On Monday March 14th at the exquisite Carpenter Hall Theater the 12th Annual COLUMN Awards Gala was held. THE COLUMN Awards is the only awards organization in the Dallas-Ft Worth metroplex area that honors excellence in theater.
They are also the ONLY awards organization in the United States that is a major fundraiser for BROADWAY CARES/EQUITY FIGHTS AIDS. They hold this honor for the last 12 years. Last year's gala raised $10,000.00
Monday night's Gala was hosted by Broadway stars Max Von Essen (LES MISERABLES, JESUS CHRIST SUPERSTAR, National tour of XANADU, currently in HELLO AGAIN); Tyler Maynard (Drama Desk nominee for ALTAR BOYZ, original cast member of Broadway's THE LITTE MERMAID, MARY POPPINS, MAMMA MIA!), and Executive Director/Producer/Founder of THE COLUMN Awards, John Garcia.
"Talk about a miracle falling on our laps. We had no idea that Max & Tyler knew each other. So they got together and worked on some special duets while in New York to perform at the gala. Those two numbers brought the house down! The audience howled in laughter and loved every second they were on stage" Garcia beamed. "Their chemistry, ad-libs, and magical stage presence truly made this year's gala so much fun. They had the audience in the palms of their hands. We truly hope to bring them back next year!" Garcia said.
For added star wattage, the gala had as their special guest star, Tony Award winner Donna McKechnie ("Cassie" in the original Broadway history making musical- A CHORUS LINE, as well as in the original Broadway productions of HOW TO SUCCEED..., COMPANY, PROMISES, PROMISES among others). The Broadway legend performed two numbers, her encore being "Music and the Mirror". Garcia stated that "she received ear splitting, thunderous standing ovations after both numbers. Everyone was mesmerized by her performances. Off stage while she performed "Music and the Mirror" everyone was in tears. You don't get to see theater royalty like that perform her signature number just a few feet away. She was just outstanding. The DFW theater community fell in love with her."
The evening also included a side-splitting, hysterical take off on THE ROCKY HORROR SHOW which was injected with topical references, including a guest appearance of Spiderman crashing down during the "Time warp". The gala also featured a brilliant array of musical numbers from the nominated productions. The show also had a fantastic "fashion runway" show that had models wearing the costumes that were nominated for "Best Costume Design" do a runway show that was beautifully lit.
This year's COLUMN Awards broke last year's attendance which means they raised even more money for BC/EFA.
"This evening was made possible by an incredible board of directors, the many volunteers, my magnificent team of designers, the Irving Arts Center, the IAC crew, and of course our supporters." said Garcia. "It takes a full year of planning and hundreds of hours to produce this gala, but it was all worth it. Our two main goals is to honor, celebrate, and unite the DFW Theater community and to raise tons of money for BC/EFA. Going by what occurred Monday night, we 100% accomplished those two goals."
