Drama Desk Awards (2000 New York)
I was a sponsor and handled online marketing for the Drama Desk Awards at the LaGuardia High School of the Arts (the Fame School) in New York on May 14, 2000.
The Drama Desk organization was formed in 1949 by a group of New York theater critics, editors, reporters and publishers, in order to make the public aware of the vital issues concerning the theatrical industry. They debuted the presentations of the Vernon Rice Awards in 1955.
The name honors the New York Post critic Vernon Rice, who had pioneered Off-Broadway coverage in the New York press.
The name was changed for the 1963–1964 awards season to the Drama Desk Awards. Broadway productions were included beginning with the 1968–69 award season. The awards are considered a significant American theater distinction.
The Drama Desk has more than 100 members, including theatre critics, reporters and editors who cover New York theater and vote on the awards.
The 2000 Drama Desk Awards recipients:
| Outstanding Play | Copenhagen |
| Outstanding Musical | Contact |
| Outstanding Musical Revival | Kiss Me, Kate |
| Outstanding Play Revival | The Real Thing |
| Outstanding One-Person Show | Barry Humphries, Dame Edna: The Royal Tour |
| Unique Theatrical Experience | Charlie Victor Romeo |
| Best Actor in a Play | Stephen Dillane, The Real Thing |
| Best Actress in a Play | Eileen Heckart, The Waverly Gallery |
| Best Featured Actor in a Play | Roy Dotrice, A Moon for the Misbegotten |
| Best Featured Actress in a Play | Marylouise Burke, Fuddy Meers |
| Best Actor in a Musical | Brian Stokes Mitchell, Kiss Me, Kate |
| Best Actress in a Musical | Heather Headley, Aida |
| Best Featured Actor in a Musical | Stephen Spinella, The Dead |
| Best Featured Actress in a Musical | Karen Ziemba, Contact |
| Best Director of a Play | Michael Blakemore, Copenhagen |
| Best Director of a Musical | Michael Blakemore, Kiss Me, Kate |
| Best Choreography | Susan Stroman, Contact |
| Best Music | Andrew Lippa, The Wild Party—MTC |
| Best Lyrics | Stephen Sondheim, Saturday Night |
| Outstanding Orchestrations | Don Sebesky, Kiss Me, Kate |
| Outstanding Set Design of a Play | David Gallo, Jitney |
| Outstanding Set Design of a Musical | Robin Wagner, Kiss Me, Kate |
| Special Awards | Alexander H. Cohen—Lifelong commitment to excellence in theatre |
| Barnard Hughes and Helen Stenborg—Shared Lifetime Achievement | |
| Cast of Jitney—Outstanding Ensemble Performance |
As Founder and CEO of Theatre.com and BuyBroadway.com. The pioneer in moving the Broadway industry onto the internet. The theatre press branded me as “Toby is the man pushing theatre, kicking and screaming, into cyberspace.” What started in 1989 as a Broadway industry service called ShowCall via dialup BBS for members of the League of American Theatre Producers evolved onto the world wide web in the early 90’s, and shortly after this, the vast majority of Broadway shows (starting with my production of Victor/Victoria) and theatrical organizations followed. The “Super site of Broadway” became a publicly traded company, prior to my re-branding it as Theatre.com at the Minskoff Theatre.
Described by Variety Magazine as a “marketing powerhouse“, it was the single largest theatre community in the world with over 180,000 active members (in the 1990’s this was massive). From buying official Broadway tickets and souvenirs, providing detailed global show listings, interactive show study & educational guides, live streaming shows and events (including many Opening Nights live broadcasts), industry news from major theatre journalists, pictures and videos, games, messaging directly to Broadway cast’s backstage or even licensing a musical, theatre.com offered it all in a single, easy-to-use interface to theatregoers globally.
Did You Know?
Michael Howell Blakemore OBE, AO (18 June 1928 – 10 December 2023) was an accomplished Australian actor, writer and theatre director who also made several films. Born in Sydney, Australia in 1928, in 2000 he became the only individual to win both Drama Desk Awards and repeated at the Tony Awards for Best Director of a Play and Best Director of a Musical in the same year for COPENHAGEN and KISS ME, KATE. He was also the recipient for the same double show win, as voted by the public, of Toby Awards.