P.T. Barnum Awards
The P.T. Barnum Series in Entertainment is an annual ceremony honoring alumni of Tufts University for their work in the field of media and entertainment. The show alternates between New York City and Los Angeles, respectively titled "From Ballou to Broadway" and "From the Hill to Hollywood."
The series began as a 2005 collaboration of The Hill to Hollywood Network of the Los Angeles Tufts Alliance, the Film and Media Studies Program (FMS) at Tufts University, and the Theatre, Dance, and Performance Studies Department (TDPS) and the Tufts Office of Alumni Relations in celebration of P.T. Barnum’s love of entertainment and creativity, and the desire to honor members of the Tufts community for their advancement of and success within the media and entertainment industries. The 2015 P.T. Barnum Series expanded the ceremony's focus to include celebrating younger, up-and-coming Tufts alumni working in these industries through the inaugural P.T. Barnum Young Alumni Showcase.
From the Hill to Hollywood 2019[]
Young Alumni Showcase:
- Sam Cantor, musician
- Cinthia Chen, creator and director, Ben Haven Taylor, film designer and director of photography, and Eli Lloyd, producer/comedian, ""
- Benjamin Hosking, filmmaker
- Allentza Michel, artist and community organizer
Emcee:
- Barbara Wallace Grossman, professor of theatre and interim chair of the department of theatre, dance, and performance studies
Panel Moderator:
- Adam Felber, writer, actor, and radio personality
From Ballou to Broadway 2018[]
Award recipients:
- Judy Bowman, casting director
- David Gelles, producer
- Andrew Polk, actor
- Joshua Seftel, filmmaker, producer
Keynote:
- Robert O'Hara, playwright
From the Hill to Hollywood 2017[]
Award recipients:
- Julie Dubiner, dramaturg
- Deke Sharon, vocal producer, arranger, and vocalist for Pitch Perfect, The Sing Off and Pitch Slapped
- Joel Bishoff, Director, I Love You, You're Perfect, Now Change
- Justine Shapiro, Documentary filmmaker and travel television host
Keynote:
- Hank Azaria, actor
From Ballou to Broadway 2016[]
Young Alumni Showcase:
- Rebecca Baumwoll, David Jenkins, Joel Perez, Broken Box Mime Theater
- Allison Benko, director, and Grace Oberhofer, composer
- Andrew Mulherkar and Jason Yeager, jazz musicians
- J. Faye Yuan, screenwriter and interactive documentarian
Emcees:
- Lisa Lax and Nancy Stern of Lookalike Productions
From the Hill to Hollywood 2015[]
Keynote:
- Albert Berger, film producer
Young Alumni Showcase:
- Noam Ash and Austin Bening, creators of the web TV series My Gay Roommate
- Madeline Blue, actor
- Elyssa Dru Rosenberg, choreographer
- Brett Weiner, screenwriter, producer, and cofounder of Screen Junkies
From Ballou to Broadway 2014[]
Award recipients:
- David Costabile, actor
- Robert O'Hara, playwright
- Michael Dobbs, author
Emcee:
- Neal Shapiro, media executive
From the Hill to Hollywood 2013[]
Award recipients:
- Coral Hawthorne, producer
- Christopher Brown, art director and production designer
- Brian Koppelman, screenwriter and director
Emcee:
- Deke Sharon, arranger, producer, and performer
From Ballou to Broadway 2012[]
Award recipients:
- Betsy Gregory, dancer and Artistic Director, Dance Umbrella
- Marian Porges, Senior Director, NBC News
- Jonathan Hadary, actor
- Gregory Maguire, writer
Emcee:
- Charles Cermele, producer and performer
From the Hill to Hollywood 2011[]
Award recipients:
- Hank Azaria, actor, director, comedian
- David Rone, President, Time Warner Cable Sports
- Prudence Fraser Sternin and Robert Sternin, television and stage writers and producers
- Gary Winick, director and producer
Emcees:
- Jeff Greenstein, television writer and producer
- Jeff Strauss, television writer and producer
From Ballou to Broadway 2010[]
Award recipients:
- Oliver Platt, actor
- Lisa Lax and Nancy Stern, directors, producers and co-founders, Lookalike Productions
- Art Bridgman, choreographer, Bridgman/Packer Dance
Emcees:
- Hank Azaria, actor, director, comedian
- Joel Bishoff, director
From the Hill to Hollywood 2009[]
Award recipients:
- Jeff Greenstein, television writer and producer
- Andrea Nelson Meigs, talent agent, Creative Artists Agency
Emcee:
- Adam Felber, political satirist and radio personality
From Ballou to Broadway 2008[]
Award recipients:
- Jim Nicola, Artistic Director, New York Theatre Workshop
- Albert Berger, producer, Little Miss Sunshine and Cold Mountain
- Neal Shapiro, President and CEO, New York public media provider WNET
Emcee:
- Rob Burnett, Executive Producer, Late Show with David Letterman
From the Hill to Hollywood 2007[]
Award recipients:
- Steve Tisch, producer, Risky Business and Forrest Gump
- Ben Silverman, Co-President and Executive Producer, Universal Media Studios
- Seamus Blackley, Creative Artists Agency talent agent and Xbox designer
From Ballou to Broadway 2006[]
Award recipients:
- Donald Byrd, Tony Award nominated choreographer and Spectrum Dance Theater Artistic Director
- Dan Hedaya, actor
- Mary Louise Geiger, NYU Tisch School of the Arts faculty member and founder of Mary Louise Geiger Lighting design
- Rob Burnett, Executive Producer, Late Show with David Letterman
- Meredith Vieira, Co- Host of Today and Host of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire
From the Hill to Hollywood 2005[]
Award recipients:
- Peter Gallagher, actor
- Cary Granat, founder and CEO, Walden Media
- Courtenay Valenti, Executive Vice President, Warner Brothers Pictures
- Jon Levin, literary agent, Creative Artists Agency
- Ameesha Patel, Bollywood actress
References[]
- Tufts University