 Hello, everybody. Hi, everybody. Welcome to a very special night. I want to thank HowlRound TV. I called B.J. when we were planning this and said, we've worked with you a lot with very, very important questions about the other. And we're just going to celebrate tonight. We're going to celebrate yellow sauce. We're going to celebrate this opening. And before I could get the third reason, I wanted this as we're in for a bit. So here we are. Here we are. And I'm here with my favorite human on the planet, teacher, mentor, friend, a doctor, father, to celebrate one of our favorite theater directors and to also honor some of the most three of the most prolific American theater people. Jim Nicola, a portrait, and Molly Smith. I was here one day a week ago with Molly Salon. And at one point, they asked each other, what's the future of American theater? And they both agreed that it's time for us to look beyond these borders to see ourselves in a global fellowship. And that's what this night is celebrating. So I hope you enjoy it. We're going to be back in 15 or 20 minutes and present the first Kwanye Arno appreciation to Jill and Rob and Molly. Really touches me to the point that my name associated with my name, and that was my mentor. I had a new security who was brought up by my mother, so I enjoyed this wonderful night tonight, where I'm certainly enjoying it here. It's an honor to be honored, of course. What could be more delightful when you spend a lot of time in the global world? And it's nice to have it recognized. And it's nice to have organizations like the Trust for Me is almost standing acknowledged as well. You've made a lot of good decisions and have really spawned a lot of good collaborations. It's great. It's great to be in DC on a sunny day, with the blossoms just about to pop. And what does it mean to see Yanovsh's work? I mean, you really championed him. Yeah, I mean, I gave him his first project in the States. Which was? It was a revival of his mother, Courage. Yeah, that he did in Budapest. I remember sitting at that production and thinking, OK, we've got to get that. And then I started casting it with the company. So I was going to play Mother Courage when you had it all, get it all lined up. And then he was the resident director for a while. He did five projects with us. And he was also head of our little training institute, that partnership with the Moscow Art Theatre, which is neat to say, on hold. But he's just a wonderful artist, a great human being, privileged to be around. Actors love being in rehearsal with him. Oh, he's the best. Yeah, he's the best. It was great. It was just wonderful. He's the only Hungarian director I've worked with. I've worked with a lot of Polish and many Romanian directors, and a number of Russian directors. And he was always in trouble. When I first met him, things were bubbling up in bad ways in the company. And he had his antennae well-named. And it was great to give him that opportunity to come to the States and begin to create a foundation for him. You changed everything. You changed so many people's lives, I think, by bringing him here. I mean, you changed the way I saw the theater. So we'll now let Philip come up. He looks like he's found somewhere. Hi there, this is John Straussfowl, who was my assistant many years ago. He's been a very accomplished writer. And we're doing a little secret project together. People have fucked me about while I ever write a book, and the answer was no. I was too busy doing it, writing a book. Well, it's not secret. You just ended the secret? Oh, it's great to be here. It's great to be working with him. He's got a lot of amazing stories to tell. And the thing that always impressed me about Philip is that he was an actor. He was a director. He was a producer. But he self-invented, I think, being an instigator on an international level. An instigator of theater and dance and performance in general. And the way he did that was to bring people together one by one, which is just totally amazing to me that he's had the energy and the insight and the inspiration to keep doing that all this time. So I'm very pleased to be here. Philip, how are you? I'm receiving tonight. Now, let me go way back. Sure do. I was trying to remember when I maybe first heard about you before I met you, long before I met you. I knew of you. And certainly it was the theater project. And I think I really focused on you. About this award? Oh, well, I actually think this award and this event are truly, even though there are honorees like me and my colleagues, Rob and Molly, is really honoring this guy who has changed the world and changed my world specifically over decades. And I say that and it sounds so banal, but it's profound what this man's impact has been. And I'm just speaking personally now. I'm not even going to try to address him in the world, but I've been talking to a friend of mine about who writes musicals. One of the things that has stuck with me is thinking about Helen Shaw, the theater critic for The New Yorker, wrote a sentence saying, the most dangerous place to be is in a theater seat. And I don't think I ever really completely appreciated that until this man took me on and changed my life. This is, I know who you are. This is... You know, I'm a Canadian board director. A Canadian board director, yeah. Who just did an wonderful job for us in Lincoln Center and now we're going up to Boston with the make-up artist. Yes, yes. Oh, great. I'm very excited about the work that Mr. Arnault is doing and bringing people together and sharing the voices of, in the time of war, these Ukrainian playwrights that are throwing plays at the tyrants in Russia. On one hand, very ruthless, but on another hand, provides hope that is very much needed today. Thank you. If it is... That's awesome. We're so happy to be here. Can you tell us a little bit about your approach at the State Department and why this kind of international exchange