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Jim Hunt is one of the most respected, well-reviewed and best-loved actors in the Denver area. He has given memorable performances as a wheedling tramp in Harold Pinter’s The Caretaker; a foppish musician in Bach at Leipzig; the loving, baffled father of Eurydice, who has passed into the land of the dead in Sarah Ruhl’s beautiful play of the same name; and James Tyrone in Long Day’s Journey Into Night, for which he received a Best of Denver nod from Westword. Last night at the Colorado Theater Guild’s Henry Awards, he was given an award for lifetime achievement in theater.
See also:
– And the 2012 Henry goes to…
– Best Reason to See Long Day’s Journey Into Night: Jim Hunt
– The absorbing Ghost-Writer will creep into your consciousness
“It’s kind of fortuitous turning seventy and having this award happen,” he says. “I guess I would be lying if I didn’t say … It doesn’t feel ominous, but you think, This is very late in life when you get one of these. Should you be alarmed? And I’m still so busy. In the last thirty months I’ve been in thirteen shows. Five a year for the last couple of years, and every year in different venues. I love the opportunities I get. And at my age, I thank my lucky stars every day that my brain still holds words. That is the deal breaker. If you can’t remember lines, you don’t get to play any more.
“The award does feel like a milestone,” he continues. “I really have been doing theater in Colorado for a long time. I lived in Michigan for three years after college, but I came back here in the summers and was still part of the theater scene as an audience member. I moved back and performed at the old Gaslight, and saw there was good theater happening here: The Changing Scene, Theatre Under Glass.
“I went through my bout with stage fright in the mid- to late 1980s, and it was really Josh Hartwell (an actor, playwright and director) who got me back into theater in 2001 with a production of Never the Sinner at Theatre on Broadway. That was an annealing moment somehow. From then on, theater moved back into the center of my life,” Hunt says.
“The award is wonderful, and I’m going to keep working. I’m scheduled to do After the Revolution for Curious. Later in fall, I’ll be rehearsing The Woman in Black for Breckenridge. I would love to do Lady Bracknell in The Importance of Being Earnest someday, and I wouldn’t mind another shot at James Tyrone. I don’t have an ambition to do Shakespeare — King Lear, for instance — and I’m not sure why. There’s tons of it stuck in my head. It would terrify me and I think it’s probably just the legend and the poetry and not wanting to get a single word wrong,” he confesses.
“I’m not saying I would turn it down.”
Keep reading for the rest of the Henry Awards list.
The Colorado Theatre Guild is a non-profit devoted to supporting the theater community, at the same time it provides the public with information, access and opportunities relating to live theater events across Colorado. For the Henry Awards — named after legendary Denver theater figure Henry Lowenstein — local critics and other members of the community vote on productions along the Front Range. Last night’s awards event, the eighth annual ceremony, was held at the Arvada Center. And the winners are…
2012-2013 CTG HENRY AWARDS
Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Musical
RUTH GOTTSCHALL
Sense & Sensibility The Musical, Denver Center Theatre CompanyOutstanding Supporting Actor in a Musical
THOMAS RAINEY
Kiss of the Spider Woman, Lake Dillon Theatre CompanyOutstanding Sound Design Tier 1
BRIAN FREELAND
The Elaborate Entrance of Chad Deity, Curious Theatre CompanyOutstanding Sound Design Tier 2
ADAM STONE
Wake, Buntport TheaterOutstanding Lighting Design Tier 1
SHANNON MCKINNEY
Man of La Mancha, Arvada CenterOutstanding Lighting Design Tier 2
JACOB M. WELCH
Kiss of the Spider Woman, Lake Dillon Theatre CompanyOutstanding Costume Design Tier 1
CHRIS CAMPBELL
Man of La Mancha, Arvada CenterOutstanding Costume Design Tier 2
LINDA MORKEN
The Wizard of Oz, Boulder’s Dinner TheatreOutstanding Scenic Design Tier 1
BRIAN MALLGRAVE
Man of La Mancha, Arvada CenterOutstanding Scenic Design Tier 2
ABSTER PRODUCTIONS
August: Osage County, Abster ProductionsOutstanding Choreography
KITTY SKILLMAN HILSABECK
Man of La Mancha, Arvada CenterOutstanding Ensemble Performance
HAIR
Town Hall Arts Center
Nick Sugar, Director; Donna K. Debreceni, Musical DirectionOutstanding Supporting Actress in a Play
JEANNE PAULSEN
Romeo & Juliet, Denver Center Theatre CompanyOutstanding Supporting Actor in a Play
BOB MOORE
The Sunshine Boys, Lake Dillon Theatre CompanyOutstanding Lead Actress in a Musical
SuCh
The Color Purple, Aurora Fox TheatreOutstanding Lead Actor in a Musical
JOSHUA BLANCHARD
Kiss of the Spider Woman, Lake Dillon Theatre CompanyOutstanding New Play
SWEET TOOTH
Written by Buntport Theater Ensemble
Buntport TheaterOutstanding Lead Actress in a Play
LAURA NORMAN
Ghost-Writer, Boulder Ensemble Theatre CompanyOutstanding Lead Actor in a Play
JONATHAN FARWELL
Amadeus, OpenStage Theatre & Company
Outstanding Direction of a Play
ROBERT WELLS
The 39 Steps, Town Hall Arts CenterOutstanding Musical Direction
DAVID NEHLS
Man of La Mancha, Arvada CenterOutstanding Direction of a Musical
ROD A. LANSBERRY
Man of La Mancha, Arvada Center
Outstanding Production of a Play
THE BROTHERS SIZE
Curious Theatre Company
Dee Covington, DirectorOutstanding Production of a Musical
MAN OF LA MANCHA
Arvada Center
Rod Lansberry, Director; David Nehls, Musical DirectionOutstanding Season for a Theatre Company
CURIOUS THEATRE COMPANYSpecial Awards
Lifetime Achievement in Theatre
JIM HUNTOutstanding Regional Theatre
THEATREWORKS
COLORADO SPRINGS, COLORADO
Outstanding Volunteer
RANDY DIPNETAdvocate for Theatre Arts Education
COLORADO STATE THESPIANS
