First Annual Coco-Nuts Award: Museum Object and Cultural History

The object in the museum catalogue

First Annual Coco-Nuts Award, presented to Imogene Coca "for best performance anywhere," from the cast of On the Twentieth Century, June 5, 1978. The award is an elliptical wooden plaque with a fancy cut edge and two cut glass attachments with writing and design in blue ink. At top, a round glass piece sits within a lead medallion and is decorated with sock and buskin masks and the title "Coca-Nuts Award." Beneath this, a rectangular glass piece reads "FIRST ANNUAL COCA-NUTS AWARD PRESENTED TO IMOGENE COCA 6-5-78 FOR BEST PERFORMANCE ANYWHERE FROM THE CAST OF "ON THE TWENTIETH CENTURY' BECAUSE THEY'RE NUTS ABOUT COCA."

Coca appeared as religious zealot Letitia Primrose in the original Broadway production of the musical On the Twentieth Century in 1978, a role for which she was nominated for a Tony Award. The role was written for Coca by Betty Comden and Adolph Green, who based the musical on the 1932 play of the same name and its 1934 film adaptation Twentieth Century, both written by Ben Hecht and Charles MacArthur.

Materials, dates and provenance

• date made: 1978
• Associated Date: June 5, 1978
• referenced: Coca, Imogene
• Object Name: plaque
• Physical Description: wood (plaque material)
• Physical Description: glass (attachment material)
• Physical Description: lead (medallion material)
• Measurements: overall: 8 in x 6 in x 1/2 in; 20.32 cm x 15.24 cm x 1.27 cm
• place made: United States: New York, New York City
• Subject: Theater
• Subject: Musical Theater
• Subject: Awards and Prizes
• ID Number: 2019.0102.03
• accession number: 2019.0102
• catalog number: 2019.0102.03
• Credit Line: Mark Basile
• Data Source: National Museum of American History

Sources and reuse

Catalogue descriptions and facts adapted from National Museum of American History through the Smithsonian's official Open Access dataset. This record explicitly marks its metadata CC0 1.0; formatting and selection have been changed.