is so important? Right. Well, I worked for the State Department for 30 years and now retired. And much of that time, I was a public performance officer and was responsible for educational exchanges, professional exchanges, and that sort of thing. And just in a word, there's nothing like seeing it with your own eyes. This is why we bring people to this country so they can, you know, see this crazy country so they can judge for themselves what it's all about. That's certainly my primary takeaway. And it applies to all different professions. And what was your first encounter with Mr. Arnaud? Because you two are sort of partners in crime. We're using crime in the infamous Filipino, and I worked together in Moscow. I put together a huge festival, a celebration of culture in the United States that traveled all over Russia from 2011 to 2012. Things like the Chicago Symphony, the Ruti, et cetera, et cetera. Philip's part of it was to put together a series of plays that were then translated for the stage in Russia. And to this day, some of those plays are still playing in regional theaters in Russia, perhaps with the current political situation a little less so. I mean, up to the time of the Ukraine invasion, surely you could still see some of them. These are off-Broadway plays, not the great historical plays, but the newer playwrights. So it's a great accomplishment that he made possible when we provided funding for it. You might have been out of your problem, too. Because we're sort of informal partners in crime as well. We did a couple of projects together. We did, we did. I'm far too old to remember exactly which one. Listen, I follow when I do so. I don't remember how. Thank you so much. Thank you. Oh, the man himself. The man himself. Your nurse. Your estate. Oh. That's all right. I studied here in the United States. And I almost killed myself. I couldn't work. I started in 1955. It was difficult. I was in the porn service. In the end of 2006-2009. And it was a great country. And the politics of it was almost like a purpose to me. It was not so bad. I don't know what it is. I don't know what it is. It's such a divorce. We're curious. Hello. You want to say something? We're here with a pioneer. He's the pioneer of the theater. And the big explorer of the Eastern Europe. He found out 30 years ago. We met. No. No, it is necessary. It was in 1999. 24 years. 24 years. And I'm very glad. And I am very happy. Speak on in desire. That was an extraordinary performance. People still remember. What happened here. With the schedule very early. This was... I'm very happy to be here. A major American. What is your fault? No. That's your fault. It's always your fault. So I'm very very happy. I've been watching. I was here for the first time already. Two rehearsals. And the whole time I was here. I never heard of Janusz. To the actors. He's... Canned. He always referred to them. This is company. Yeah, it's a company. We created a company. Yeah. 4, 5, 3, 2. And you know all the company. So we all know. We would like to stay together. Or travel anywhere. Or travel anywhere. If I can stay alive. Yeah. So we'll see. Thanks for watching. This is my good friend. Will Wadsworth. And Will has signed the plaques. That we're getting. Giving out to the three of them. Will was Martha Sniff. Will was Marvus. Martha Cogniz Sniff. And was Wadsworth. And was Wadsworth. And was Wadsworth. And was Wadsworth. And was Wadsworth. And Martha Cogniz Sniff. And was Wadsworth. And was Wadsworth. And when she had her second stroke. She said you're the only one who can write. And I said, I'm not a writer. She's... Martha was incredible. She had a second stroke. She woke up with the stroke. And said, is this my movie? Or is this your movie? But Martha was never died, a major mentor, and to have not only family members with her, but we always been a dear friend for six or seven years now. I think what we've been trying to do is she had a knack for what theater people were her family. And she brought that feeling of closeness and intimacy and acceptance. And then we're just trying, oops, I'm so sorry, we're just trying to continue that. We're trying to keep that momentum from Rosamund Gilder through Martha, through you, and then through the next generation so that we can have that alliance, strong personal alliance between theater people so they can remember their mission. Which is to connect with each other around the world and to build a world community. So you'll see him with me on stage in a few minutes. Good to see you. I think we're all in here. How many years? Too many. Too many. Too many. Just think about his father. I know you're going to die. He's never going to die. He's not going to die. Great to see you. Thank you. A very interesting movie. It's a song, right? Oh, yeah. Thank you. Okay. Shall I say what an honor it is to be with Phillip on this birthday? Celebrate. And how excited I am to see angels. And also to celebrate the recipients of the one week. Yeah, can't wait to see it. Thank you. Yes. Can we say I'm with Molly? Come on. We get into her. Okay. I'm Mark. What do you want me to say? Coming in here, I called her. I saw Molly's work in Amsterdam. She was still in Alaska. And then when she took over, we called her up and she said, Oh, but just made this big announcement. I'm doing American life as well. I think it might be interesting to have you look at some of these directors that can give a different perspective. And she's had quite a history with John O'Sh. She's responsible single-handedly for getting him out of America. And I hope we'll have that. And she's 65. And he's got many good years of creation left. Thank you for that. You're welcome. Well, congratulations tonight to Phillip. It's great that you brought so many people in to honor this production. I really appreciate it that you've done that. We want to make sure he's got the best launch possible. Congratulations on it, Barbara. It's all on YouTube. And