Theatre Students Benefit from Monies Raised for Scholarship Fund

F. Murray Abraham, Dennis Farina, Marilu Henner, Estelle Parsons, Amy Pietz, Regina Taylor and William Warfield will receive the prestigious Theatre School Award for Excellence in the Arts at the 9th Annual DePaul Theatre School Awards Gala to be held on Friday, May 2, 1997. Alumnus Joe Mantegna will once again host the awards ceremony.

The DePaul Theatre School Awards Gala begins with a 6 p.m. reception at DePaul's Merle Reskin Theatre, 60 E. Balbo Drive, Chicago. The on-stage presentation of the Awards for Excellence in the Arts begins at 7 p.m.. Cocktails, dinner and dancing to the music of the Stanley Paul Orchestra begin at 8 p.m. in the Grand Ballroom of the Chicago Hilton and Towers, 720 S. Michigan Avenue. The evening will include a silent auction. The ticket price for the black-tie benefit is $250 per person. To arrange reservations, call (312) 362-5214.

The Awards Gala raises funds for The Theatre School Scholarship Fund and for Chicago Playworks, the city's oldest continuously operating theatre for young people. The 1996 Gala was an unparalleled success, raising nearly $100,000 for the Scholarship Fund. The fund dispenses more than $450,000 in financial aid to theatre students each year.

Sondra A. Healy, chairman of the board of Turtle Wax, Inc., heads the Awards Gala Committee that is instrumental in the planning of the annual event. Jack M. Greenberg, vice chairman, McDonald's Corporation, chairman, McDonald’s U.S.A., and chairman of the DePaul University Board of Trustees, is honorary chairman for the second year. "The Theatre School is a nationally renowned conservatory for young theatre artists, and the Gala is an opportunity to showcase and support these talented young people in all aspects of their theatre craft," Mrs. Healy says. "Those who attend this glamorous, exciting celebration see first-hand the interaction between students and stars and feel directly how their support of The Theatre School's scholarship program can impact students' lives."

Major supporters of the 9th Annual Awards Gala include American Airlines, Chicago Hilton and Towers, Escada, McDonald's Corporation and Performance Communications Group.

Lord Piers Wedgwood and Wedgwood, USA, will donate the presentation pieces to be awarded. The company has chosen classic Portland Blue Jasper wares for the 9th Annual Awards Gala Ñ the ninth time Wedgwood, USA, has honored The Theatre School with this generous gift.

Members of the 1997 Gala Committee are: Marlys Beider, Susan Bennett, Lou Beres, Elizabeth Bertucci, Joan Clifford, Joan Dry, Evelyn Echols, Catherine Eggers, Loretta Foxgrover, the Rev. Joe Geders, C.M., Doris Giovannini, Linda Goodman, Maxine Hauser, Mary Hechinger, John Iltis, Bella Itkin, Gloria Jones, Jan Largay, Alice O'Neill Licht, Lollie McKeon, Beverly Persky, Vonita Reescer, Merle Reskin and Arlene Shattil.

The 1997 recipients of the Awards for Excellence in the Arts join a remarkable group of honorees whom the school has honored in years past. "It is our fortune to recognize these seven outstanding artists who have contributed to the arts with such an extraordinary level of talent and achievement," says John Ransford Watts, dean of The Theatre School. "This is truly a distinguished group of working professionals. It is wonderful that they are available to join us here for a Theatre School tradition and one of the best parties of the Chicago season."

