The Back Stage Garland Awards — also referred to simply as the Garland Awards, and known as the Back Stage West Garland Awards from 1998 to 2008 — were bestowed by the entertainment-industry newspaper ''

Backstage Backstage most commonly refers to backstage (theatre), also in motion picture and television production. Backstage may also refer to: Film and television * ''Back Stage'' (1969 film), a silent film starring Oliver Hardy * ''Back Stage'' (1942 fil ...

'', honoring excellence in

Southern California Southern California (commonly shortened to SoCal) is a geographic and cultural region that generally comprises the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. It includes the Los Angeles metropolitan area, the second most populous urban ...

theatre Theatre or theater is a collaborative form of performing art that uses live performers, usually actors or actresses, to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place, often a stage. The perfor ...

. The awards recognize many different types of contributors to theatre, including

actor An actor or actress is a person who portrays a character in a performance. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. The analogous Greek term is (), lit ...

directors Director may refer to: Literature * ''Director'' (magazine), a British magazine * ''The Director'' (novel), a 1971 novel by Henry Denker * ''The Director'' (play), a 2000 play by Nancy Hasty Music * Director (band), an Irish rock band * ''D ...

, producers, prop makers,

set designer Scenic design (also known as scenography, stage design, or set design) is the creation of theatrical, as well as film or television scenery. Scenic designers come from a variety of artistic backgrounds, but in recent years, are mostly train ...

costume design Costume design is the creation of clothing for the overall appearance of a character or performer. Costume may refer to the style of dress particular to a nation, a class, or a period. In many cases, it may contribute to the fullness of the arti ...

ers, and choreographers.

Selection process

Award winners are selected through a process voted on by theatre critics in the industry. Each Garland winner has appeared on at least three critics' "Best of" lists for the previous year. Critics are each allowed to name "up to five nominees for each category except performance, up to 10 nominees for performance in a musical production and up to 10 in straight productions." Each winner is presented with a "Garland statuette" in the year following their recognized production.

History

The first awards were presented on January 12, 1998, with eighty individuals recognized, and the next year's ceremony recognized one hundred and fifty people. The first ceremony was held at the Coronet Theatre in

Los Angeles, California Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...

, and awards in the following two years were presented in a ceremony at the

Geffen Playhouse The Geffen Playhouse (or the Geffen) is a not-for-profit theater company founded by Gilbert Cates in 1995. It produces plays in two theaters in Geffen Playhouse, which is owned by University of California Los Angeles. The Playhouse is located ...

Westwood, Los Angeles, California Westwood is a commercial and residential neighborhood in the northern central portion of the Westside region of Los Angeles, California. It is the home of the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). Bordering the campus on the south ...

. Two hundred and seventy stage artists and theatre supporters attended the first annual awards. Awards categories in the first year included production, performance, ensemble cast, sound design, costume, lighting design, set design, musical score, and choreography. Pacific Resident Theatre in

Venice, California Venice is a neighborhood of the city of Los Angeles within the Westside region of Los Angeles County, California. Venice was founded by Abbot Kinney in 1905 as a seaside resort town. It was an independent city until 1926, when it was annexed by ...

was recognized with a special award for "continued excellence." Presenters at the first annual awards included Daniel Henning,

artistic director An artistic director is the executive of an arts organization, particularly in a theatre or dance company, who handles the organization's artistic direction. They are generally a producer and director, but not in the sense of a mogul, since th ...

for the

Blank Theatre Company The Blank Theatre Company is a non-profit theatre company located in Los Angeles, California. History Founded in 1990 by current Artistic Director/Co-Artistic Producer Daniel Henning, The Blank's mission is to produce either premieres or "reinv ...

, and actor

Noah Wyle Noah Strausser Speer Wyle (; born June 4, 1971) is an American actor. He is best known for his role as John Carter in the television series '' ER'' (1994–2009), which earned him nominations for three Golden Globe Awards and five Primetime Emm ...

, who had just joined Blank Theatre Company as artistic producer.

David Schwimmer David Lawrence Schwimmer (born November 2, 1966) is an American actor, director and producer. He gained worldwide recognition for portraying Ross Geller in the sitcom ''Friends'', for which he received a Screen Actors Guild Award and a Primeti ...

spoke on behalf of the

Chicago, Illinois (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

-based company he co-founded, Lookingglass Theatre Company, and accepted awards for their production of ''

Arabian Nights ''One Thousand and One Nights'' ( ar, أَلْفُ لَيْلَةٍ وَلَيْلَةٌ, italic=yes, ) is a collection of Middle Eastern folk tales compiled in Arabic during the Islamic Golden Age. It is often known in English as the ''Arabian ...

