Bouquets & Brickbats

received Lifetime Achievement awards from Lt. Gov. Mitch Landrieu at the 2009 Louisiana Culture Awards ceremony in Baton Rouge last week. Borey, who taught theater at Jesuit High School for 29 years, is the former artistic director of Le Petit Theatre du Vieux Carre, where he directed dozens of musical productions since 1969. Morelock, a 40-year opera veteran, has led more than 50 productions for the New Orleans Opera Association and was the head of Loyola Opera Theatre for 13 years before retiring from the university earlier this year.

the legendary coach who guided Notre Dame's basketball team for 20 years, came to town last week to present a new home to a Gentilly family left homeless by the floods following Hurricane Katrina. Phelps, now an ESPN commentator, has been to New Orleans before to present a home to another family and has donated nearly $200,000 to the families involved. Notre Dame kicked in $20,000. The event was broadcast on that night's SportsCenter. Glenn W. Smith, head of the Digger Phelps Foundation on the Gulf Coast area, says the coach wants to bring back New Orleans one house at a time.

returned to New Orleans last week for the first time since Hurricane Katrina with a production of Cats at the Mahalia Jackson Theater for the Performing Arts in Armstrong Park. It's the first show in a season-long lineup that includes the hits Wicked and Avenue Q, auguring a comeback for touring shows in the Crescent City. Last Thursday, a consortium of groups also held "Turn Up the Lights," a marquee-lighting ceremony for the Saenger Theatre on Canal Street, which is expected to be fully restored and opened for concerts and stage shows by 2011.

made three fundraising stops this week in Port Vedra Beach, Fla., Pacific Palisades and Fresno, Calif., ostensibly in support of his 2011 gubernatorial bid. As usual, Jindal spokesman Kyle Plotkin refused to address specifics of the events, telling The Times-Picayune the information would be made public when Jindal files legally required campaign reports next year. As Hammond attorney/blogger C.B. Forgotston pointed out, it was a break from Jindal's 2007 campaign promise to "put the residents of our state first and the special interests last." Once again, the "transparency governor" is anything but.

Tags: Sonny Borey, David Morelock, Digger Phelps, Broadway Across America, Bobby Jindal