As we prepared to present the 2023 Roy Bowen Lifetime Achievement Award this past weekend, it was pointed out that nowhere online houses this. I intend to update this each year for as long as the Central Ohio Theatre Critics Circle continues to convene.
THE ROY BOWEN LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD
The Central Ohio Theatre Critics Circle has presented the Roy Bowen Lifetime Achievement Award since 1995.
The award was named in honor of the late Roy Bowen, a pioneer in central Ohio theater for over half a century. Bowen led both Players Theatre and Ohio State University’s theater program for a decade each.
Here is the list of Bowen Award recipients in chronological order through 2023:
- 1995: Russell Hastings
- scenic designer
- OSU theater professor
- 1996: Ionia Zelenka
- actor, director, teacher, mentor
- OSU professor, CATCO associate director
- 1997: Charles “Chuck” Dodrill
- director, teacher, Otterbein professor
- modern founder, dept. chair, Otterbein theater department
- 1998: Firman “Bo” Brown
- director, OSU professor
- OSU theater department chair
- 1999: Harold Eisenstein
- director, artistic director
- Gallery Players veteran leader
- 2000: David Ayers
- actor, teacher, director
- OSU theater professor
- 2001: Jerome Lawrence and Robert E. Lee
- Broadway playwriting team, OSU/OWU grads
- “Auntie Mame,” “Inherit the Wind” “Mame”
- 2002: Fred Holdridge and Howard Burns
- theater patrons, major donors
- CATCO board leaders, German Village legends
- 2002: Eileen Heckart (1919-2001)
- Columbus native, OSU grad, Hollywood/Broadway/TV actress
- Oscar winner (Butterflies Are Free)
- Tony winner (Butterflies are Free)
- Golden Globe winner (The Bad Seed)
- two-time Emmy winner
- 2003: Dennis Parker
- scenic designer, OSU professor
- 2004: L. B. “Bo” Rabby
- director, OWU professor, OWU theater dept. chair
- 2005: John Kenley
- director, producer, star-maker
- Kenley Players founder, impresario
- 2006: Lesley Ferris
- director, OSU professor, OSU theater dept. chair
- 2007: Katherine Burkman
- artistic director, director
- founder, Women at Play; emeritus OSU professor
- 2008: Linda Dorff
- veteran actress
- Players, CATCO, etc.
- 2009: Randy Skinner
- Broadway choreographer, director
- multiple Tony nominee (42nd Street, State Fair, etc.)
- 2010: Geoffrey Nelson
- director, actor, producer
- CATCO co-founder, artistic director
- 2011: Alan Woods
- theater scholar, OSU professor
- OSU Lawrence and Lee Theatre Research Institute director
- 2012: Ed Vaughan
- director, actor, Otterbein University professor
- artistic director, Otterbein Summer Theatre
- 2013: C. Joseph Hietter
- Veteran actor, CATCO, Players Theater, other theaters
- 2014: William Goldsmith
- director, artistic director
- Columbus Children’s Theatre leader
- 2015: Dana White
- lighting designer, Otterbein University professor
- nationally known; worked with Jeff Daniels
- 2015: Dennis Romer
- director, actor, Otterbein University professor
- 2016: Ed Gracyk
- playwright, artistic director
- Players Theatre producing director
- “Come Back to the 5 and Dime, Jimmy Dean, Jimmy Dean”
- 2016: John Stefano
- director, actor, Otterbein University professor
Otterbein theater dept. chair
- director, actor, Otterbein University professor
- 2017: Bill Conner
- theater producer-presenter, arts savior
exec. director, CAPA
- theater producer-presenter, arts savior
- 2017: Joy Reilly
- teacher, director, critic, artistic director
- OSU professor; founder, Grandparents Living Theatre
- 2018: Stev Guyer
- producer, director, composer-lyricist, musician, actor
- co-founder Shadowbox Live
- 2019: Steven C. Anderson
- director, playwright, artistic director,
- founder, leader, Players Youth Theatre, Phoenix Theatre Circle, Actors’ Theatre, CATCO, CATCO is Kids
- 2020: T.J. Gerckens
- Lighting designer
- Otterbein University professor, dept. chair
- CATCO managing director
- 2021 (No awards or awards show because of pandemic)
- 2022: Rob Johnson
- Scenic designer
- Otterbein University professor
- 2023: Dan Gray
- Scenic Designer
- OSU Professor, OSU Theater Department Head
- 2003 Prague Quadrennial
- 2024: Jeanine Thompson
- Actor, Choreographer, Mime and Movement Specialist, Intimacy Director
- Internationally recognized including Tate Modern, Edinburgh Fringe Festival, South American residencies
- OSU Professor
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