On Monday, May 7, The Nominating Committee of the 30th Annual Fred & Adele Astaire Awards will announce the nominees for this year’s awards at an invite-only cocktail reception at The Lamb’s Club in the categories of Outstanding Male Dancer in a Broadway Show, Outstanding Female Dancer in a Broadway Show, Outstanding Choreographer for a Broadway Show, Outstanding Choreographer for Film, and Outstanding Director for Dance Documentary.
Liza Minnelli, who will be honored with the Douglas Watt Lifetime Achievement Award, is the winner of four Tony Awards, an Oscar, a special “Legends” Grammy, two Golden Globe Awards and an Emmy and is one of the entertainment world’s consummate performers. Ms. Minnelli, other special guests and many of this year’s nominees will be present at the May 7 cocktail reception.
In addition to honoring Ms. Minnelli this year, The Astaire Awards will also begin a new tradition, paying tribute to the career and work of a choreographer and dancer during the awards. This year they will be remembering Bob Fosse and Gwen Verdon, and a few signature Bob Fosse numbers featuring current Broadway performers will be a part of the 30th Awards Show on June 4th. Fosse directed Ms. Minnelli in the film version of Cabaret for which she won the Oscar for Best Leading Actress.
This year’s awards ceremony will also be dedicated to Tony and Oscar-winning producer Marty Richards, a longtime friend of the awards. The Astaire Awards are the only awards show to honor excellence in dance and choreography on Broadway and in film and were first started in 1982 by the late Fred Astaire and the late Douglas Watt (a critic and writer for the NY Daily News and The New Yorker). They are presented each year by Ava Astaire (Fred Astaire’s daughter) and Patricia Watt (the daughter of Douglas Watt). The awards will also feature direction by Joe Lanteri, the Executive Director of the New York City Dance Alliance and also a teacher at the Juilliard School. This year they will also honor three-time Tony Award-nominated Producer Kathleen Raitt with a special award in recognition of her helping to start The Astaire Awards 30 years ago.
The Honorary Chairs Emeritus for The Astaire Awards are Jacques Azoulay, Countess Luann deLesseps and Wendy Federman. The Gala Chairs are Carolyn Kendall Buchter and Alix Michel, and the Benefit Chairs are Cassandra Seidenfeld Lyster and Sara Johnson Kaplan. The 30th Annual Fred & Adele Astaire Awards will take place on Monday, June 4th at 7:30pm at the Skirball Center for the Performing Arts at New York University.
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