat Productions expanded the boundary of musical theatre by pushing musicians, songwriters and playwrights into unfamiliar territory while under strict time constraints. Performers had less than one week to write and stage a 10-15 minute musical. Held at The Khyber Bar, a rock-and-roll club known for showcasing new bands, the project stressed the importance of showcasing new work, creating fresh and engaging performances for diverse audiences. By exploring the mutual interest in storytelling and performance, Three Chord Fiction moved audiences through words, music and dramatic action while attracting new theatergoers by creating work that challenged the status quo and tested the conventions of theatre resulting in collaborations that truly rocked.

InterAct Theatre Company & Mural Arts Program & Art-Reach, The Norris Square Project: Uniting theatre, visual art and community outreach, InterAct Theatre Company, Art-Reach and The Mural Arts Program collaborated with youth and seniors in North Philadelphia's largely Latin American neighborhood of Norris Square to create a large-scale mural and performance piece in Las Parcelas Community Garden. Professional mural artist Henry Bermudez and director/dramaturg Deborah Block worked together alongside the Norris Square residents, who are primarily first and second generation immigrants from Central and South America, to create a living portrait of the community. Together, the three organizations sought to celebrate Philadelphia's diverse population, overcoming language and cultural barriers using an interactive, participatory approach. The organizations emphasized individual identity and collective cultural expression by exploring the stories of Norris Square, engaging the often underserved community in active story-telling through group discussions and hands-on art workshops, culminating in a theatre performance and mural dedication.

The Vagabond Acting Troupe & University of Pennsylvania's Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, The Trial of Akhenaten: In their second collaboration, Vagabond Acting Troupe and the University of Pennsylvania's Philadelphia Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology created an original, site-specific work in conjunction with the 2006 exhibit, Amarna, Ancient Egypt's Place in the Sun. Designed to enhance the exhibit and connect theatre and museum audiences, the "Amarna theater-in-the-galleries program" offered a creative educational portal for museum visitors to access lessons in history. Developed in conjunction with leading scholars and seasoned artistic professionals, the program presented a dramatic avenue for learning about and understanding world cultures, while encouraging an entryway to deeper exploration and discovery. Vagabond performed the 20-minute interactive theater piece in the museum to visiting students and the general public to much success, paving the way for more "theater-in-the-galleries" presentations in conjunction with future exhibitions.

To request interviews, photos, ceremony press passes, and more information, please contact: Megan Wendell, Canary Promotion, 215-242-6393, megan@canarypromo.com.