thanks for the award. I feel really honored about it. Does it have both your names on it? Oh, cool. Okay. That's even better. And what? Real signs for family. That's great. Okay. Thank you. Thank you. Oh. Aww. Right. Everyone. I should have know you could have said sorry. Yes. I am going to do this. This is... Can I welcome? Thank you for coming. Thank you. I'm so glad to be here. Hi, welcome. Thank you for coming tonight. We're so excited that you all are here and we are extremely excited to be honoring three of the most incredible folks of the American Theater and I am particularly happy to be standing here alongside my friend, my mentor, my surrogate father-grandfather figure, and just my family who is responsible. Whenever anybody says to me, how did you do X? How did you end up Y? I usually just say it's Philip's fault. So it's your fault we're here tonight. So I'm going to hand it over to you so you can speak on behalf of yourself. What I want to do is tell you about the outrageous performances of street art and design. At the same time, about a half of the business town founded were really seeing somebody who was thinking way outside the law. I was in Poland. Barbara was a full writer and now she is the director, a broader joiner. And to join me, the first thing we did was we sat down with the honor. In a restaurant, the first meeting we had, and now notice this film you've got to help me, the honor of this country. Sighted and listed five homosexuals, Jews and non-chimists in the audience. The picture of his family and his honor. He didn't do more than look at him all day. And that was, it must have been 15 years ago, the honor really stepped in. Ali and Suzanne gave him a place for three months and he now is able to bring his own family here. I watched this piece developed from the first screening table, so a couple of rehearsals. Not once did John was talking about his cast. He always used the term, my company. And the real salvation tonight is, this means a great artistry in Yiddish. My mentor, who I loved, was a partner and who I worked with for most of three years. When Martha died, I was asked if I would write a book. I didn't write a book. I met you and cared for what Wadsworth ended up writing. A really important five-body history of theater in the Commonwealth. And what I am really represented, I got to meet more of the Wadsworth family. And I got to speak with them about she didn't have 10 more. And I think sometimes people in their own family didn't quite get it all. And so, we've got these awards. Can I have them, please? I'd like to ask the first award is going to a dear, dear friend of over 25 years. We've founded the longtime director of the New York Theater Workshop. We've traveled together to Jim McQueen, which is the Cornel Arnault, Carlton Theater Award. And my mom's going to read it, and I'm just going to ask Jim to come up. It's very hard to get me to say a few words, so I've been thinking about this. Well, first of all, it's just overwhelming to be in this building where I spent some extraordinary time. And next to this man who also has provided me with extraordinary time. But I'm thinking about someone who I met and engaged with, who is a shaman, I would say, in my life. Garland Wright, a wonderful, wonderful director. No longer with us. But he told me one day that a little boy from, a little gay boy from Eisenhower, Texas. That everything he understood about life, being human, history, art, everything. Ideas, psychology. He learned it at the interseat. And that really, really stuck with me, because I think it's the same for me. And what happened with the man? I guess we can keep going. I grew up in the frame of American theater, and particularly American musical theater, because that's what was it all about. And then this man, in 1995, I was 40-ish, invited me to participate in an exchange program with the Dutch. And it was my foot, you know, I had studied in school in London for two years. But, you know, English theater, American theater, we have a lot of differences, but we're very basically the same. It's a literary form. And when I got to the Netherlands, I realized, oh, this is about the director. And there were so many things that were revelations to me, and it just happened to be that it was the Dutch. I think if I'd gone to Brazil, I would have had a similar experience. Eyes opened, and the art expanded for me. And I think it changed everything for me as a leader of an organization. I felt it was important to make an effort to get American artists out of their environments, and have the experience out there, and for other artists to come in as well. So all of that has, Philip, changed my life. Thank you, Philip, and happy birthday. And thank you for this. I went through the center owners for decades, first at Yale, then at Harvard, with Bruce Dean. And when he retired, he got pulled out of retirement and created the Arts Emerson project. And in Australia, this, how around TV, is something that's instrumental in making a piece of Arts Emerson. He was always willing to listen to me, and he always gave me incredibly important advice. Rob, I thank you very much for presenting with me. Thank you, my friend. You know, this is the first of many, I hope. Martha Coyne didn't pull our no awards. I think this evening should be about that. They're the catalyst for all of what we've done in this room. I wouldn't have met Donna Sauce if it wasn't for you. Among other, multiple other great artists from Poland. You're the only great artist from Hungary I know, but I'm sure there are others. Many. You know, I'm into this for a while. The first international project I did was at Yale. It was an adaptation of Dostoyevsky's The Possessed by, and directed by, the great Polish film director and stage director, Andre Wight. And we did it with Meryl Streep, and it was Christopher Lloyd. And when I think back on that, I think, oh, wow, it's downhill from there. But