Katonah Museum of Art to Honor Theatre, Opera & Film Director Julie Taymor

Award-winning director, playwright, and costume designer Julie Taymor will receive the Himmel Award (2016) in recognition of her outstanding achievements in the worlds of theatre, film, and opera. The Himmel Award and Lecture will take place on Sunday, December 4, 2016, 5 PM. The event will start with conversation between the Museum's Executive Director, Darsie Alexander and Julie Taymor. An optional VIP wine reception with the awardee will follow.

Event Time/Location:

Sunday, December 4, 2016, 5 PM

The Harvey School, Walker Center for the Arts

Photograph © Marc

260 Jay Street, Katonah NY 10536

http://www.katonahmuseum.org/programs-and-events/HimmelAward16/

Who: American director of theater, opera, and film, Julie Taymor is best known for directing the all-time highest grossing stage musical, The Lion King, for which she became the first woman to win the Tony Award for directing a musical, in addition to a Tony Award for Original Costume. In 2015, she directed the play Grounded, starring Anne Hathaway, at The Public Theater and in 2014 completed a cinematic version of William Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream, filmed during her critically acclaimed, sold-out stage production at Theatre for a New Audience. The film was shown at the 2014 Toronto International Film Festival and released in 2015. Her stage credits also include Broadway's Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark and the operas Oedipus Rex, with Jessye Norman; The Flying Dutchman; Salome; The Magic Flute at the Metropolitan Opera; and Grendel, composed by Elliot Goldenthal. Film credits include Titus, starring Anthony Hopkins; Frida starring Salma Hayek; Across the Universe; and The Tempest, starring Helen Mirren. Taymor is a recipient of the 1991 MacArthur "Genius" Fellowship and a 2015 inductee into the Theater Hall of Fame for Lifetime Achievement in the American Theater. Her upcoming productions include the revival of M Butterfly on Broadway.

What: The Himmel Award and Lecture is an annual event in recognition of creators, conceivers, radical thinkers and risk-takers that provoke new thinking in the arts and design. The Award is named in honor of Betty Himmel, who was instrumental in defining the direction and mission of the Katonah Museum of Art and has served as an arts advocate and community leader for many years.

Tickets: Prepaid reservations required. Patron Tickets: $250 (includes VIP wine reception with awardee). Lecture: $50 members, $75 non-members, $15 students.

About the KMA: The Katonah Museum of Art is a non-collecting exhibition venue located in Westchester County with a distinguished educational program for children and adults. Founded in 1954 in a community library, the Museum moved into its present location, a building designed by American architect Edward Larrabee Barnes, in 1990. In addition to its visual arts program, the Museum hosts lectures, workshops, international trips and concerts. The Museum's strategic plan, The Forward Edge (2015), charts five years of program growth, artistic experimentation, and campus renewal, solidifying it as a space that both celebrates and amplifies the power of creative thinking.