Just because I'm back home, you would think the events and star-sighting would end… but wrong you are… Before I catch you up to all that has been going on, I am worried I am losing the "Something extra" that made this blog worth reading, and fun… Should this blog be about the people, places and things that I experience; or should it be deeper? Well, we shall see how it develops – but for the time being I think it will be a mix of thoughts, reminiscences, friends and various reviews!
With all of that said – lets go back to Tuesday night – and I must say it is one of my favorite nights of the year to spend in the theatre. It is Houston's annual "Tommy Tune Awards" – presented by "Theatre Under The Stars" to the best in High School theatre in the Houstonland area. The awards started 5 years ago as a way to encourage schools to put focus back on their performing arts curriculum and extra-curricular activities. The idea being that a lot of attention is put on sports, and that sports teams can come home with an award (trophy) and it can be put on display and becomes a sense of pride for the school – why not achieve the same thing with a theatrical award for excellence with in that area. So with the work of a lot of dedicated individuals, TUTS, scores of Judges and interested schools – the Tommy Tunes Awards was born. I was lucky enough to have presented at the first ceremony and have been asked back to present the first award of the evening every years since.
It is always a blast to hang out backstage with my friends and fellow presenters – and it is always exciting to see which of us are there… this year, the true sprit behind these awards, Jim Bernhardt, MCed as always, plus Houston Ballet's Stanton Welsh, STAGES' Kenn McLaughlin, Main Street Theatre's Becky Udden, Houston Symphony's Matthew VanBesien, ABC-13's Don Nelson and a couple of big surprises: Jerry Bock (Composer of "Fiddler on the Roof")
And a new friend of mine, Austin Miller (from TV's "Grease! You're The One That I Want")
I actually met Austin online – I knew of him from a touring production of "Hairspray" that had a good friend of mine, Dale Calandra, in the company (understudying the role of Edna) – so when I saw Austin on the TV show and then found him on MySpace, I dropped him a line. Well we started chatting and then I found out he was from right outside of Houston – still has family there, and he had attended TUTS theatre training program "The Humphreys School of Musical Theatre" when he was younger. We started talking about The Tommy Tunes and the upcoming Gala (more about that in a later blog), and he said he was already planning on coming to the Gala, but was still trying to figure out if he could get in early enough to attend both…
Well, Tuesday night arrives – Austin is shooting a pilot on the east coast and the plan is as soon as he finishes, he is going to catch a plane and fly to Houston, get picked up and brought to the theatre in just enough time to present… So fingers are crossed as we hope all will go well… I was asked stand by incase he doesn't make it in time (like the kids figure "Austin Miller" or Ernie Manouse – no difference – PLEASE, these kids would be so bummed to get me instead of Austin!!!! LOL, but I have been assured, "they don't even know he is coming so they wont be THAT disappointed" – that made me feel better ;-)) But crisis averted – Austin makes it (it was a rush day for him the whole day – but he really wanted to do this to give back to the kids and his old training ground). And they were so happy to have him there!
The Awards were a success and I even ran into another of my friends, American Idol's Will Makar, who is in High School himself! But that kid has a whole lot of talent and I expect you will be hearing a whole lot from him in the future.
The evening wrapped up by midnight – with a wonderful late night reception for presenters, judges and supporters – the winners had to go home to get to bed – it was a school night ya know ;-)
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