The "Leo Awards"

Last Sunday, the American Theatre Wing handed out the 2008 Tony awards. In the Heights took the award for best musical, best original score written for the theatre, best choreography, and best orchestrations, and was nominated in nine other categories. If you want to know more about the Tonys or the winners, visit the official website

The Tony awards get their name from Antoinette Perry, an actress, director, producer and the dynamic wartime leader of the American Theatre Wing, who passed away just before the awards program started in 1947.

Well, I'm thinking we need to have a "Leo." We should have a black-tie (very optional) gala every year around Tony time and give awards to the best of the Empress Theatre's talent, both on and off of the stage. And at the same time we can honor and thank our patrons and benefactors for their support through the year.

And what a great way to honor Leo Ware's memory.

Tell me what you think!

In the meantime, here are the poll results from our "What was your favorite show" poll. Only 25 folks voted, so there's a very wide margin of error, but...

The first runner up is ... Pirates of Penzance with 21% of the vote
The second runner up is (and this surprised me given the smaller crowds we had)... The Mystery of Edwin Drood with 32% of the vote.

And the winner is ... (Ralph, could I have a drum roll please)...
Fiddler on the Roof. (BTW, Fiddler won Tony awards in 1965 for best musical and 8 other categories. In 1972, it won a special Tony for becoming the longest-running musical in Broadway history.)

Be sure to vote for your favorite male lead in our current poll.