Tiffany and Hoggett each won the award for their collaborative work on Once, presented at New York Theatre Workshop Off-Broadway prior to its current Tony-winning Broadway run. At the Nov. 15 reception in New York City, Tiffany accepted both Callaway awards stating that he and Hoggett had been best friends since they were teenagers in London. Hoggett sent word from Germany that he was "very moved to receive this award from his peers."
The last time both the director and choreographer of a show won the award was in 2007 when Thomas Kail and Andy Blankenbuehler each won for In the Heights.
The 2011-12 Callaway Award recognizes excellence in the craft of directing and choreography during the New York City theatre season Sept. 1, 2011, through Aug. 31, 2012, and is the only award given by professional directors and choreographers to their peers for work on a specific production. In recent weeks, Hoggett has been working on the fight choreography for the new musical Rocky, which opens in its world premiere Nov. 17 in Hamburg, Germany.
The previously named finalists for the 2011-12 Joe A. Callaway Award were:
DIRECTORS Rachel Dickstein, Septimus & Clarissa
Produced by Ripe Time
Charlotte Moore, Dancing at Lughnasa
Produced by The Irish Repertory Theatre
Jenn Thompson, Lost in Yonkers
Produced by TACT/The Actors Company Theatre
*John Tiffany, Once
Produced by New York Theatre Workshop
CHOREOGRAPHERS
*Steven Hoggett, Once
Produced by New York Theatre Workshop
Mimi Lieber, As You Like It
Produced by The Public Theater's Shakespeare in the Park
Kurt Stamm, Closer Than Ever
Produced by The York Theatre Company in association with Edward Negley, Neil Berg & Adam Friedson
To be eligible, directors and choreographers must be SDC members in good standing. The production must take place within the five boroughs of New York City under an Actors' Equity Association contract other than the Showcase code and Broadway contract.
The Callaway Committee, comprised of current longstanding SDC members, selected finalists from more than 300 productions considered this season.
Joe A. Callaway dedicated more than 50 years to the theatre as an actor, director, lecturer and critic. He was a founding member and director of San Diego's Old Globe Theatre, the first recipient of a masters degree from the Goodman School of Theatre, an associate professor at Michigan State University, a noted radio and television reviewer, and an actor Off-Broadway and in regional theatre. Since his death in 1991, his legacy lives on in awards he endowed for direction and choreography (through SDCF), for acting (through Actors' Equity Association), for playwriting (through Young Playwrights Inc.) and for theatre scholarships (through NYU).
SDCF's Joe A. Callaway Award was first presented in 1989. Previous winners include Gabriel Barre, Andy Blankenbuehler, Carolyn Cantor, Martha Clarke, Graciela Daniele, Frank Galati, Christopher Gattelli, Gerald Gutierrez, Doug Hughes, Garry Hynes, Bill T. Jones, Thomas Kail, Moises Kaufman, Larry Keigwin, Joe Mantello, Trevor Nunn, Jack O'Brien, Ciarán O'Reilly, Harold Prince, Bartlett Sher, Susan Stroman, Daniel Sullivan and George C. Wolfe.
Founded in 1965 by Members of the Stage Directors and Choreographers, the SDCF is the nation's premier organization "that exists to foster, train, support and promote the craft of theatre directors and choreographers."
SDCF aims to provide opportunities to practice the crafts of direction and choreography; promote emerging talent; grant access to career paths for emerging artists and young professionals; gather and disseminate craft and career information; provide forums for exchange of knowledge; and increase the awareness of the value of directors and choreographers' work.
For more information, visit SDCF at SDCweb.org.
