20th Annual Awards for Excellence in the Arts
Tuesday, April 22, 2008
Four Seasons Hotel Chicago
120 E. Delaware Place
Chicago, IL 60611
6:00 p.m. – 10:00 p.m.
For reservations call PJH & Associates, Inc., (312) 553-2000
More 2008 Awards for Excellence in the Arts honorees will be announced in the spring. Be sure to check back for details!
Tired of the same old black tie ball? Join The Theatre School at DePaul University for the 20th Annual Awards for Excellence in the Arts Gala. An exceptional evening of television, film and theatre celebrities makes this one of the top not-to-be-missed events of 2008!
2008 Honorees
Sharon Gless
 |
Sharon Gless co-stars in USA Network’s hit series Burn Notice. She recently completed a multiple-episode arc in the FX series Nip/Tuck as Colleen Rose. In 2006, she received rave reviews for her starring role as US Secretary of Defense Lynne Warner in the BBC/BBC America miniseries The State Within. In 2000, Gless created the role of the outrageous and beloved Debbie Novotny in the groundbreaking Showtime series Queer as Folk, and remained with the series throughout its five-season run. Gless is in pre-production on A Round Heeled Woman, a new play which will open in 2008, based on the best-selling book by Jane Juska, about a 60+ year-old woman’s adventures in later-life sex and romance. Gless will both produce and star in the production.
Gless is best known for her portrayal of New York Police Detective, Christine Cagney, on the hit series Cagney & Lacey, a role that garnered her two Emmys, a Golden Globe, and six Emmy nominations. Following Cagney & Lacey, Gless re-teamed with the show's executive producer, Barney Rosenzweig, on The Trials of Rosie O'Neill, for which she was awarded her second Golden Globe and two more Emmy nominations. Gless married Rosenzweig in 1991.
She has starred twice on stage in London's famed West End, the first time in 1993 with Bill Paterson, when she created the role of Annie Wilkes in the stage version of Stephen King's Misery at the Criterion Theater, and four years later, opposite Tom Conti, in Neil Simon's Chapter 2 at the Gielgud Theater. She starred in Claudia Allen's Cahoots at Victory Gardens Theater, an in Eve Ensler’s The Vagina Monologues at Madison Square Garden.
Gless is an active participant in the ongoing struggle for a woman’s right to choose, and recently joined hundreds of thousands of women in Washington DC for the first-ever March For Women’s Lives, where she stood in solidarity with her entertainment industry colleagues. In 2005, she was honored by Norman Lear’s People for the American Way Foundation for her unwavering support of human rights. Gless spends her time at home in three of her favorite cities: Los Angeles, Miami and Toronto.
Tracy Letts
 |
Tracy Letts became a Steppenwolf ensemble member in 2002 and is an artistic associate. He received the 2008 Pulitzer Prize for Drama for his critically-acclaimed play August: Osage County, currently playing on Broadway following a sold-out run at Steppenwolf in 2007. He is also the author of Man from Nebraska, which was produced at Steppenwolf in 2003 and was a finalist for a Pulitzer Prize Killer Joe, which has been produced in Chicago, London and New York; and Bug, which has played in New York, Chicago and London. His newest play, Superior Donuts, will have its world premiere at Steppenwolf in June 2008. Mr. Letts has appeared at Steppenwolf in Betrayal, The Pillowman, Last of the Boys, The Pain and the Itch, The Dresser, Homebody/Kabul, The Dazzle, Glengarry Glen Ross (also Dublin and Toronto), Three Days of Rain, Road to Nirvana, Picasso at the Lapin Agile and the Steppenwolf for Young Adults production of The Glass Menagerie. He appeared in Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (Alliance Theatre Company) directed by ensemble member Amy Morton. Previous Chicago stage credits include The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial (A Red Orchid Theatre), Conquest of the South Pole (Famous Door), Bouncers (the Next Lab) and his directorial debut at the Lookingglass Theatre with Great Men of Science Nos. 21 and 22. He has appeared on television in The District, Profiler, Prison Break, The Drew Carey Show, Seinfeld and Home Improvement. Film appearances include Guinevere, U.S. Marshals and Chicago Cab.
