The dance musical created by Susan Stroman and John Weidman picked up a Creative Arts Emmy Award Sept. 13 at a ceremony held at Los Angeles' Shrine Auditorium. Contact won its Primetime Emmy for Outstanding Classical Music-Dance Program in a category that also included "New York Philharmonic: All-Gershwin New Year's Eve Concert," "Perlman at the Penthouse (Live from Lincoln Center)" and "Pops Goes the Fourth! 2002." The television airing of Contact was broadcast live from the Vivian Beaumont Theatre during the last performance of the long-running musical. The PBS broadcast was produced by John Goberman with Marc Bauman as supervising producer.

After a successful run at the Mizti Newhouse Theatre, Contact opened on Broadway at Lincoln Center's Vivian Beaumont Theatre March 30, 2000, where it played 1,010 performances before closing Sept. 1, 2002. In addition to its Tony for Best Musical, the production also picked up awards for Boyd Gaines (Best Featured Actor in a Musical), Karen Ziemba (Best Featured Actress in a Musical) and Susan Stroman (Best Choreographer). Contact is divided into three parts: the first set in eighteenth century France, the second in a 1950’s New York restaurant patronized by the Mafia, and the third in modern-day New York where a successful but lonely advertising executive makes contact with his emotions when he falls for a girl in a yellow dress at a dance club.

"The 55th Annual Primetime Emmys" will be held at the Shrine Auditorium on Sept. 21. FOX-TV will broadcast the event live. For a complete list of the 2003 Emmy nominees, visit www.emmys.com.