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The Play That Changed My Life Contest Winners
What was the play that changed your life? What was the play that inspired you, that showed you something entirely new, that was so thrilling, breathtaking, thoughtful or poignant that you were never the same? That's the question that the American Theatre Wing posed to 19 gifted playwrights and the result was the new book The Play That Changed My Life, now available wherever books are sold from Applause Theatre and Cinema Books. From esteemed veterans like Horton Foote and A.R. Gurney to more recently acclaimed authors like Lynn Nottage and Sarah Ruhl, the book shares revealing and inspirational stories about the influences that have steered some of our greatest playwrights and resulted in plays we all know and love.
On the brink of the book's publication, the American Theatre Wing posed the title question to the general public as well, and the result was a cavalcade of thoughtful, witty and equally inspiring responses. Framed as a contest, which ran during November 2009, ATW looked for brief essays of not more than 350 words which evoked the spirit of discovery, of transformation and most importantly the passion for theatre that lives in every theatregoer, not just in the artists that create theatre. The contest was broken into two parts: juried winners, selected by a panel of theatre and publishing professionals, and popular vote, based on the opinions of those who visited the contest site to read the original pieces being posted there.
JURIED PRIZE WINNERS
The staff of the American Theatre Wing reviewed each entry in the contest independently, with each staffer voting for their favorite entries. The top dozen vote getters were then reviewed by an expert panel consisting of: Ted Chapin, Chairman of the Board of the American Theatre Wing and President of the Rodgers & Hammerstein Organization; Carol Flannery, Editorial Director of Applause Theatre & Cinema Books; David Henry Hwang, the award-winning author of such acclaimed plays as M. Butterfly and Yellow Face; and Jan Simpson, former arts editor of Time magazine and author of the popular Broadway and Me blog. At both levels, the essays were read "blind," without any personal information provided about the entrant beyond what might appear in the essay. The results of the juried voting are:
- GRAND PRIZE
David Bayles from Mechanicsville, MD -
The Sunshine Boys is the Play That Changed His Life
Read David Bayles's contest entry.
David will receive a copy of the American Theatre Wing's The Play That Changed My Life, signed by a selection of the participating authors, along with these other books from Applause Theatre and Cinema Books Geniuses of the American Musical Theatre, Theatre World 65, Journeys in the Night, What Have You Done?, Actors Talk About Shakespeare and Best American Short Plays 2007-2008
- SECOND PRIZE
Lindsay Joelle from New York, NY -
The Phantom of the Opera is the Play That Changed Her Life
Read Lindsay Joelle's contest entry.
Lindsay will receive a copy of the American Theatre Wing's The Play That Changed My Life along with these other books from Applause Theatre and Cinema Books Theatre World 65, Actors Talk About Shakespeare and Best American Short Plays 2007-2008.
- THIRD PRIZE
Adam Hundley from Dorchester, MA -
God of Carnage is the Play That Changed His Life
Read Adam Hundley's contest entry.
Adam will receive a copy of the American Theatre Wing's The Play That Changed My Life.
PUBLIC VOTING FAVORITES
Site visitors were invited to vote both "thumbs up" and "thumbs down" on the individual entries, and it was clear from the beginning that, true to form, theatre fans had strong opinions that they were all too happy to share. The top three vote getters among the public voting, all of whom will receive a copy of the American Theatre Wing's The Play That Changed My Life, are, in alphabetical order by show:
Congratulations to all the winners and sincere thanks to everyone who entered the contest. Your passion for theatre came through loud and clear. All of us at ATW hope you enjoy The Play That Changed My Life and also take the time to read all of the many fascinating and entertaining entries we received from the public.
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