Opening ceremony of the Uta Hagen Centennial - February 4, 2019

Thank you, Katie, for the introduction.

I want to thank several people tonight for remembering and organizing my mother’s centennial celebration. If I have left anyone out, I promise I will find another opportunity to thank you personally.  

Thank you to Ted and Aysia for hosting tonight’s get-together;  Thank you to the HB Board, Marie-Louise Stegall and all of the members;  to Edith Meeks and all the staff and teachers at the studio;  to Alan Pally who has organized such wonderful Centennial programs at the New York Public Library for my mother; to Teresa Teuscher (my daughter) who is here with me tonight, and Thyra Bielfeldt (my granddaughter), who both never let a day pass without remembering their grandmother.

Teresa, Thyra and I, wanted to prepare a special gift for all the wonderful people who will celebrate my mother’s centennial with us. A gift that would memorialize the occasion. I am holding up a prototype of a booklet entitled THE STUDIO STORY by Uta Hagen, and ADDRESS TO THE AUSTRIAN ACADEMY by Herbert Berghof.

As many of you know, my mother always wanted to publish THE STUDIO STORY. Jeffrey Couchman has edited her piece and Herbert’s address for publication. Barbara Hogenson has helped to oversee the project for the press. Jesse Feiler is the publisher and designer of our booklet, and along with Ted Brunetti, is also the web master of the UtaHagen.com web site. We are very grateful to Jesse and Ted for their time and their deep appreciation of my mother and Herbert over the years.

I don’t need to tell you how much the HB Studio meant to my mother, both personally and professionally, and how much Herbert meant to her, goes without saying. Celebrating my mother’s life is celebrating the HB Studio, and the work she and Herbert began almost 75 years ago. We look forward to giving you a copy of our gift at one of the centennial festivities. Thank you again for a memorable evening, and before we LET THE CENTENNIAL BEGIN, I would like to introduce Marie-Louise Stegall, the president of the HB STUDIO Board of Directors.