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The Will Award |
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Mandarin Oriental Washington D.C.
A Special Thank You to Cindy Lou F, VA, USA, for sharing these photos
New When Judi Dench is around, we are amused BY MICHAEL KILIAN -- Chicago Tribune WASHINGTON - (KRT) - There is nothing like a dame. Especially when her name is Judi Dench. Dame Judi (she was accorded an Order of the British Empire in 1970 and made a Dame Commander of the British Empire in 1988) swept into the U.S. capital the other night with all the grace, aplomb and presence of a royal yacht - and ribald wit enough to fill a dozen Shakespeare comedies. Some of what she shared with us was so ribald I daren't reprint it in a square and stodgy family newspaper. "I thought I'd tell some badly behaved stories," she said. She was actually referring to a television program she did in the `80s called "Badly Behaved," but some of her stories were not at all about that. Those who have seen her play Queen ("We are not amused") Victoria (in two films) can scarcely imagine such a thing. Indeed, British polls have declared her the most admired woman in Britain - supplanting another diminutive lady who has rather less stage presence, despite her penchant for golden coaches, scepters and funny hats with jewels on them. But maybe being badly behaved at times has had something to do with Dame Judi's considerable esteem. She recounted a time well into her career when she was surprised to be asked to play Cleopatra, and she declined, explaining, "I didn't think the role should be played by a menopausal dwarf" - a reference to her height of 5 feet 1 3/4 inches. She was talked into it anyway, and won rave reviews. Dame Judi was in Washington to receive just what she needs: another award. She's won an Oscar, three Oscar nominations, five Laurence Olivier Awards, the Golden Globe Award, the Screen Actors Guild Award, the John Gielgud Award, the Variety Award, two Critics Circle Awards, the Royal Society of the Arts' Benjamin Franklin Medal and - sorry, there just isn't room to go on. This latest is Washington's Shakespeare Theatre Will Award (after Will, er, uh, Shakespeare) for contributions to classical theater. A prestigious honor, it's previously gone to Dame Maggie Smith, Kenneth Branagh, Anthony Hopkins, Sam Waterston, Hal Holbrook and Ralph Fiennes, among others (gads, even Mel Gibson). It is also, I think, the world's very heaviest award, which Dame Judi was compelled to clutch as though it were a cannon ball. Happily, someone quickly relieved her of this tonnage and she could get back to her stories without having to recount them flat on her back - which reminds me of her anecdote about an understudy who missed when she tried to sit in a chair and a line about how maidens can get anything they want. But, as I say, family newspaper. One much less salacious tale had to do with performing Lady Macbeth on a stage set up in a clearing in West Africa. "When I got to the line, `The Thane of Fife had a wife,'" she said, "the whole place came apart. The audience shouted: `Say it again! Say it again.' They did that every time we came to a line that rhymed." At another West African venue, the curtain was operated by a local stage person named Mr. Obeymi (spelling, a guess). When the curtain was supposed to come down, the audience heard a voice say, "Curtain down, Mr. Obeymi," but nothing happened. The next time, there was, "Curtain down, Mr. Obeymi," but again without the desired response. This was repeated throughout the evening. "Thereafter, he was called, `Mr. Disobeymi,'" she said. Dame Judi first came to America and Washington in 1958 as part of a tour with the Old Vic company. "That's when I fell in love with America," she said, adding, however, that she didn't come back for years and years until asked to do so by Miramax Pictures boss Harvey Weinstein, "whose name I always tell him I've got tattooed on my bum." In a private chat with a few of us newsies before she was handed her weighty honor, she was asked how she became an actress. She replied, "My brother, who is an actor, became one because he wanted to be an actor. I became one because I wanted to become a theatrical designer, and I wasn't very good at it." I asked her if there is a role she'd wanted to do but hadn't gotten around to. She said she'd never really picked her roles; they just sort of came to her. And once they did, she said she never looked at the script until they were ready to start rehearsals. Actually, I can't imagine how she has ever had time to read scripts. Her list of credits could span the Potomac River twice. Since she launched her career with the Old Vic in 1957, she's done more than 300 plays, movies and television shows - and she's a maid of just 69 summers. With all the Shakespeare, Chekov, Wilde and Shaw - and films on the order of "Mrs. Brown," "Tea With Mussolini," "Iris," and "The Shipping News" - she also has appeared as M in a slew of James Bond films, did that television program called "Behaving Badly" and shortly will star in something or other called "The Chronicles of Riddick" with, yes, Vin Diesel. In September, she's making a film with Bob Hoskins called "Mrs. Henderson Presents," which is about a racy establishment in London that had the motto "We Never Close" and offered itself as a haven to all during World War II and the Blitz. The ladies of the establishment also did all manner of relief work for the victims of the Blitz. "They were wonderful girls," Dame Judi said. "Is it still there?" she was asked. "Of course," she said. "Remember? `We never close.'" As she noted, the motto has also been rendered as "We never clothe."