''.

Ian McKellen Sir Ian Murray McKellen (born 25 May 1939) is an English actor. His career spans seven decades, having performed in genres ranging from Shakespearean and modern theatre to popular fantasy and science fiction. Regarded as a British cultural i ...

was also honored at the ceremony for his

one-man show A solo performance, sometimes referred to as a one-man show or one-woman show, features a single person telling a story for an audience, typically for the purpose of entertainment. This type of performance comes in many varieties, including auto ...

, ''A Knight Out in Los Angeles''. The first annual Garland Awards were dedicated to actor Charles Hallahan, a member of the Matrix Theatre Company who died in 1997. Though the first year's awards focused mainly on the production of ''

Ragtime Ragtime, also spelled rag-time or rag time, is a musical style that flourished from the 1890s to 1910s. Its cardinal trait is its syncopated or "ragged" rhythm. Ragtime was popularized during the early 20th century by composers such as Scott J ...

'', the second annual awards, held on January 25, 1999, focused on many different contributors in the industry. Actress

Carol Burnett Carol Creighton Burnett (born April 26, 1933) is an American actress, comedian, singer, and writer. Her groundbreaking comedy variety show ''The Carol Burnett Show'', which originally aired on CBS was one of the first of its kind to be hosted ...

was the first honoree and presenter at the second annual awards. Prizes in the second year were awarded for production, performance, writing, musical score, choreography, direction, and design. The

comedy-drama Comedy drama, also known by the portmanteau ''dramedy'', is a genre of dramatic works that combines elements of comedy and drama. The modern, scripted-television examples tend to have more humorous bits than simple comic relief seen in a typical ...

''Elephant Sighs'' won the Garland Award for best new play of 1998. The third annual awards ceremony in 2000 ran for two and a half hours, and one hundred and ten individuals were recognized. Well-known songs were played at the awards ceremony in a

sing-along Sing-along, also called community singing or group singing, is an event of singing together at gatherings or parties, less formally than choir singing. One can use a songbook. Common genres are folk songs, patriotic songs, kids' songs, spiritual ...

fashion, including " Somewhere Over the Rainbow" and pieces from ''

West Side Story ''West Side Story'' is a musical conceived by Jerome Robbins with music by Leonard Bernstein, lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, and a book by Arthur Laurents. Inspired by William Shakespeare's play '' Romeo and Juliet'', the story is set in the mid ...

'' and '' Hedwig and the Angry Inch''. '' Heroes'' star

David Anders David Anders Holt (born March 11, 1981), known professionally as David Anders, is an American television and stage actor. He is best known for his roles as Julian Sark on ''Alias'', as Adam Monroe on '' Heroes'', as John Gilbert in the TV serie ...

was among an ensemble cast of ''

The Diary of Anne Frank ''The Diary of a Young Girl'', also known as ''The Diary of Anne Frank'', is a book of the writings from the Dutch-language diary kept by Anne Frank while she was in hiding for two years with her family during the Nazi occupation of the Netherl ...

'' honored with a Garland Award for its 2001 production. The ninth annual awards ceremony was held at the Bootleg Theatre in Los Angeles on March 26, 2007. Over 175 guests attended the event, which honored 2006 productions and theatre contributors including Salome Jens, who won a performance award for ''Leipzig'', and actor-singer

Camille Saviola Camille Saviola (July 16, 1950 – October 28, 2021) was an American actress and singer. She appeared in numerous films, television series, plays and musicals. Early life Saviola was born in The Bronx, New York City, New York, the daughter of ...

for her role in '' Zorba''. Music director Gerald Sternbach, honored for his direction of ''Zorba'', stated his appreciation of the Garland Awards: "What's wonderful about the Garlands is it's unpretentious. At other things there is a lot of tension, but really, this isn't a ceremony, it's a party. It's a supportive environment where everyone gets to hang."

References

External links

2007 Garland Award Winners

2008 Garland Award Winners
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Back Stage Online

About Back Stage: History, Masthead, and Info
American theater awards * Awards established in 1998 1998 establishments in the United States Awards disestablished in 2009

Selection process

History

See also

References

External links