THEATRE + COMEDY

BAYOU CITY CONCERT MUSICALS is privileged and honored to present the 2009 Kim Hupp Award for Outstanding Contributions to Musical Theatre to REBECCA GREENE UDDEN (pictured),  Main Street Theater’s Executive Artistic Director. This year the award will be presented at The First Annual Kim Hupp Award Luncheon on Friday, May 1, 2009, at The Ensemble Theatre, 3535 Main Street.

Honorary Luncheon Chair is Houston actor Joel Sandel. An informal reception begins at 11:00 a.m., with lunch at 11:30 a.m., and the program will begin at 12:15 p.m.

PAUL HOPE, BCCM’s Founder and Artistic Director, is proud to present A Decade of Distinction, featuring highlights from each of BCCM’S shows, including the upcoming production, On The Town.   Musical Director will be Art Yelton and performers are from BCCM’s first decade of concert musicals.

Becky Udden was a founding member of the Main Street Theater Company in 1975 and became Artistic Director of the organization three years later when it evolved from a collective to a more conventional non-profit.  She has directed over 100 productions, including the Houston premieres of works by Wendy Wasserstein (Third, Uncommon Women and Others, The Heidi Chronicles), Tom Stoppard (Jumpers, Arcadia) and Tina Howe (The Art of Dining).  Under her direction, the theater has championed the work of women playwrights, including Frances Burney, Lillian Hellmann and Clare Boothe Luce, as well as current works that include such authors as Mary Gallagher and Marsha Norman.

With a strong commitment to the classic American musical repertory, Main Street has presented concert presentations of works by such diverse composers as George Gershwin, Jerome Kern, Irving Berlin and Burt Bacharach. These selections are interwoven with newer and fully produced pieces such as THE LIGHT IN THE PIAZZA, CAROLINE, OR CHANGE and URINETOWN.

THE KIM HUPP AWARD was created in January 2004 by Bayou City Concert Musicals to commemorate the life of Kim Hupp and his passion for musical excellence, after his untimely death in December 2002. Kim was BCCM’s first Musical Director. Recipients of the award represent this excellence in acting, singing, directing, conducting, producing, choreographing or teaching in the Houston theatrical arena.

Much beloved and appreciated in Houston’s opera and theater communities, Kim gave freely of his time and talent. As a teacher, he inspired hundreds of students, instilling in them his love of music. He was born August 17, 1955, in Topeka, Kansas. After graduating from the University of Kansas, he moved to Houston and soon became an integral part of the Houston musical community. Kim was a professional pianist, musical director, conductor and piano teacher. He recorded for Ann Thompson’s popular opera preparation kits, Let’s Go To The Opera. He was artist in residence at Houston Community College with Houston Grand Opera’s “Opera to Go Series.” Kim was musical director for Main Street Theater, Opera in the Heights, Stages Theatre, University of St. Thomas productions and Bayou City Concert Musicals productions of Follies, Falsettos and A Little Night Music.

Tickets for the luncheon are $50 per person and $100 for underwriter tickets, and are available by calling 713-465-6484 or on our website.

Previous honorees of this award read like a Who’s Who of Houston theatre:
2003 honoree – Diane Tobola, Singer/Actor
2004 honoree - Dr. Robert Linder, Conductor
2005 honorees- Frank Young, Producer/Director of TUTS, and Bob and Marietta Marich, Houston’s First Couple of Theatre
2006 honorees- Roger Raby, Director/Choreographer and Marge Carroll, Actor/Singer
2007 honoree-Charles and Chesley Krohn, Actor/Singer/Choreographer and Pat Padilla, Retired Wardrobe Mistress of Houston Ballet
2008 honorees- Jennie Welch Eggers, Actor/Singer/Dancer and Frank Tilton, owner of Ovations