F. Murray Abraham received the 1984 Academy Award for Best Actor, the Los Angeles Film Critics Award and the Golden Globe Award for his portrayal of Antonio Salieri in Amadeus. During a distinguished career spanning nearly 30 years, he has acted in numerous Broadway, Off-Broadway, television and film roles. On Broadway his credits include Angels in America: Perestroika, The Man in the Glass Booth, Bad Habits, The Ritz, A Month in the Country, Legend and Waiting for Godot, among others. He received an Obie Award for Uncle Vanya Off-Broadway, where his varied appearances include The Fantasticks, Little Murders, The Caretaker, A Life in the Theatre, Survival of St. Joan, Where Has Tommy Flowers Gone and Sexual Perversity in Chicago. He has also performed at the New York Shakespeare Festival in The Master and Marguerita, King Lear and A Midsummer Night's Dream, and at American Repertory Theatre. He appeared in Los Angeles in Twelve Angry Men and The Wonderful Ice-Cream Suit and toured with And Miss Reardon Drinks a Little and Don't Drink the Water. Mr. Abraham's myriad feature film credits include Mighty Aphrodite, Color of Justice, Children of the Revolution, Looking for Richard, Nostradamus, Surviving the Game, L'Affaire, Dillinger and Capone, Mobsters, Last Action Hero, An Innocent Man, The Name of the Rose, Scarface, The Sunshine Boys and All the President's Men, among many others.

Dennis Farina was named Best Supporting Comedy Actor by the American Comedy Awards for his acclaimed performance in last year's hit film Get Shorty. He made his film debut in Michael Mann's Thief and went on to appear in Manhunter, Code of Silence, Romeo is Bleeding, Little Big League, Striking Distance and Another Stakeout. A presence since starring as Lt. Mike Torello in Crime Story, Mr. Farina's numerous television credits include the movies Bonanza: Under Attack with Leonard Nimoy, Stranger in the Mirror with Veronica Hamel, The Corpse Had a Familiar Face with Elizabeth Montgomery and Saving Grace opposite Patty Duke. He starred in the Emmy-nominated mini-series The Drug Wars: Columbia and was featured in two Emmy-nominated telefilms, Blind Faith and Cruel Doubt. A native of the city, Mr. Farina has deep roots in Chicago theatre. He appeared in Bleacher Bums at the Organic Theatre and played leading roles at Steppenwolf Theatre in A Prayer for My Daughter, Tracers, for which the cast was awarded a Joseph Jefferson Award for Best Ensemble, and Streamers, which later moved to the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. Other Chicago theatre credits include Heat at the Organic and The Time of Your Life at the Goodman Theatre. His recent projects include the feature films Eddie with Whoopi Goldberg and That Old Feeling with Bette Midler.

Marilu Henner received five Golden Globe Award nominations for her role on the Emmy-winning comedy series Taxi with Tony Danza, Danny DeVito and Judd Hirsch and a Cable ACE Award for Grown Ups. She also starred on the Emmy-winning hit series Evening Shade with Burt Reynolds and Charles Durning. She began her career in musical theatre, starring in the national touring company of Grease and on Broadway in Over Here, Pal Joey and Social Security, directed by Mike Nichols. With her husband, director/producer Robert Lieberman, she formed a company to develop and produce television series, including FOX-TV's recent Medicine Ball and the critically acclaimed Abandoned and Deceived, which told the true story of Gerri Jensen, founder of an organization (ACES) that helps trace "deadbeat" parents. Prior to the program's airing, Ms. Henner testified in Washington, D.C., to help support Congressional legislation to address this issue. She has appeared on television as host of her own daily talk show, Marilu, as host and subject of the television special We're Having a Baby, in the highly rated NBC drama Fight for Justice: The Nancy Conn Story and in Lifetime’s For the Future: The Irvine Fertility Scandal. Her feature film roles include Blood Brothers with Richard Gere, Between the Lines with Jeff Goldblum, Hammett with Frederick Forrest, L.A. Story with Steve Martin, Johnny Dangerously with Michael Keaton, Perfect with John Travolta, The Man Who Loved Women with Burt Reynolds, and Noises Off with Michael Caine and Christopher Reeve, among others. She recently portrayed Molly Brown in the television mini-series Titanic.

