Twenty years after it flopped on Broadway, “Merrily We Roll Along,” with music by Stephen Sondheim and a book by George Furth, has received an award as “best new musical.” The show’s London premiere production at the tiny Donmar Warehouse beat out such heavyweight musicals as “The Witches of Eastwick” and Andrew Lloyd Webber’s “The Beautiful Game” in the annual Laurence Olivier Awards honoring excellence in English theater, opera and dance. Best new drama was “Blue/Orange,” by Joe Penhall, and best new comedy was “Stones in His Pocket,” an Irish play by Marie Jones. “Stones” actor Conleth Hill, up against acclaimed stars Michael Gambon (“The Caretaker”) and Simon Russell Beale (“Hamlet”), was a surprise winner as best actor. Biggest winner of all was the Royal National Theatre’s revival of Arthur Miller’s “All My Sons,” which took four awards, including those for director (Howard Davies), actress (Julie Walters), supporting actor (Ben Daniels) and set designer (William Dudley).
— Richard Christiansen
ARTCOUNCIL AWARDS GRANTS
Ten Chicago visual artists have been awarded $10,000 grants each in the first such round of contributions here by The ArtCouncil, a non-profit charitable organization based in San Francisco: Max King Cap, Jeff Carter, Paul Dickinson, Anoka Faruqee, Gaylen Gerber, Angelina Gualdoni, D’nell Larson, A. Laurie Palmer, Bernard Williams and Anne Wilson. Also, $1,500 awards are being given to Kristine Helen Brailey, Louise LeBourgeois, Michael Piazza and Scott Short. The ArtCouncil was founded two years ago by Christopher E. Vroom to support arts education as well as visual and literary artists. Funding in Chicago is being provided by Curt Alan Conklin, a Chicago-based Internet financial services executive, and college friend of Vroom. An exhibition of the artists’ work is slated for May here at Gallery 312.
— Judy Hevrdejs
AIA HONORS HARBOE
Chicago architect Thomas “Gunny” Harboe, a restoration specialist whose work for the firm McClier on projects such as the Reliance Building and the Rookery Building have already won awards, can now add another honor. The American Institute of Architects has honored Harboe, as well as four others, with a 2001 Young Architects Award. The AIA, citing their leadership in design and service to the profession, also honored J. Scott Busby of Knoxville, Tenn.; Jeffrey Lee Kagermeier of Mankato, Minn.; Elizabeth Chu Richter of Corpus Christi, Texas; and George A. Takoudes of Boston. The awards will be presented in May.
In other architecture news, the National Building Museum in Washington, D.C., will present its annual Honor Award to Michael Eisner and The Walt Disney Co. for its “unique impact on international culture through innovative architecture and planning projects.” The award will be presented in April.
— J. H.
`HAMLET’ IS BACK IN TOWN
Add one more big-deal “Hamlet” to the Midwest. The Royal National Theatre’s production of the Shakespeare tragedy, with Simon Russell Beale repeating his much-acclaimed London performance, stops off at the Guthrie Theatre in Minneapolis May 2-13 as part of a limited four-city United States tour that begins in Boston’s Wilbur Theatre April 11-29 and moves on to Tucson and Phoenix, Ariz., May 17-20 and May 22-27, respectively. Meanwhile, Chicago Shakespeare Theater plays host to an international cast in director Peter Brooks’ version of “The Tragedy of Hamlet” May 10-June 2.
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— R. C.