Dana Ivey and Larry Bryggman Win 2005 Richard Seff Awards

By Robert Simonson
26 May 2005

Dana Ivey and Larry Bryggman
Dana Ivey and Larry Bryggman

Dana Ivey and Larry Bryggman are the recipients of the 2005 Richard Seff Award, which is presented by the Actors' Equity Foundation.

The award, created in 2004, "honors a female and male character actor, 50 years of age or older, for the best performance in a supporting role in a Broadway or Off-Broadway production." As such, it is a complement to the 60-year-old Clarence Derwent Awards, which annually honor "the most promising female and male performers on the New York metropolitan scene."

The winners receive $1,000 each.

Ivey was named for her performance as Mrs. Malaprop in the Lincoln Center Theater revival of The Rivals. Ivey has also been nominated for a Tony Award for her work in that Sheridan comedy.

Bryggman, meanwhile, received the prize for both his performance in the Off-Broadway world premiere of David Mamet's Romance, in which he played a delusional, drugged-up judge, and his portrayal of an earnest juror in Broadway's Twelve Angry Men.

The Judges' Panel for the award consists of: Betty Corwin, Director of Special Projects, Theatre on Film & Tape Archive of the Lincoln Center Library for the Performing Arts; Michael Kuchwara, Associated Press; Patrick Quinn, President of Actors' Equity; David Rosenberg, Back Stage; Michael Sommers, The Star Ledger; Douglas Watt, The Daily News; and Carl Harms.

Septuagenarian Seff is a character actor and former Broadway agent who has also written plays (Broadway's Paris is Out!) and musicals (Shine!, available through Samuel French).