65th Tony Awards Stevenson Award is awarded to Eve Ensler, founder of V-Day. The Tony Honors for Excellence in Theatre is given to animal trainer William Berloni, The Drama Book Shop (West 40th Street in Manhattan), and Sharon Jensen and Alliance for Inclusion in the Arts. The Special Tony Award is given to Handspring Puppet Company, "for creating lifelike horses (manipulated by three actor-puppeteers)". The Regional Theatre Tony Award is presented to Lookingglass Theatre Company (Chicago, Illinois). Source: Tony Awards "The Book of Mormon" received 14 nominations, the most of any production, and won nine, including Best Musical; "The Scottsboro Boys" received 12
The Life (musical) Blakemore, opened on April 26, 1997 at the Ethel Barrymore Theatre, where it closed on June 7, 1998 after 466 performances and 21 previews. Among the large cast were Pamela Isaacs, Chuck Cooper, Bellamy Young, Lillias White, and Sam Harris, winner of the first "Star Search" television competition in 1984. Choreography was by Joey McKneely, scenic design by Robin Wagner, costume design by Martin Pakledinaz, and lighting design by Richard Pilbrow. White (Featured Actress in a Musical) and Cooper (Featured Actor in a Musical) both won 1997 Tony awards for their performances in this production. The US Regional premiere took