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NYPD cops are one West Side Story that will win Tony Award tonight!
BY Heidi Evans
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER
Sunday, June 13th
2010, 4:00
AM
Keivom/News
NYPD's Jason
Mandra, Don
Schroeder, Andy Lopez and Bekim Kalicovic are among tonight’s Tony
honorees.
Move overr, Officer Krupke!
The NYPD's Finest will shine on Broadway
tonight when
cops from the Midtown North and South precincts are honored with a
special Tony Award for Excellence in the theater.
Organizers say they had planned to recognize the cops even before
they
thwarted a car-bombing attempt in the heart of Times Square last month.
"We had decided on this particular Tony honor well before the May 1
incident,
which brought the NYPD's skills to the forefront of a very public
stage," said
Charlotte St. Martin, executive director
of The Broadway League. "So our desire to
award them
for their consistent, day-to-day dedication proved even more
appropriate.
"They are great," she added. "I see them being ambassadors
all the
time, constantly talking with and posing with theatergoers, getting them
across
the streets."
Heading up the NYPD's 11-member theater squad in Midtown North is Sgt. Andy Lopez, who has been hoofing it
on the
Great White Way for nearly 20 years.
When all 38 theaters are full - including Carnegie Hall and City Center - some
50,000 people
pour into a 13-block area from 44th to 57th Sts.
The officers' challenges are typically tame: prevent crowds from
spilling
onto the street into oncoming traffic, make sure the limos and cabs are
moving
along and help befuddled tourists.
On occasion, the Finest are asked to make cameo appearances in the
aisles,
like when enthusiastic audience members at "Jersey Boys" stand up and belt out the
Four
Seasons' hits with the actors.
"Management tells them to keep it down, and when they don't stop, or
leave
voluntarily, then we are called in," said Lopez, who could pass for a
young Jerry Orbach. "When they see us in
uniform, they
become very cooperative."
Last Tuesday night, Midtown South Officer Jason Mandra was overseeing
crowd
control at "Memphis" on W. 44th St.
To get the teeming crowd's attention, Mandra, who is 5-foot-5, is not
afraid
to sing out. "I have a very loud voice," he said with a smile. Mandra's
partner,
Officer Don Schroeder, said in his 11
years on
Broadway, the scene outside "The Producers" was probably the nuttiest.
Sellout crowds lined the barricades at the St. James stage door
nightly for
Nathan Lane, Matthew Broderick and a glimpse of anyone
in the
cast.
"Those guys on the block become like family, especially in a long
run," said
veteran Broadway actor Brad Oscar. "We knew when Donny
(Schroeder) had a
new baby girl and all that kind of stuff. It's a perfect honor for the
NYPD
because they are as much a part of what we all come together to do
nightly from
the box office, to the usher, the crew. It's a pretty cool 'hood."
Lopez said both precincts were thrilled to get the special award, and
in true
form they would all be working the Tonys at Radio City Hall tonight, not
watching the national broadcast.
Asked if he had any desire to trade in his night stick and cap for a
top hat
and cane, Lopez said, "Not yet. There's more job security in police
work."