Thanks to Marla C, Ellen G and Anca G for bringing this article to my attention
The Washington Post -- May 25, 2004 Dame Judi Dench, honored with the Shakespeare Theatre's Will Award on May 17, was a sunny presence at the gala, which raised $490,000 for the theater's summer Free for All performances. She recounted a risque theater story to the crowd and advised artists to "take the work very seriously and take ourselves very frivolously." The entertainment included a sharp scene from "Antony and Cleopatra" with Shakespeare Theatre stalwarts Keith Baxter and Helen Carey, who says doing it out of context made her feel "as if I were a fish flopping around on a deck." Awards spotlight on Dench By Ann Geracimos THE WASHINGTON TIMES Fabled storyteller William Shakespeare met his match Monday in the fabulous Judi Dench. Dame Judi, as she has been styled since 1988, claims she is no writer, but she certainly can hold the attention of a crowd. Her anecdotes and reminiscences of a long acting life were a highlight of Shakespeare Theatre Company's annual Will Award in the Mandarin Oriental hotel. Guess who got the award that came well into the evening before some 500 paying guests had even been served their entree? It was delivered with much panache by actor Simon Russell Beale and marked the first time Miss Dench has been in Washington since 1958, when she appeared here with the Old Vic Company. That was the year, she said, she "fell in love with America." America returned the favor in 1999 by giving her an Academy Award for "Shakespeare in Love." She will be seen next in a June release, "The Chronicles of Riddick" with Vin Diesel, and appears regularly on public television in a British series, "As Time Goes By." Her career spans 46 years, most of it Shakespeare, she noted. "This is one evening when the whole company pulls together," enthused Nicholas Goldsborough, the theater's managing director, at the program's start. That was when he announced proudly that the event had garnered $500,000 — $100,000 more than expected — for outreach programs. All's Will that ends well, as one wag noted. "The company" on this occasion included Chelsea Clinton, who said a few words about happy times past when her parents recited Shakespeare to her; British Ambassador Sir David Manning and Lady Manning; Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg; Aspen Institute head Walter Isaacson; pundit and "Hardball" host Chris Matthews and TV's Kathleen Matthews; columnist Arianna Huffington; business entrepreneur and philanthropist Nigel Morris (who received a Service to the Arts award); event co-chairman Sen. Ted Stevens; and actors Harry Hamlin, Avery Brooks, Naomi Jacobson, Sabrina Le Beauf, Ted van Griethuysen, Helen Carey, Nancy Robinette, Casey Biggs, Floyd King and Keith Baxter.