A veteran of stage, screen and television, Estelle Parsons won an Oscar as Best Supporting Actress for her film debut in Bonnie and Clyde and was nominated again the following year for her performance in Rachel, Rachel. She won a Theatre World Award for her professional acting debut in Mrs. Daily Has a Lover and earned Tony Award nominations for Seven Descents of Myrtle, And Miss Reardon Drinks a Little and Miss Margarida's Way. Other Broadway credits include Ladies of the Alamo, The Norman Conquests, Shimada, The Shadow Box and her musical theatre debut in Happy Hunting with Ethel Merman. As an actor, director and adaptor, Ms. Parsons has had a long association with the New York Shakespeare Festival, where her credits include The Pirates of Penzance with Kevin Kline and Linda Ronstadt, Peer Gynt and Orgasmo Adulto Escapes from the Zoo. She directed As You Like It, Macbeth and Romeo and Juliet at New York Shakespeare Festival. Ms. Parsons' television credits include several appearances on All in the Family and Archie Bunker's Place as well as Open Admissions, The UFO Incident, Backstairs at the White House, the Peabody Award-winning Animals, Animals, Animals and HBO's Miss Sheri. She appears in the recurring role of Bev, Roseanne's mother, on the hit ABC sitcom Roseanne. Her other feature film credits include Woody Allen's Don't Drink the Water, I Never Sang for My Father, I Walk the Line, Watermelon Man, Two People, For Pete's Sake, The Gentleman Bandit, The Lemon Sisters, Dick Tracy, That Darn Cat, Boys on the Side and Looking for Richard. On the day she arrived in New York City she was hired as one of eight people who created NBC's Today Show, and she became the first woman political news reporter for a television network. She has taught at several institutes and universities, including Yale and Columbia.

Amy Pietz is a 1991 graduate of The Theatre School. She currently co-stars in the hit NBC sitcom Caroline in the City as Lea Thompson's neighbor Annie Spadaro. After graduating from The Theatre School, she was cast in her first professional role in Steppenwolf Theatre Company's Outreach Program production of A View From the Bridge. Her other Chicago theatre credits include You Can't Take It With You for Steppenwolf's Outreach Program, In the Flesh at the Organic Theatre and The Love of the Nightingale at the Next Theatre. She was a founding member of Eclipse Theatre Company. In 1994, Ms. Pietz left Chicago for Los Angeles, where she appeared on Star Trek: The Next Generation and as a regular on the Warner Bros. Network comedy series Muscle before landing her current role on Caroline in the City. She recently returned to Chicago to tape Northlight Theatre's world premiere of Tom Szentgyorgyi's Dinosaur Dreams for WFMT's "Chicago Theatres on the Air" series. Dinosaur Dreams airs on WFMT 98.7-FM on Sunday, April 13 at 8 p.m.

Regina Taylor received an NAACP Image Award, an Emmy Award nomination and a Golden Globe Award for Best Leading Dramatic Actress for her role as Lilly Harper on the television series I'll Fly Away. An accomplished playwright, her writing credits include the one-woman show Escape from Paradise, which she has performed at the Goodman Studio and Circle Repertory Company, and two one-act plays, Watermelon Rinds and Inside the Belly of the Beast, which appeared under the title The Ties That Bind at the Goodman Studio. Additional writing credits include Mudtracks, presented in Ensemble Studio Theatre's One Act Festival in New York; Ghost Train and Sty Farm, both adapted from two Franz Xavier Kroetz one-acts for the New York Shakespeare Festival; and Jenine's Diary and Between the Line, presented at the Humana Festival in Louisville, Kentucky. Ms. Taylor was commissioned to write the book for the musical Jubilee for the Alliance Theatre and for Oobladee, a piece about female jazz musicians in the 1940s, for the Goodman Theatre. As an actress, her Broadway credits include the title role in Romeo and Juliet, As You Like It and Macbeth. Off-Broadway she has appeared in Machinal and Map of the World at the Joseph Papp Public Theatre, The Illusion, Dr. Faustus and The Tempest, for which she won the Dramalogue Award. Her film credits include Clockers, Losing Isaiah, Lean on Me, A Family Thing and Courage Under Fire with Denzel Washington. Additional television credits include Law and Order, Crisis at Central High, The Howard Beach Story and Children of the Dust with Sidney Poitier. Ms. Taylor currently appears on the new CBS series F.E.D.s. She is an Artistic Associate at the Goodman Theatre, where she recently conceived and directed a segment of Transformations.

