October 24, 2006

Philadelphia, PA - At the 12th Annual Barrymore Awards for Excellence in Theatre on October 23, Arden Theatre Company took home eight awards, more than any other theatre company in Philadelphia. The Arden received awards honoring two of last season's critically-acclaimed productions, Opus and Winesburg, Ohio. Terrence J. Nolen, Arden's Producing Artistic Director and co-founder, made Barrymore Award history by winning two Outstanding Direction awards the same night – one for a play (Opus) and the other for a musical (Winesburg, Ohio). Other highlights included the award for Outstanding Overall Production of a Musical (Winesburg, Ohio); Outstanding New Play (Opus) and The Ted and Stevie Wolf Award for New Approaches to Collaborations (Arden Theatre Company and The Curtis Institute of Music's Vertigo String Quartet for their collaboration on Opus).

Since the inception of the Barrymore Awards in 1995, the Arden has been nominated for 181 awards, winning 33 times. Arden Theatre Company earned the following awards at the 12th Annual Barrymore Awards for Excellence in Theatre:

WINESBURG, OHIO (Oct 6 - Nov 6, 2005)

Outstanding Overall Production of a Musical

Outstanding Direction of a Musical (Terrence J. Nolen)

Outstanding Music Direction (Thomas Murray)

Outstanding Leading Actor in a Musical (Brian Hissong as George Willard)

Outstanding Original Music (Andre Pluess & Ben Sussman)

OPUS (Jan 12 - Mar 22, 2006)

Outstanding Direction of a Play (Terrence J. Nolen)

Outstanding New Play (by Michael Hollinger)

The Ted and Stevie Wolf Award for New Approaches to Collaborations (Arden Theatre Company & Vertigo String Quartet)

The Barrymore Awards are the Greater Philadelphia region's comprehensive theatre awards program, produced annually by the Theatre Alliance of Greater Philadelphia. For more information on the Theatre Alliance or the Barrymore Awards, visit their website at www.theatrealliance.org.

MEMBERS OF THE PRESS: FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION, INTERVIEWS OR PHOTOS CONTACT KAREN GROSS PUBLIC RELATIONS ASSOCIATE 215-922-8900 x49 kgross@ardentheatre.org