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ANOTHER SMASHINGLY SUCCESSFUL
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MEMBERS - See 12 Videos of this event now!
CLICK HERE TO VIEW 89 PHOTOS OF THIS EVENT
2015 Legacy Award Honorees Richard Tuttle (for Gene Gavin), James Dybas,
Donna McKechnie, Janice Herbert and Tony Sheldon
A packed house, great talent on and off-stage, and wonderful honorees for DO40’s 7th Annual Legacy Awards and holiday dinner at Lips Restaurant in NYC. This was the first time ever to have “live” performers sing, dance and do everything in between, and all honoring our wonderful DO40 members. Honorees Donna McKechnie, Tony Sheldon, James Dybas, Janice Herbert and Richard Tuttle (accepting the award for his late uncle, Gene Gavin) were front and center, as speakers Chris Herbert (for Janice Herbert), Patti Mariano (for James Dybas), Paul Tenaglia (for Donna McKechnie), Harvey Evans (for Tony Sheldon) and Richard Tuttle, for his uncle, Gene Gavin also took to the stage to sing (not dance!) praise upon their friends.
Add to this, terrific performances by DAMES AT SEA star Danny Gardner, doing the entire Broadway Musical 42ND STREET in 7 minutes, a cappella, singer Barbara Minkus performing two songs, the first from The Education of H*Y*M*A*N K*A*P*L*A*N (a 1968 musical featuring young beauties Donna McKechnie…and Barbara Minkus!) and the second, What I Did For Love, from A CHORUS LINE. The Finale of the evening featured two of New York’s Top Drag Queens, Tina Burner and Pattaya Hart, performing 13 musicals in under 13 minutes – all Broadway shows in which our honorees had been featured. It ended with a rousing disco number from PRISCILLA, QUEEN OF THE DESERT, which started TONY nominated Legacy Award Honoree Tony Sheldon!
Performers Pattaya Hart, Tina Burner and Kyler Puckett, performing
13 Musicals in under 13 Minutes! - All musicals in which our Honorees had performed!
Donna reunited with cast members from shows she did in the 60’s, 70’s and 80’s, and the Verdon/Fosse Legacy Table found new friends and connections everywhere. Honoree Janice Herbert had her own “chorus line” of supporters, taking up a huge section of the audience, the ladies of Radio City Music Hall’s Corps de Ballet. James Dybas’ fan club incuded performers from George M!, Hello, Dolly, Plaza Suite, and more. On hand for Donna, Terri Ralston and Joy Franz, along with Barbara Minkus and scores of gypsies that Donna worked with throughout the years. Tony Sheldon had friends from Goodspeed on hand, as well as fellow soulmate and penultimate gypsy Harvey Evans. DO40 was so pleased that Gene Gavin’s three nephews flew in from all over the country to celebrate his life with us.
The Legacy Awards Honoree table, with speakers! L to R, Janice Herbert,
DO40 President John Sefakis, Tony Sheldon, Harvey Evans, Donna McKechnie,
Paul Tenaglia, James Dybas, Patti Mariano and Christopher Herbert
Seen everywhere – DO40 members Ken Urmston, Norma Doggett Bezwick, Mary McCatty, Joanna Rush, Leni Anders, Rose Dennis, Jean D’urbano, Carol Eiger Maxwell, Robert Alexander, Sharla Herbert, Steve Jones, Candy Brown, Lawrence Merritt, Linda Rose Iennaco, Dick Korthaze, Lawrence Leritz, Thomas McRoberts, Virginia Seidel, Erin Thompson, and many, many more!
Janice Herbert’s grandson Christopher, with Janice, DO40 member Candy Brown
and DO40 Legacy Honoree Donna McKechnie
The food was outstanding! Special thanks to LIPS Restaurant for providing such a wonderful three-course spread at an affordable price for DO40 and our members! The staff was top notch, and dinner was served quickly and we had the show up and running in record time!
The official Legacy Awards Photo Gallery is now up on our DO40 facebook page. Shortly, it will be up on the website, along with video from the night’s event – a perk for members only on our free website. Thanks to the Board, Host Richard Skipper, performers Barbara Minkus and Danny Gardner, and the wonderful Tina Burner and Pattaya Hart (with an assist from Kyler Puckett).
Full House at the Fabulously Decorated LIPS Restaurant, NYC
And of course, a video of this event will be donated to the Jerome Robbins Dance Collection at the Lincoln Center Library for the Performing Arts. But…(big but!!!) as DO40 Advisory Board Member Chita Rivera says, “We Simply Cannot Do It Alone!” So please continue to renew your DO40 membership and encourage others to join, whether they be over, or “under” 40 dancers or just friends of DO40. We continue to rely on membership dues and donations to provide you with our panels and performances, socials and awards shows, casting seminars, membership meetings, our internet platforms and hard copy newsletter. All this requires support from our community -- and friends -- in order to survive, and thrive. Stay tuned for our Verdon/Fosse Legacy event in March. And have a wonderful holiday season!
The poster and the Awards!!!