Zach Helm
Zach Helm is the author of the plays Last Chance For A Slow Dance and Good Canary, the latter having had a world premiere in Paris this year. He wrote the feature film Stranger Than Fiction, and wrote and directed the much-celebrated Mr. Magorium’s Wonder Emporium. He is currently developing a new theatre company in Los Angeles, and slowly creating new material, including a new play, a new film and an inaugural novel. He is also a graduate of The Theater School at DePaul University.
Lois Weisberg
 |
Lois Weisberg was appointed Commissioner of the Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs (DCA) by Mayor Richard M. Daley in 1989. Under her leadership, the department has earned a reputation for innovation in cultural programming and become widely regarded as a national model for municipal support of the arts.
Comm. Weisberg’s accomplishments include transforming the Chicago Cultural Center into a showcase for more than 700 exhibitions and performances each year, developing a diverse range of concerts, children’s activities and other free programs at Millennium Park, creating the SummerDance and World Music Festivals, anchoring the downtown theater district with three DCA-operated theaters, sponsoring exciting public art exhibitions such as the phenomenally popular Cows on Parade and Suite Home Chicago, nurturing Gallery 37 from a small summer job training program for teenaged artists to an expansive, citywide network of year-round programs, leading the national trend toward cultural tourism through programming offered by the Chicago Office of Tourism, a division of DCA, supporting local artists through initiatives such as Chicago Artists’ Month and the Chicago Artists’ Resource website, and overseeing the expansion of Chicago’s international family of Sister Cities to 27.
A lifelong Chicagoan, Comm. Weisberg’s career has been distinguished by a passion for public service. Prior to her appointment as Commissioner, she served as Assistant to the Mayor for Special Projects. She also served city government under Mayor Harold Washington as Director of the Mayor's Office of Special Events, where her initiatives included Taste of Chicago, Chicago Blues Festival, Chicago Gospel Festival, the citywide Neighborhood Festivals, and the Chicago Holiday Sharing It Program.
Ardently devoted to her family, Comm. Weisberg has four children, eight grandchildren and one great-grandchild.
Bank of America
Bank of America is one of the world's largest financial institutions, serving individual consumers, small and middle market businesses and large corporations with a full range of banking, investing, asset management and other financial and risk-management products and services. The company provides unmatched convenience in the United States, serving more than 59 million consumer and small business relationships with more than 6,100 retail banking offices, nearly 19,000 ATMs and award-winning online banking with nearly 24 million active users. Bank of America is the No. 1 overall Small Business Administration (SBA) lender in the United States and the No. 1 SBA lender to minority-owned small businesses. The company serves clients in 175 countries and has relationships with 99 percent of the U.S. Fortune 500 companies and 83 percent of the Global Fortune 500. Bank of America Corporation stock (NYSE: BAC) is listed on the New York Stock Exchange.
 |
2006 honoree and Theatre School alum Judy Greer receives her long awaited DePaul diploma exclaiming, “My mom is going to be so excited! Because I have this red thing, but it’s been empty since 1997.” |
2007 Honorees
Alec Baldwin
 |
On Broadway, Alec Baldwin recently appeared in The Roundabout Theatre Company’s 2006 revival of Joe Orton’s Entertaining Mr. Sloane directed by Scott Ellis. His previous work with The Roundabout Theatre Company was with their 2004 revival of Hecht and MacArthur’s The Twentieth Century, directed by Walter Bobbie, co-starring Anne Heche. He was nominated for a Tony Award for his performance in the 1992 revival of Tennessee William’ A Streetcar Named Desire, was nominated for an Emmy Award and a Golden Globe Award for the television movie of that same production, won an Obie Award for the 1991 off-Broadway production of Craig Lucas’ Prelude to a Kiss and a Theatre World Award in 1986 for his turn in Joe Orton’s Loot on Broadway. Alec has starred in several films, including The Hunt for Red October, Miami Blues, Prelude to a Kiss, Malice, The Shadow, Glengarry Glen Ross, Heaven’s Prisoners, Ghosts of Mississippi, The Edge, Pearl Harbor and Cat in the Hat, among others. He also recently appeared in Martin Scorsese’s The Aviator, Cameron Crowe’s film Elizabethtown, and in Jim Carrey’s comedy Fun with Dick and Jane. Alec can be seen in Martin Scorsese’s Oscar-winning film The Departed, and on 30 Rock, NBC’s half-hour comedy starring Tina Fey and Tracy Morgan. His production company, El Dorado Pictures, has co-produced The Confession (winner of the 2000 Writers Guild Award for best adapted screenplay by David Black) for Cinemax Television, Nuremberg: Infamy on Trial for Turner Network Television, and State and Main, a comedy written and directed by David Mamet. Baldwin is a graduate of Tisch School of the Arts, New York University.