we kept at it. Primarily because we worked with the resident company, and we performed a production in Repertory, and we had times in the year at the ART where we didn't have access to a theater, so we just went some of this as a crowd. It was an effort to keep the company employed, to stimulate them with doing their work in front of different audiences in different cultures, and there were mostly festivals. So we had an opportunity to see work from elsewhere in order to get to know great artists, great directors. And we went to 15 countries on four continents, oftentimes multiple times over the course of 35 years. And then, as I got to know, many great directors through Philip's time nudging, over the course of those 35 years, we did 85 productions directed by these great, hard artists. And they became part of our family. They still are. And there's something about the collaboration that comes about with an artist coming from one culture, moving into another culture, and the adaptation that has to go on, the negotiation, I mean that in the most generous sense, and a brace of those differences. That creates work that I think breaks through the comfort zones and the conventional barriers of not only aesthetics in this country, but also structures. And you move to another level. And it is a struggle. I think great art comes from a struggle. If everything is comfortable, you know, the third week of a rehearsal period. Well, for most, you know, artists in Europe, the third week is still around the table. They're not on their feet. The struggles are the important part. And that's what the break is going through. And I've been blessed to have been part of some of these struggles. And I mean that in the most positive sense. And it's been the great, great blessing for me. When I saw her up in Amsterdam, she said, come up to the theater. And we had breakfast, and we talked, and rest as they say. It's history. Come up with this here, because I actually have a speech. Not a long speech, a short speech. Can I scoot over just a little bit? I can get next slide. You know, if you just scooted that way. Always the director. So it's so great and such a pleasure to see everybody here tonight. It really is a thrill to see so many faces that I've known for so many years. And people who have been doing this kind of deep, dangerous, difficult work in the world. You know, we called it for a while a way to work culturally in a whole different way. And a way to work time countries together. And I absolutely loved Martha Pony and I love Philip Arnaud. So receiving the work of their names on it is a great honor for me. Years ago, when I was at Presbyterian Theatre in Alaskan Company, I started. She sent me to Latin and South America to meet with artists. And while on the trip we traveled to Mexico, Columbia, Argentina, Brazil, it was a remarkable trip of people like Renee Bush, John Dylan, and we met with writers, soap opera film stars, who demanded to get more money from us in terms of their work as artists. So it was very difficult to explain to them that we didn't actually have anything to do with their unit. And yes, those relationships were formed. And we then did a new adaptation of Jose Del Sol's obscene bird of night, adapted by Derek Cloud and produced both at Presbyterian Theatre in Alaska and then again in Trinity Rec. It was a wild and life-changing experience. And later she sent me to Japan for another life-changing experience. So with Philip, I've traveled to Hungary with both Jim Nicola and Rob Orchard twice into Russia, which included being kidnapped in a taxi with Suzanne and asked us the story because it is one of the great stories of the American theater and also how we got out of the taxi is a fascinating story. But what you will see tonight is really the outcome of one of these tricks because I wanted to bring in a European director who would be able to interpret our American work in a very, very different way than our American artists. And in Hungary, Suzanne and I saw an absolutely brilliant production of Mother Courage. And Janusz probably remembers this, but I think he seemed a little bored and a little bit of an auteur when he and I met. I remember we were sitting having coffee and he had his legs crossed. He was kind of, whatever, it's his American. And then... All right, you can respond to me. But now he is family to me with his family. The whole family, our family to me and Suzanne. We brought Janusz to Rina to Rec Street for our named desire. You heard what Philip said. It was absolutely one of the best productions I had ever seen. And it rocked this theater. And it rocked this city because people had such divergent viewpoints, Marty, you remember, of that production. Over 20 years later, he's back with this with Angels in America. It is a fever dream of a production with deep and dangerous acting. And it takes us into the heart of Kushner's drama. And 30 years later, all of a sudden we've had this fantastic reinvention of it. I'm so happy to be here with you tonight, Janusz. I am thrilled you all are going to see the work on stage. And Philip, thank you because Philip, as you all know, is one of the great internationalists. And thank you for recognizing me for this lifetime achievement award. No, no, no, no, no, no. It might be that you're the director of all this, but I remember Jim Nicole was saying something. At the end of his talk, it was in passing. He said happy birthday. Right? You're up here. So Philip's birthday is coming up. You're getting 82. And so we wanted to have a little song and a little going into the candles, sir. So let's go see some art. There's one point. So if you have your prepaid drink ticket, you can walk past the concession, stand and place your order on the way into the theater, and it will be waiting for you. Add intermission to the exact drink that you ordered. How cool is that? So I suggest you do it. Thanks to everyone. Happy birthday, Philip.