The Stage Directors and Choreographers Foundation awarded Globe Theatres artistic director O'Brien with the Mr. Abbott Award (named for the late playwright and director George Abbott) for his lifelong contributions to theatre. O'Brien's garnered four Tony nominations and Broadway barrage of serious plays and musical comedies from Imaginary Friends, Two Shakespearean Actors, Little Foxes and The Invention of Love to Hairspray, The Full Monty and Damn Yankees.
— By Christine Ehren