By Jackie Demaline
The Cincinnati Enquirer

NEW YORK - By early Sunday afternoon, Ed Stern was losing his voice.

"It's not nerves," said Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park's producing artistic director, in New York to accept the 2004 Special Tony Award for Regional Theater during Sunday night's 58th Annual Tony Awards.

Stern did cut back on his conversation for the remainder of the afternoon. He sounded fine when Best Actress for a Play nominee Swoosie Kurtz (Frozen) presented him with the first trophy of the evening in the pre-telecast portion of the show, which aired on CBS.

But once he had the award in hand, Stern was so overcome with emotion that he could only summon one word. "Amazing," Stern repeated as he gripped the silver, disc-shaped award.

In his acceptance speech, shown during the telecast, Stern declared theater, "a collaborative act." He had thanks for the theater's production and administrative staffs, calling them "the best in the business."

He also spoke of the board of trustees, the theater's 19,000 subscribers, actors, directors, designers and playwrights the theater has worked with.

Stern offered "a very, very big thank you to the great city of Cincinnati, where the arts - all the arts, performing and visual - are flourishing. You are the best."

The theatrical equivalent of a pro sports hall of fame induction, the Regional Theater Tony for the Playhouse recognizes long-term contribution to American theater: the Playhouse is the first Ohio theater to receive the honor.

Members of the American Theater Critics Association make the case for the theaters in their region; the Playhouse nomination was submitted by the Enquirer's Jackie Demaline and City Beat's Rick Pender.

In an unprecedented departure, play junkie Stern and wife Anne did not make theatergoing a part of their Tony weekend.

They started the day in the New York apartment of Cincinnatians Mo and Jack Rouse. Stern and Playhouse managing director Buzz Ward arrived for a Sunday brunch wearing 2004 Tony Award Winner baseball caps.

They celebrated with a party of Cincinnati supporters including Playhouse board president Jack Osborn and vice president Richard Curry.

The tough thing about writing the acceptance speech, Stern sighed, "was cutting it from a minute and a half to one minute. I would have liked to have said something more about playwrights and new plays."

To take advantage of the Tony, Osborn said, "we have to do a lot of planning quickly. We know what we want to do. It's so exciting."

More than 400 friends and supporters are expected to attend a Tony welcome home party later today at the Eden Park theater.

The highpoint is expected to be an emotional passing of the trophy. The first in line to accept the Tony at the Playhouse will be Betty Johnson, widow of Morse Johnson, one of theater's longtime benefactors and visionaries.

E-mail jdemaline@enquirer.com