2009 Theatre Hall of Fame Inductees Announced

The 2009 Theatre Hall of Fame inductees have been revealed and include such icons as actors Jim Dale, John McMartin and Lynn Redgrave; producers Roger Berlind and Ted Mann; composers Stephen Schwartz and Andrew Lloyd Webber; and, posthumously, the late playwright/actor Charles Ludlum. The Annual Theatre Hall of Fame ceremony, now in its 39th year, will be held Jan. 25, 2010, in the Gershwin Theatre's North Rotunda. Terry Hodge Taylor is producing the event.

Broadway publicist Shirley Herz will be awarded the 2009 Theater Hall of Fame Founders Award for Outstanding Contribution to the Theatre. 

Last year's inductees included actors Nathan Lane and Richard Easton, playwright Alan Ayckbourn, producer Emanuel Azenberg, choreographer Patricia Birch, composer Marvin Hamlisch, orchestrator Jonathan Tunick and, posthumously, the late actor Roscoe Lee Browne.

The nominees, voted on by the American Theater Critics Association and the members of the Theater Hall of Fame, are required to have a minimum of five major credits and 25 years in the Broadway theater to qualify for consideration.

Roger Berlind has been a Broadway producer for more than three decades. His credits include Copenhagen; Kiss Me, Kate; Proof; Anna in the Tropics; Caroline, or Change; Wonderful Town; Doubt; The History Boys; Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?; Deuce; and The Year of Magical Thinking, Curtains, Is He Dead? and Rock 'n' Roll as well as the revival of Gypsy starring Patti LuPone.

Jim Dale won Tony and Drama Desk awards for his performance in Barnum. Most recently, he performed on Broadway in the Roundabout Theatre Company's production of The Threepenny Opera for which he won the Drama Desk Award and was Tony-nominated. His other Broadway credits include Scapino, Joe Egg, Me and My Girl and Candide.

Playwright-actor Charles Ludlam died in 1987 at 44. By the time of his death, he had overseen the productions of Ridiculous Theatrical Company, for 20 years, a company which he founded in 1967. Ludlam also wrote most of RTC's plays, including such noteworthy successes as Bluebeard, Camille and The Mystery of Irma Vep. Ludlam typically starred in the over-the-top and absurdest productions, often in drag and in fantastical, over-the-top costumes and make-up.

Theodore Mann is the co-founder of Circle in the Square Theatre, whose productions include Mourning Becomes Electra, Moon for the Misbegotten, Long Days Journey Into Night and the more recent Frozen, The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee and The Norman Conquests.

John McMartin is a five-time Tony nominee for his work in Sweet Charity, Don Juan, Show Boat, High Society and the revival of Into the Woods. Additional Broadway credits include: Grey Gardens, Artist Descending a Staircase, A Little Family Business, Solomon's Child, Happy New Year, The Rules of the Game, Love for Love, Chemin de Fer, The Visit, The Great God Brown, Follies, A Rainy Day in Newark, Children From Their Games, The Conquering Hero and Blood, Sweat and Stanley Pope.

Lynn Redgrave was recently seen on Broadway in The Constant Wife  for which she received a Tony nomination.  Additional theatrical credits include Talking Heads, The Exonerated, Black Comedy, Aren't We All, Moon Over Buffalo and another Tony-nominated turn in Mrs. Warren's Profession. She was nominated for Academy Awards for her work in the films "Gods and Monsters" and "Georgy Girl."

Stephen Schwartz, composed the scores for Wicked, Godspell, Pippin, The Magic Show, The Baker's Wife and Children of Eden and the lyrics for Rags. He has also written for several film musicals, including "Pocahontas," "The Hunchback of Notre Dame," "The Prince of Egypt" and the TV musical "Geppetto." He additionally has two solo CDs of new songs: "Reluctant Pilgrim" and "Uncharted Territory." Schwartz is the recipient of three Academy Awards, three Grammy Awards and three Drama Desk Awards. He is a Dramatists Guild council member. 

Andrew Lloyd Webber is the award-winning composer of The Likes of Us, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, Jesus Christ Superstar, Evita, Cats, By Jeeves, The Phantom of the Opera, Aspects of Love, Sunset Boulevard, Starlight Express, Whistle Down the Wind, The Woman in White, The Beautiful Game and Song & Dance. His producing credits include Bombay Dreams and the current West End revival of The Sound of Music. Lloyd Webber also took part in the TV reality casting shows for The Sound of Music and the current London revival of Joseph. He owns seven London theatres, including the Palace, the Theatre Royal Drury Lane and the London Palladium. His newest musical, Love Never Dies, will open in London and New York in 2010.

The American Theatre Hall of Fame in New York City was founded in 1971 by Earl Blackwell, Gerard Oestreicher, James M. Nederlander, and Arnold Weissberger. Eligible inductees come from many disciplines including actors, playwrights, designers, directors and producers who have had a career on Broadway spanning at least twenty-five years with a minimum of five major theatrical credits. Selections are made by approximately 400 voting members from the Theatre Hall of Fame and the American Theatre Critics Association. Induction takes place at a ceremony at the Gershwin Theatre in New York City, where the plaques containing the names of the inductees are hung.