SHERBURNE – Colleen Law-Tefft received the Mary Eva Duthie Award at the 47th Annual Theatre Association of New York State Festival in Glens Falls on Nov. 19. The Mary Eva Duthie Award is given to an individual or organization who has provided outstanding service to community and academic theatre in New York State. Past recipients of this award include Governor Nelson Rockefeller, Sir Mort Clark, Kitty Carlisle Hart, Cornell University, and the Corning Glass Center.
Incoming Theatre Association of New York State (TANYS) President David Grayson presented the award to Law-Tefft, citing her long time involvement in community theatre, academic theatre, and service to the TANY organization. Colleen has been active with Sherburne Music Theater Society for seventeen years. She has served on the Board of Directors of Sherburne Music Theater Society for sixteen years and has served in nearly every official capacity on the Board. She is currently Secretary and Chairperson of the Artistic Committee. She has appeared in many Sherburne Music Theater Society productions including “On Tidy Endings,” “Brighton Beach Memoirs,” “Crimes of The Heart” and “A Comedy of Errors,” for which she received TANYS Roving Adjudicators’ Merit Awards for acting. In addition, Law-Tefft directed the SMTS production of “I Hate Hamlet.”
“I am overwhelmed,” said Colleen. “I do theatre because I love it and want to share it with others, but it is nice when someone notices.” In addition to her commitment to community theatre, Law-Tefft has served as the Drama Club Advisor for the past eight years at the Sherburne-Earlville High School. Under her guidance, she has developed the Drama Club into an award winning organization. Colleen’s students have received TANYS Roving Adjudicator’s Merit Awards for their performances in “The Crucible,” “A Midsummer’s Night Dream,” “Great Expectations,” “Acting Up,” and “Chicken Wings,” which was selected for performance at the 2005 TANYS Festival in Auburn,. The performance of “Chicken Wings” at the TANYS Festival marked the first time in many years that a high school production was selected to perform. In addition, Colleen is a member of the New York State Theatre Educators Association (NYSTEA). Through NYSTEA, she has taken many students to the NYSTEA Student Conference which allows the students to attend many workshops in all facets of theatre.
TANYS President Grayson also cited Law-Tefft’s involvement with the TANYS organization. She served for six years as the organization’s first administrative secretary. These duties included running the TANYS office, designing and compiling the organization’s newsletter, and acting as the central point of contact for TANYS. Since stepping down as administrative secretary, Law-Tefft continues to serve TANYS as the Central Southern Tier Regional Representative for Broome, Chenango, Delaware, Otsego, and Tioga counties.
The Mary Eva Duthie award, established in 1960, honors the memory of the person behind the founding of the New York State Community Theatre Association in 1946. This organization merged with the New York State Theatre Festival Association in  1987 to form TANYS. This non profit organization is the primary voice of community and educational theatre in the Empire State.  TANYS nurtures and supports the growth of all aspects of the craft of theatre, thereby enriching theatrical experiences for participants and audiences across the state. Further information about TANYS can be found at www.tanys.org.