For Rosie O’Donnell, Broadway “better than Prozac”

Love Rosie O’Donnell and am so happy that she was presented with a special Tony Award last night for her commitment to helping provide arts education to students in New York City public schools.

‘To this day, sitting in a velvet seat and hearing the orchestra tune up is better than Prozac for me,’ Rosie told the crowd about how the theater provided an escape during a troubled childhood.

‘The best thing that ever happened to me in my life was getting to grow up on Long Island because just a Long Island railroad train away was the magic and beauty (of Broadway) that made me dream of a life better than the one I had.’

‘I always thought that if it was possible to stand at a stage door and see sweaty people that I had just watched perform magic on the stage, I knew there was a place to go.’

‘Hollywood was vague and an illusion. But Broadway was real and tangible and I touched those people as I waited outside the stage door with the waxy Playbill in my hand.’

Rosie received the Isabelle Stevenson Award which each year goes to a theater community member for their humanitarian, social service or charitable contributions. She is the founder of the nonprofit arts education foundation called Rosie’s Theater Kids. It provides students with training in dance, music and drama as well as mentoring programs and exposure to professional theater.

Rosie joked that in 10 years, she will tell people her Tony was for best performance by a featured actress in a musical: ‘Felt so bad for Kristin Chenoweth and Idina (Menzel), Betty Buckley, Patti LuPone. Those bitches didn’t win!’

In addition to hosting the Tonys three times, Rosie has graced the Broadway stage as a performer on several occasions including in productions of Grease, Seussical, and Fiddler on the Roof. She also produced the Broadway production of Taboo.