DAME JUDI DENCH TO RECEIVE THE SHAKESPEARE THEATRE'S 2004 WILL AWARD Oscar, Tony and Olivier Award-winning Actor To Be Honored for Her Work in Classical Theatre Washington, D.C. – Artistic Director Michael Kahn and The Shakespeare Theatre Board of Trustees announced that Oscar, Tony and Olivier award-winning actor Dame Judi Dench will receive the 17th Annual William Shakespeare Award for Classical Theatre (the Will Award) in recognition of her distinguished and seminal work in classical theatre. Dench will receive the award on Monday, May 17, 2004 at a gala at the new Mandarin Oriental, 1330 Maryland Avenue SW. The Will Award Gala benefits The Shakespeare Theatre Free For All—two weeks of free Shakespeare presented by the Theatre each summer at Carter Barron Amphitheatre—as well as other artistic programs. The gala is chaired by Senator Ted Stevens and Mrs. Catherine Stevens, and Congressman Roy Blunt and Mrs. Abigail Blunt. His Excellency the British Ambassador and Lady Manning will serve as honorary chairs. One of classical theatre's most distinguished actors, Dame Judi Dench has an illustrious career spanning from decisive productions with the Royal Shakespeare Company to award-winning roles in international films such as Shakespeare in Love and Iris . Her work as M in the recent James Bond films has introduced her to a new generation, while her recent return to the stage of the RSC has cemented her stature as one of the world's finest stage actors. The evening's events will begin with a cocktail reception and receiving line, followed by the award ceremony and program, and dinner. Entertainment for the evening will be provided by Keith Baxter, Helen Carey, Thomas Young and the Washington Ballet's Michele Jimenez and Runqiao Du. The Will Award is an annual honor given by The Shakespeare Theatre to a person who has made a significant contribution to classical theatre in America. Past recipients include Fiona Shaw, Ralph Fiennes, Sir Anthony Hopkins, Dame Maggie Smith, Hal Holbrook, Patrick Stewart, Sam Waterston, Lynn Redgrave, Christopher Walken, Morgan Freeman, Mel Gibson, Kenneth Branagh, Christopher Plummer, Kevin Kline, the late Joseph Papp and Shakespeare Theatre Artistic Director Michael Kahn. Individual tickets and tables to the Will Award range from $500 to $25,000. For further information about the 17th Annual William Shakespeare Award for Classical Theatre, call Joy Johnson, Special Events Manager, at 202.547.3230 ext. 2330. Limited space is available for press wishing to cover this event. Press should contact Liza Holtmeier at 202.608.6302. Dame Judi Dench 2004 Will Award Recipient Born and educated in York, Judi Dench trained for the stage at the Central School of Speech and Drama in London. She was married to the late Michael Williams and has one daughter, Finty, who is also an actress. Her career began with several seasons with The Old Vic Company where, amongst other roles, she played Ophelia ( Hamlet ), Katherine ( Henry V ), Cecily ( The Importance of Being Earnest ) and Juliet ( Romeo and Juliet ), and appeared with the company at two Edinburgh Festivals, in Venice and on tour to Paris, Belgium, Yugoslavia, the United States and Canada. Her long association with The Royal Shakespeare Company began in 1961 when she played Anya in The Cherry Orchard at the Aldwych Theatre. Since then, she has played many of Shakespeare's heroines with the company, both in Stratford-upon-Avon and London, amongst which her Viola, Beatrice, Adriana, Imogen and Lady Macbeth were much admired. She also played a variety of non-Shakespearean roles in such plays as Major Barbara and Too True to be Good by George Bernard Shaw; Grace Harkaway in London Assurance by Dion Boucicault; the title role in The Duchess of Malfi by John Webster; Juno in Juno and the Paycock by Sean O'Casey and the title role in Brecht's Mother Courage . Work for The Royal National Theatre has included Lady Bracknell ( The Importance of Being Earnest ), Deborah in A Kind of Alaska by Harold Pinter, the title role in Cleopatra , Gertrude in Hamlet , Mrs. Rafi in Edward Bond's The Sea , Arkadina in The Seagull , Christine in Absolute Hell , Desireé in A Little Night Music and