The Maggie Allesee Department of Theatre and Dance presented an Apple Award to Garth Fagan, Tony Award winner for "Best Choreography" in The Lion King, founder and artistic director of Garth Fagan Dance. Mr. Fagan's visited campus to accept the award in late March, and his time on campus included both a Master Class and a discussion with Theatre and Dance Department students. "A Conversation with Apple Award Recipient Garth Fagan", hosted by the Berman Center for the Performing Arts, was an evening formal event to honor Fagan and present the award. More information on the Award and on Mr. Fagan are below.

Fagan, a Wayne State University alumnus, began his career when he toured Latin America with Ivy Baxter and her national dance company from Jamaica. Baxter and two other famed dance teachers from the Caribbean, Pearl Primus and Lavinia Williams, were major influences on Fagan. In New York City, Fagan studied with Martha Graham, Jose Limon, Mary Hinkson, and Alvin Ailey, who were all central to his development. Fagan was director of Detroit's All-City Eastside Dance Company and principal soloist and choreographer for Detroit Contemporary Dance Company and Dance Theatre of Detroit.

Garth Fagan was awarded the prestigious 1998 Tony Award, England's 2000 Laurence Olivier Award, and Australia's 2004 Helpmann Award for his path-breaking choreography in Walt Disney's The Lion King. He also received the 1998 Drama Desk Award, 1998 Outer Critics Circle Award, 1998 Astaire Award, 2001 Ovation Award for his work on the Broadway production, which opened in fall 1997 to extraordinary critical praise

The Apple Award
The Apple Award, named for Sarah Applebaum Nederlander, is given by the Maggie Allesee Department of Theatre and Dance at Wayne State University on behalf of the Nederlander family. In 2001, the Nederlander family formed a partnership with the College of Fine, Performing and Communication Arts at Wayne State University, establishing the Sarah Applebaum Nederlander Award for Excellence in Theatre; an annual theatre award and visiting artist fund in their mother's name. The Apple Award brings a nationally prominent theatre professional to Detroit and the Wayne State University campus as a guest lecturer to interact with and educate the rising stars of the Department of Theatre and Dance through master classes and a question-and-answer style forum. Previous Apple Award winners include Neil Simon, Carol Channing, Stephen Schwartz, Mandy Patinkin, Patti Lupone, Marvin Hamlisch, Elaine Stritch, and Tom Skerritt.