Stage Presence
Ron Gural, professor of theater at Tulane, was honored for Lifetime Achievement in Theater at the Big Easy Awards on Monday (April 19) at the Sugar Mill in New Orleans.
Ron Gural, professor of theater, won the award for lifetime achievement in theater at the Big Easy Awards. (Photo by Paula Burch-Celentano)
Gural, who has taught in the Tulane Department of Theatre and Dance since 1977, is artistic director of the Shakespeare Festival at Tulane. He also is a professional actor and director of more than 50 productions.
Marty Sachs, associate professor of theater who has taught at Tulane since 1985, won the best lighting design award for I Am My Own Wife at Southern Rep Theatre.
Chase Kamata, who received a master of fine arts degree from Tulane in 2008, won best actress in a musical for Summer Lyric Theatre's production of Oliver! and Aaron Richert won best performance by a child for the same show.
Little Shop of Horrors, staged last fall by the Musical Theatre Workshop of the Newcomb Department of Music at Tulane, won best university production.
Also, in the Big Easy Awards music categories, Michael White won the award for best traditional jazz. Anyone attending the Tulane commencement ceremony during the last decade has heard the music of White, a bandleader, instrumentalist, scholar and Tulane alumnus. White will again lead the music at this year's commencement.
Celebrity presenters at the Big Easy Awards included John Goodman, Harry Shearer and Dr. John. The evening also featured performances by Entertainer of the Year Troy "Trombone Shorty" Andrews and Orleans Avenue, Best Rock winner Bonerama, the Imagination Movers with DJ Jubilee, Best Cabaret winner Dorian Rush, the cast of Altar Boyz and others.
The event is sponsored by Gambit, the Louisiana Department of Culture, Recreation and Tourism and Coleman E. Adler & Sons. Proceeds support the Big Easy Foundation.