Esme in Amy's View in London and New York. In 2000 she played the title role in Filumena and in 2001 appeared in The Royal Family for the Peter Hall Company. In 2002 she appeared with Maggie Smith in David Hare's The Breath of Life . She has recently returned to the Royal Shakespeare Company to play the Countess in All's Well That Ends Well . Dame Judi also has played seasons at the Oxford Playhouse and Nottingham Playhouse, and has appeared in many commercial productions in the West End, including The Wolf , The Gay Lord Quex , Mr. & Mrs. Nobody and Pack of Lies (both with her husband, Michael Williams), The Cherry Orchard , The Plough and the Stars and two musicals, Cabaret and The Good Companions . Her television appearances include the hugely popular series A Fine Romance , in which she starred with her husband, as well as the drama series Behaving Badly , and numerous plays including Absolute Hell , Can You Hear Me Thinking? , Ghosts , The Browning Version and Mr. & Mrs. Edgehill , and the long-running television series As Time Goes By . Film appearances include Henry V (for Renaissance Films), A Handful of Dust , A Room With a View , 84 Charing Cross Road , Wetherby , Jack and Sarah , “M” in Goldeneye and Tomorrow Never Dies , Mrs. Brown , Shakespeare in Love , Tea with Mussolini , The World is Not Enough , The Last of the Blond Bombshells , narration for the film Into the Arms of Strangers ( Kindertransport ), Chocolat , Iris , The Shipping News , The Importance of Being Earnest and Die Another Day . Dame Judi made her debut as a director with Kenneth Branagh's Renaissance Theatre Company, for whom she directed Much Ado About Nothing and Look Back in Anger . Most recently, she directed a revival of The Boys From Syracuse for the Open Air Theatre in Regent's Park, London. Dame Judi has received many professional awards for her work in theatre, film and television, most recently: two Olivier Awards in 1996 for Best Actress for Absolute Hell and Best Actress In A Musical for A Little Night Music ; the Rothermere Award (1997) for Lifetime Achievement; the BAFTA Scotland Award (1998) for Mrs. Brown ; Critics Circle Drama Award (1998) for Amy's View ; Critics Circle Film Award (1998) for Mrs. Brown ; Critics Circle Award for Distinguished Service to the Arts 1998; Chicago Actors Guild (1998) for Best Actress for Mrs. Brown ; Golden Globe Award (1998) for Best Actress for Mrs. Brown ; Academy Award Nomination (1998) for Mrs. Brown ; BAFTA Award (1998) for Best Actress for Mrs. Brown ; American Screen Actors' Guild Award for Best Supporting Actress in Shakespeare in Love (1999); Academy Award (Oscar) for Best Supporting Actress in Shakespeare in Love (1999); BAFTA Award for Best Supporting Actress in Shakespeare in Love (1999); the John Gielgud Award (“Golden Quill”) for Excellence in the Dramatic Arts from The Shakespeare Guild in Washington, D.C.; Tony Award 1999 for Best Actress in Amy's View in New York; Leonardo da Vinci Award for Best Supporting Actress in Tea with Mussolini; Variety award for UK Entertainment Personality of the Year 1999; Waterford Crystal Award 1999; York Millennium Person Award 2000; the Walpole Medal for Excellence, New York 2000; the Benjamin Franklin Medal 2000 from The Royal Society of Arts. In 2001, she won the Golden Globe for Best Actress in a Television Film ( The Last of the Blond Bombshells ), the Screen Actors' Guild Award for Chocolat , and was nominated for an Oscar for Best Supporting Actress in Chocolat ; BAFTA award 2001 for Best Actress in The Last of the Blond Bombshells ; 2002 Critics Circle Award for Best Actress in Iris ; Variety Club Award for Best Actress in Iris . BAFTA Award 2002 for Best Actress in Iris . She also has Honorary Doctorates from the Universities of York, Warwick, Birmingham, Loughborough, the Open University, London University, the Royal Academy of Music and Drama in Glasgow, Surrey University, Oxford University, Queen Margaret University College, Edinburgh, the University of East Anglia, the University of Wales and Hull University. She was awarded the OBE in 1970 and became a Dame Commander of the British Empire in 1988.
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