Lee Reynolds Award - Dorothy Olim

Dorothy Olim has enjoyed a varied career, including the unique opportunity to be active in the world of both management and labor. She produced off-Broadway (including The Fantasticks as Associate Producer), operated a summer stock theatre, owned and operated a theatrical general management firm which managed over 100 on and off-Broadway productions, owned and operated an advertising agency specializing in theatrical advertising, and managed several off-Broadway theatres. She was the first woman to be elected President of the League of Advertising Agencies, was Secretary / Treasurer of the League of off-Broadway Theatre Owners and Producers for over 15 years, managed a music circus tent, toured the country fair circuit with a “medicine show,” lectured, directed, stage managed, and acted. In an unusual turn of career, she was elected Secretary / Treasurer (the operating officer) of ATPAM (the Association of Theatrical Press Agents and Managers), one of the major theatrical unions in New York City. Dorothy holds a Master of Fine Arts degree from Columbia University, was among the first women accepted to attend St. John’s College (the “Great Books” College) in Annapolis, Maryland, and attended the Juilliard School of Music and the Neighborhood Playhouse School of Drama. With Harriet Slaughter, she originated BWAY (Better Wellness And You), the organization which provides an annual health fair with free flu shots to the entire entertainment industry. She has served on the boards of many organizations (including the LPTW, from which she received the Lee Reynolds Award in 1996), and currently continues to actively participate on several others as Board or Committee Member, or Special Advisor, and her special joy: to mentor to the coming generation of theatre professionals.

Biography current as of 12/2009.