William Warfield is acclaimed throughout the world as one of the great vocal artists of our time. He received a Grammy Award in 1984 in the "spoken word" category for his narration of Aaron Copland's A Lincoln Portrait, accompanied by the Eastman Philharmonia Orchestra. His recital debut in New York's famous Town Hall March 19, 1950, was celebrated 25 years later on March 24, 1975, when Mr. Warfield gave a recital at Carnegie Hall for the benefit of the Duke Ellington Cancer Center. Since that remarkable debut nearly 50 years ago, Mr. Warfield's career has flourished with a wide assortment of memorable achievements. He was invited by the Australian Broadcasting Commission in 1950 to tour that continent for 35 concerts, including solo performances with their five leading symphony orchestras. He played the featured role of Joe in the 1951 film version of Show Boat, singing "Ol’ Man River." He has performed countless concerts, recitals and soloist appearances with symphony orchestras all over the world. Among his frequent appearances in foreign countries, Mr. Warfield has made six separate tours for the U.S. Department of State, more than any other American solo artist. Critics have connected his superiority as a recitalist to his ability as an actor Ñ his most famous role is the title role in George Gershwin's opera Porgy and Bess. He appeared in 1957 and 1959 in the NBC-TV Hallmark Hall of Fame production of Marc Connelley's The Green Pastures in the starring role of "De Lawd.Ò Mr. Warfield has received numerous honors, awards and honorary degrees, including the Governor's Award for the State of Illinois, a Doctor of Music degree from Milliken University, an honorary Doctor of Laws from the University of Arkansas, and induction into the Lincoln Academy, the highest honor bestowed upon an Illinois citizen. In December 1992 he completed his 25th consecutive year singing Handel's "Messiah" at the Monumental Baptist Church in Chicago and was honored for the occasion. He has also dedicated time and devotion to several music organizations, including the National Association of Negro Musicians and the Lyric Opera Center Board in Chicago. He is the current Chairman of the Board of the National Music Council and is a visiting professor at Northwestern University. His autobiography, William Warfield: My Music and My Life, was published in October 1992.

Master of Ceremonies Joe Mantegna attended the school when it was called the Goodman School of Drama. He holds an Honorary Doctorate from DePaul University and was awarded The Theatre School's Award for Excellence in the Arts in 1989. He is the recipient of Tony and Joseph Jefferson Awards for his performance in Glengarry Glen Ross and is featured in the films Bugsy, Alice, Godfather III, Queens Logic, Wait until Spring Bandini, House of Games, Things Change (for which he received the Best Actor Award at the 1988 Venice Film Festival), Homicide, Body of Evidence, Searching for Bobby Fischer, Forget Paris, Eye for an Eye, Airheads, Up Close and Personal, Albino Alligator and Stephen King's Thinner. As a playwright, he was awarded an Emmy for Bleacher Bums and received New York's 1984 Drama Desk Award. Television appearances include the HBO feature films State of Emergency, Above Suspicion and Comrades of Summer and David Mamet's The Water Engine. Mr. Mantegna is the narrator of the Academy Award-nominated documentary films Crack USA: County Under Siege and Death on the Job. His recent projects include Underworld with Denis Leary, Persons Unknown with Kelly Lynch and Face Down, directed by Thom Eberhardt.

Past recipients of the Theatre School's Award for Excellence in the Arts include Don Ameche, Kevin Anderson, Ed Asner, Martin Balsam, Dixie Carter, Melinda Dillon, Fred Ebb, Laurence Fishburne, Dennis Franz, William Friedkin, John Guare, Richard Gilliland, Julie Harris, Katherine Helmond, Gregory Hines, Hal Holbrook, Celeste Holm, Linda Hunt, Anne Jackson, James Earl Jones, John Kander, Harvey Korman, Martin Landau, Sherry Lansing, Patti LuPone, Michael Maggio, Karl Malden, Joe Mantegna, Marlee Matlin, Mercedes McCambridge, Rita Moreno, Lois Nettleton, Maria Tallchief Paschen, Elizabeth Perkins, Lloyd Richards, Jean Smart, Steve Smith, Meshach Taylor, Daniel J. Travanti, Eli Wallach, Wendy Wasserstein, George Wendt, Alfre Woodard and Jane Wyman.