Even before CBS arrives with cameras in tow, a handful of newly minted Tony Awards will already have been distributed.
Peter Lawrence is among this year’s recipients, having worked as production stage manager for over 20 Broadway shows including the current Broadway revival of Annie. Lawrence has also served as executive producer for Miss Saigon and Les Misérables and was associate director for the Broadway revivals of The Man of La Mancha, Gypsy, and Annie Get Your Gun, as well as the original Broadway productions of Spamalot and Shrek: The Musical.
Joining Lawrence in receiving this year’s Tony Honors will be Career Transition for Dancers, a nonprofit organization originally chaired by Agnes de Mille that helps dancers find careers after they can no longer perform. William “Bill” Craver will also receive an award for his long career as a literary and talent agent, having worked on over 50 Broadway and off-Broadway plays including The House of Blue Leaves, El Grande De Coca-Cola, and the revival of One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest. The final award will be given to The Lost Colony, a play by Pulitzer Prize winner Paul Green about Roanoke, the first English colony in North America. Now in its 76th year being presented in an outdoor theater on Roanoke Island itself, the play remains the second-longest running historical outdoor drama.
“We are truly ecstatic to announce this year’s recipients of the Tony Honors for Excellence in the Theatre,” said Heather Hitchens, executive director of the American Theatre Wing. “Career Transition for Dancers, Bill Craver, Peter Lawrence, and The Lost Colony are all exceptional members of the theatre community — and more than that, they are part of the fabric of American theatre history.”
