First Round of USITT Award Winners Announced

Richard Pilbrow will receive the USITT Golden Pen award in 2013 for A Theatre Project at the USITT Annual Conference & Stage Expo in Milwaukee, Wisconsin in March. Following a USITT tradition, he will be presented with a gold fountain pen even though he writes and works in the most modern environments.

Committee members of USITT's publications committee said they found Pilbrow's work to be both entertaining and informative. One noted, "This is a book to savor as it provides both a lovely memoir for arguably one of our most innovative theatre practitioners but also for a book that is candid -- the warts with the lovely prose of life. Not only does this chronicle a legendary career but it also articulates the innovation and risk required to create a business that can be both sustained and globalized to meet a niche market."

Pilbrow is the founder of Theatre Projects, an internationally-recognized lighting designer, and also a theatre, film, and television producer. He received the fourth Knights of Illumination Lifetime Recognition Award in 2011. He is a USITT Fellow. At the event, he will also be featured in a book signing at Stage Expo, where A Theatre Project will be available.

The USITT Golden Pen award is given to recognize outstanding books in the field of design and production in the performing arts. Winning works are significant in the field and outstanding examples of their genre. Past recipients have included Max Keller for Light Fantastic and Mary C. Henderson for Mielziner: Master of Modern Stage Design.

USITT will present the award as part of its 53rd Annual Conference & Stage Expo from March 20 - 23 in Milwaukee.

During the conference, the organization will also recognize five new performance spaces -- three in the US and two in Europe -- with its 2013 Architecture Merit Awards. The Merit Award recipients of 2013 include two university performing arts centers, a national parks visitor center, a British opera space, and an arts complex in Norway. The projects were chosen by a three-member jury from 28 submissions this year.

The Valley Performing Arts Center (VPAC) at California State University in Northridge, California is a $125-million glass arts complex designed by HGA Architects and Engineers with a signature cantilevered roof and reflecting pool. It houses two performance halls and was completed in January 2011.

The Wagner Noel Performing Arts Center, at the University of Texas of the Permian Basin in Midland, Texas, is a sweeping stone building reminiscent of Pueblo cliff dwellings. BOORA Architects designed the building and it was completed in November 2011 for $65 million.

The monumental wood and glass Kilden Performing Arts Centre in Kristiansand, Norway graces the city's old harbor and was designed by the young Finnish ALA Architects Ltd. It cost $277 million to complete in October 2011.

USITT will also honor the Rosie the Riveter Visitor and Education Center at the World War II Home Front National Historic Park in Richmond, California. Marcy Wong Donn Logan Architects designed this restoration of a former Ford auto factory to house a museum, theatre, and exhibits commemorating women workers who built tanks there during WWII. The project reportedly cost $7 million and opened in May.

Garsington Opera Pavilion on the Wormsley Estate in Stokenchurch, High Wycombe, United Kingdom is an elegant, Japanese-inspired pavilion designed by Robin Snell of Snell Associates. The pavilion, which can be put up and dismantled each season, was finished in May at a cost of $2.8 million.

USITT will also honor architect Timothy Hartung with the USITT Distinguished Achievement in Architecture award. Hartung will participate in a roundtable discussion with all of USITT's distinguished award recipients.