A Whole New World

Ben Daniels, Paulo Szot, Loretta Ables Sayre, Deanna Dunagan, Daniel Breaker, Alli Mauzey, and Mark Rylance are among the newest recipients of the coveted Theatre World Awards.

By Tristan Fuge,Brian Scott Lipton • Jun 11, 2008 • New York

The 64th Annual Theatre World Awards were held on June 10 at the Helen Hayes Theatre. Among the stars who were honored for making their Broadway debut was Ben Daniels of Les Liaisons Dangereuses.

Fellow Brit Mark Rylance was honored for his hysterical performance in Boeing-Boeing.

Chicago stalwart and Texas native Deanna Dunagan received her award for playing the sharp-tongued Violet Weston in August: Osage County.

Brazilian opera star Paolo Szot won for playing Frenchman Emile DeBecque in South Pacific.

Loretta Ables Sayre, a Hawaiian jazz singer, came all the way to New York to portray South Pacific's Bloody Mary.

It's been a big year for Passing Strange star Daniel Breaker; he also married director Kate Whoriskey and the couple are expecting their first child.

Strange co-star de'Adre Aziza gave an emotional speech, where she talked about triumphing over a difficult childhood.

Cassie Beck, who won for the Off-Broadway play Drunken City, told the audience about how much she grew to hate eating glazed donuts on stage every night.

Cry-Baby's Alli Mauzey got to eat a cupcake -- provided by presenter Andrea Martin -- during her acceptance speech.

Hoon Lee, who won for the Off-Broadway play Yellow Face, is the only actor in a family of molecular biologists.

The afternoon's presenters were all fellow Theatre Award winners; among them, the legendary John Cullum, who has played both King Cymbeline and LBJ in the past few months.

Lin-Manuel-Miranda, star and composer-lyricist of the current Broadway hit In the Heights, won his award just last year.

Film actor Griffin Dunne received his award for Search and Destroy -- and revealed he hasn't worked on Broadway since!

Finally, Jonathan Cake, who came to honor Rylance, said he had just found out three days ago that he was a former winner, since no one had ever told him he had earned the trophy for 2002's Medea.