Distinguished Merit Award
|
2019 Honorees
|
|
|
Previous Recipients |
|
|
1979 Norman Carver* (Kalamazoo, MI) |
2005 Jerry Zimmerman (Ft Jennings, OH) * Deceased |
Debbie Litch (Memphis, Tennessee) has as Executive Director, established Theatre Memphis as the model arts organization for the City of Memphis, the State of Tennessee, and the United States, through her three-fold commitment to community, artistic excellence, and financial responsibility. She accepted the leadership role of this treasured theatre at its lowest ebb since its 1921 founding, when the very viability of the theatre was under threat of bankruptcy, with a debt of $570,000. Under the guidance of Debbie’s passionate and careful management of community volunteers, resources, and dollars, Theatre Memphis is once again flourishing--serving millions in its community by providing theater of the highest artistic excellence, utilizing the talents of over 800 volunteers who create the shows, sets, costumes, lighting, choreography, music, and direction, without regard to economic means, color, religion, age, or educational background. Theatre Memphis also serves the community through a year-round Outreach and Education Department that serves 30,000 students of the under-served through theatre education, playwriting, and on-site productions. Under Debbie's arts leadership, the brightest days are ahead for Theatre Memphis, as it celebrates the 100th anniversary year of operation with a renewed facility and endowment fund, in the 2020-2021 season.
Volunteer Costume & Set Design Staff of US Army Installation Management Command (IMCOM) Europe Entertainment (Ansbach, Germany), delivering remarkable and impactful support to Military Services overseas. These award-winning, creative, and dedicated individuals have enhanced Army Entertainment productions across Europe for decades. The IMCOM program has a mission to provide soldiers and their families with the opportunity to participate in and see quality theatre while overseas, and since its inception in 1942, this Army Morale, Welfare, and Recreation program only functions with the support of countless volunteers who support the program with innumerable volunteer hours. The most remarkable and impactful volunteer support has come in costume and set design. In the process of supporting the Army Entertainment program, volunteer designers have shown incredible creativity and ingenuity. Their support has allowed volunteer performers to appear in productions with astonishing costume and set designs that reach professional-level quality. This includes the American non-professional premiere of Les Miserables and the Army Entertainment premieres of Cats, Titanic, Mary Poppins, and other major productions.
Distinguished Merit
Presented to individuals and organizations in recognition of contributions made to promote and develop the highest standards for community theatre
