NEW YORK CITY: The League of Professional Theatre Women (LPTW) has named Betty Corwin the winner of its Special Lifetime Achievement Award for her work as the founder of the theatre archives at Lincoln Center Library for the Performing Arts.
Corwin, the founder and former director of the Theatre on Film and Tape Archive (TOFT), proposed the idea of preserving visual records of live theatre performances to the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts at Lincoln Center in 1969. Since 1970, TOFT has produced video recordings of Broadway, Off-Broadway, and regional theatre productions. Corwin received a 2001 TONY Award for founding TOFT and has spoken about the Archive to groups across the country and abroad.
“Anyone in the Broadway community who has ever been to Library of Performing Arts and watched a show owes a debt of gratitude to Ms. Corwin,” said journalist Peter Filichia in a statement.
Corwin will be honored at an event at Sardi’s Restaurant on November 8th.
For 35 years, the LPTW has been committed to honoring women in the field and for fighting for gender parity in theatre. LPTW is funded and sponsored by the NYC Department of Cultural Affairs, in partnership with the City Council, and with funds from the NYS Council on the Arts, a state agency, with the support of Governor Andrew M. Cuomo.
