Memorial High’s Marlen Nahhas was named Best Leading Actress and Stratford High’s Al Fallick took home the Best Supporting Actor prize April 22 during the sixth annual Tommy Tune Awards held downtown at the Hobby Center for the Performing Arts. Marlen, a senior, played Annie Oakley in the Memorial High production of Annie Get Your Gun. Sophomore Al Fallick portrayed the Cowardly Lion in Stratford Playhouse’s sensational staging of The Wizard of Oz.
Beginning May 1, Al Fallick will appear in the Playhouse’s spring production of A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, the Stephen Sondheim musical that tells the story of an ancient slave and his humorous attempts to win freedom. Show times and dates are 7:30 p.m. May 2-3 and May 8-9, with a 2:30 p.m. matinee and 7:30 evening show on May 10 only. For tickets, call 281-560-7550, ext. 8.
Produced by Houston’s own Theatre Under the Stars, the Tommy Tune Awards honors musical theatre excellence at the high school level. Forty-one Houston-area high school productions were reviewed and scored by a team of theatre professionals before final awards were issued. In all, 157 separate nominations were made. High school productions reviewed included Annie Get Your Gun, The Wizard of Oz, Spring Woods High’s Bye, Bye, Birdie!, and Westchester Academy for International Studies’ production of Annie. Episcopal High School won Best Musical this year for their staging of the recent Broadway hit, Urinetown.
This year’s Tommy Tune Awards gala included appearances by several famous stage performers, including Andrea McArdle, who was the original Annie and the youngest performer ever to be nominated for a Tony Award as the Best Leading Actress in a Musical. The evening also featured performances by Best Musical nominees, a musical medley and finale that included students from each of the participating schools.