Pam Grier
Pam Grier was discovered by Roger Corman while struggling in Los Angeles to make tuition for film school. She was soon cast in a series of independent films, and became the first African-American female lead in Coffy. Grier starred as superheroines in seven more cult classics including Foxy Brown and Sheba, Baby. The reigning queen of seventies cinema, Grier helped shape contemporary notions of women and power in Hollywood, paving the way for future African-American stars. She was the first African-American to be featured on the cover of Ms. Magazine, influencing women everywhere with her strength and independence. She went on to pursue more challenging character roles, receiving rave reviews in Paul Newman’s Fort Apache the Bronx.
Grier has displayed her impressive range in a wide variety of roles, and won an NAACP Image Award for her performance in Sam Shepherd’s Fool for Love. Teaming up with longtime fan Quentin Tarantino, Grier was honored with Golden Globe, SAG, and NAACP award nominations for Jackie Brown. Grier has starred in over 50 movies, and countless television series, and can currently be seen as Kit Porter in Showtime’s acclaimed series The L Word. Among many awards and accolades, Grier was recently invited to Oprah’s Legends Ball.
Michael Rooker
 |
Born in Alabama and raised in Chicago, Michael Rooker began his acting career when he successfully auditioned for the Goodman School of Drama, now The Theatre School at DePaul University. Upon graduation, Rooker appeared in Chicago-area stage productions such as Union Boys and Moon Children. He made a spectacular film debut in the sociopathic title role of Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer, which was filmed in 1986 but not given a general release until four years later. Henry established Rooker as a gifted purveyor of "don't screw with me" roles, such as chief "Black Sox" conspirator Chick Gandil in Eight Men Out (1988). Michael Rooker's more rugged film assignments of the 1990s included Cliffhanger (1993) and Tombstone (1994). Other film credits include Slither, Undisputed, The 6th Day, The Bone Collector, The Replacement Killers, Mallrats, JFK, Days of Thunder, Sea of Love and Mississippi Burning. Rooker has also appeared on numerous television shows and series, such as JAG, Las Vegas, Thief, Saving Jessica Lynch, CSI: Miami, Tremors, Numb3rs and Stargate SG-1, to name just a few.
Shirley R. Madigan
Shirley R. Madigan has served on the Illinois Arts Council (IAC) since 1976 and has been Chairman for over 20 years. Ms. Madigan actively represents the Council to arts organizations, individual artists, government officials, educators and the business and philanthropy communities. She has traveled extensively throughout Illinois, nationally and internationally in fulfilling this role.
Since being named IAC Chairman her many accomplishments include the commissioning of the “Hybrid Muse” by internationally acclaimed Illinois sculptor Richard Hunt which is awarded to Governor's Awards for the Arts recipients. She has been on steering committees for Gallery 37, After School Matters, Year of the American Craft, and the Abraham Lincoln Institute for Literacy in America. Shirley has served on the National Endowment for the Arts Advisory Board on Arts Education, the board of the National Assembly of State Arts Agencies, Arts Midwest and the Illinois Ethnic Heritage Commission. She currently serves on the Lincoln Bicentennial Commission and is a Trustee of the Lincoln Academy of Illinois.
Two governors have invited her to accompany them on official international missions as their Arts Ambassador. With Governor James R. Thompson she represented Illinois arts in Germany and Spain and with Governor George H. Ryan, she traveled to Cuba. In the fall of 2001 she was part of the official Illinois/Chicago-United Kingdom Culture, Tourism and Commerce Trade Mission to England and Ireland. Governor Rod Blagojevich recently appointed her to serve as Illinois’ delegate to the U.S. Cultural Heritage & Tourism Summit in Washington, DC.
Shirley R. Madigan is the mother of Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan, Tiffany, Nicole and Andrew and the life-long partner of Illinois House Speaker Michael J. Madigan.
LaSalle Bank N.A.
LaSalle Bank N.A. is the largest bank headquartered in Chicago, with USD 72.9 billion in assets and USD 43.7 billion in deposits. LaSalle Bank serves individuals, small businesses, middle-market companies and institutions through 135 retail locations and 450 ATMs in Chicago and its suburbs, and online at lasallebank.com.
