P.T. Barnum Awards
The P.T. Barnum Awards for Excellence in Entertainment is an annual awards ceremony honoring alumni of Tufts University for their work in the field of media and entertainment. The show alternates between New York City and Los Angeles, respectively titled "From Ballou to Broadway" and "From the Hill to Hollywood."
The award began as a 2005 collaboration of The Hill to Hollywood Network of the Los Angeles Tufts Alliance, the Film and Media Studies Program (CMS) at Tufts University,[1] the Tufts Department of Drama and Dance,[2] and the Tufts Office of Alumni Relations[3] in celebration of P.T. Barnum’s love of entertainment and creativity, and the desire to honor members of the Tuft's community for their advancement of and success within the media and entertainment industries. The 2015 P.T. Barnum Awards expanded the ceremony's focus to include celebrating younger, up-and-coming Tufts alumni working in these industries through the inaugural P.T. Barnum Awards Young Alumni Showcase.
The 14th annual P.T. Barnum Awards will be held in New York City in June, 2018.
From Ballou to Broadway 2018
Award recipients:
- Judy Bowman, casting director
- David Gelles, producer
- Andrew Polk, actor
- Joshua Seftel, filmmaker, producer
Keynote:
- Robert O'Hara, playwright
From the Hill to Hollywood 2017
Award recipients:
- Julie Dubiner, dramaturg
- Deke Sharon, vocal producer, arranger, and vocalist for Pitch Perfect, The Sing Off and Pitch Slapped
- Joel Bishoff, Director, I Love You, You're Perfect, Now Change
- Justine Shapiro, Documentary filmmaker and travel television host
Keynote:
- Hank Azaria, actor
From Ballou to Broadway 2016
Young Alumni Showcase:
- Allison Benko, director, and Grace Oberhofer, composer
- Broken Box Mime Theater
- Andrew Mulherkar and Jason Yeager, jazz musicians
- J. Faye Yuan, screenwriter and interactive documentarian
Emcees:
- Lisa Lax and Nancy Stern of Lookalike Productions
From the Hill to Hollywood 2015
Keynote:
- Albert Berger, film producer
Young Alumni Showcase:
- Noam Ash and Austin Bening, creators of the web TV series My Gay Roommate
- Madeline Blue, actor
- Elyssa Dru Rosenberg, choreographer
- Brett Weiner, screenwriter, producer, and cofounder of Screen Junkies
From Ballou to Broadway 2014
Award recipients:
- David Costabile, actor
- Robert O'Hara, playwright
- Michael Dobbs, author
Emcee:
- Neal Shapiro, media executive
From the Hill to Hollywood 2013
Award recipients:
- Coral Hawthorne, producer
- Christopher Brown, art director and production designer
- Brian Koppelman, screenwriter and director
Emcee:
- Deke Sharon, arranger, producer, and performer
From Ballou to Broadway 2012
Award recipients:
- Betsy Gregory, dancer and Artistic Director, Dance Umbrella
- Marian Porges, Senior Director, NBC News
- Jonathan Hadary, actor
- Gregory Maguire, writer
Emcee:
- Charles Cermele, producer and performer
From the Hill to Hollywood 2011
Award recipients:
- Hank Azaria, actor, director, comedian
- David Rone, President, Time Warner Cable Sports
- Prudence Fraser Sternin and Robert Sternin, television and stage writers and producers
- Gary Winick, director and producer
Emcees:
- Jeff Greenstein, television writer and producer
- Jeff Strauss, television writer and producer
From Ballou to Broadway 2010
Award recipients:
- Oliver Platt, actor
- Lisa Lax and Nancy Stern, directors, producers and co-founders, Lookalike Productions
- Art Bridgman, choreographer, Bridgman/Packer Dance
Emcees:
- Hank Azaria, actor, director, comedian
- Joel Bishoff, director
From the Hill to Hollywood 2009
Award recipients:
- Jeff Greenstein, television writer and producer
- Andrea Nelson Meigs, talent agent, Creative Artists Agency
Emcee:
- Adam Felber, political satirist and radio personality
From Ballou to Broadway 2008
Award recipients:
- Jim Nicola, Artistic Director, New York Theatre Workshop
- Albert Berger, producer, Little Miss Sunshine and Cold Mountain
- Neal Shapiro, President and CEO, New York public media provider WNET
Emcee:
- Rob Burnett, Executive Producer, Late Show with David Letterman
From the Hill to Hollywood 2007
Award recipients:
- Steve Tisch, producer, Risky Business and Forrest Gump
- Ben Silverman, Co-President and Executive Producer, Universal Media Studios
- Seamus Blackley, Creative Artists Agency talent agent and Xbox designer
From Ballou to Broadway 2006
Award recipients:
- Donald Byrd, Tony Award nominated choreographer and Spectrum Dance Theater Artistic Director
- Dan Hedaya, actor
- Mary Louise Geiger, NYU Tisch School of the Arts faculty member and founder of Mary Louise Geiger Lighting design
- Rob Burnett, Executive Producer, Late Show with David Letterman
- Meredith Vieira, Co- Host of Today and Host of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire
From the Hill to Hollywood 2005
Award recipients:
- Peter Gallagher, actor
- Cary Granat, founder and CEO, Walden Media
- Courtenay Valenti, Executive Vice President, Warner Brothers Pictures
- Jon Levin, literary agent, Creative Artists Agency
- Ameesha Patel, Bollywood actress