LaSalle Bank has retail and commercial operations in 20 states and 26 cities across the U.S. In addition, it offers specialty services through its direct and indirect subsidiaries, including LaSalle Financial Services, Inc., LaSalle National Leasing Corporation and LaSalle Business Credit, LLC.
Parent company LaSalle Bank Corporation, also headquartered in Chicago, has more than USD 124 billion in assets. It is an indirect subsidiary of Netherlands-based ABN AMRO Bank N.V., a leading international bank with total assets of EUR 999 bln. ABN AMRO operates more than 4,500 branches in 53 countries, and has a staff of more than 110,000 full-time employees worldwide.
LaSalle Bank N.A., Member FDIC, Equal Opportunity Lender
© 2007 LaSalle Bank Corporation
|
2006 honoree and Theatre School alum Judy Greer receives her long awaited DePaul diploma exclaiming, “My mom is going to be so excited! Because I have this red thing, but it’s been empty since 1997.” |
About the Awards
Each year this event recognizes distinguished artists who have made significant contributions to the arts and celebrates exceptional professional accomplishments. The Annual Awards for Excellence in the Arts benefits The Theatre School’s Scholarship Fund, which provides financial assistance to students from all over the world who come to train at the school, one of the leading conservatories in the nation.
Since its inception in 1989, the Awards benefit has raised over $2.5 million, making it the largest single contributor each year to The Theatre School’s Scholarship Fund. All monies raised during the event go directly to this fund, which dispenses more than $600,000 in financial aid each year, ensuring that talented students obtain the resources needed to continue their training.
Over 400 guests attended in 2006, raising a record $220,000 for the Scholarship Fund. An evening of dinner and dancing, the night also included live entertainment, conversation with the celebrity guests, a live auction and raffle.
In addition to the Awards for Excellence in the Arts presented to a select few inspiring artists, a Corporate Award was established in 1998 to honor exemplary corporate philanthropy to the arts.
The award itself is a beautiful Wedgwood bowl, a gift to The Theatre School for this purpose from Lord Piers Wedgwood of the legendary Wedgwood firm. Lord and Lady Wedgwood have served as honorary chairpersons and often attend the event.
Past Recipients
Each year this event recognizes distinguished artists who have made significant contributions to the arts and celebrates exceptional professional accomplishments. The Annual Awards for Excellence in the Arts benefits The Theatre School’s Scholarship Fund, which provides financial assistance to students from all over the world who come to train at the school, one of the leading conservatories in the nation.
| Past Awards for Excellence in the Arts recipients include: |
| F. Murray Abraham |
Michael Maggio |
| Joan Allen |
Karl Malden* |
| Gillian Anderson* |
Joe Mantegna* |
| Ed Asner |
Marlee Matlin |
| Blythe Danner |
Rita Moreno |
| Brian Dennehy |
Lois Nettleton |
| Melinda Dillon* |
Edward James Olmos |
| Scott Ellis* |
Estelle Parsons |
| Laurence Fishburne |
Maria Tallchief Paschen |
| Dennis Franz |
Elizabeth Perkins* |
| Judy Greer* |
David Hyde Pierce |
| John Guare |
Aidan Quinn |
| Julie Harris |
Phylicia Rashad |
| Gregory Hines |
John C. Reilly* |
| Celeste Holms |
Emma Thompson |
| Bonnie Hunt |
Vince Vaughn |
| James Earl Jones |
William Warfield |
| Martin Landau |
Wendy Wasserstein |
| Sherry Lansing |
George Wendt |
| Ray Liota |
Charlayne Woodard* |
| Patti LuPone |
Jane Wyman |
| John Mahoney |
Louis Zorich* |
| * Indicates Alumni of the Goodman School of Drama or The Theatre School |
| Past Corporate Award recipients include: |
| American Airlines |
Sara Lee Corporation |
| BlueCross BlueShield of Illinois |
SBC Communications Inc. |
| Richard H. Driehaus |
Exelon Corporation |
| Kraft Foods North America |
Northern Trust |
| McDonald’s Corporation |
|
For a full listing of recipients please contact us.
Contacts
More information, photos, bios, interviews, and other media opportunities are available. Please contact our staff for details.
