The Village Voice, the nation's first and largest alternative weekly newspaper, announced the judges for the 54th Annual Village Voice Obie Awards. The Voice's chief theater critic, Michael Feingold, will again chair the Obie Awards committee. Joining him will be Voice critic Alexis Soloski and six guest judges: Eric Grode, New York Sun; Andy Probst, AmericanTheaterWeb.com (also a frequent Voice contributor); Eisa Davis, actress-playwright, Obie Award winner for her performance last year in 'Passing Strange'; Ty Jones, actor-playwright, 2003 Obie Award winner for his performance in 'The Blacks' (Classical Theatre of Harlem); Moises Kaufman, playwright-director, 2004 Obie Award winner for his direction of 'I Am My Own Wife'; Chay Yew, playwright-director, 2007 Obie Award winner for his direction of 'Durango' (Public Theater). Mr. Propst will also serve as secretary to the committee.
For more than half a century, The Village Voice Obie Awards have honored the best of Off-Broadway and Off-Off Broadway. Unlike most theater awards, the Obies do not publicize nominations or employ rigid categories in which a "Best" is selected. In the conviction that creativity is not competitive, the judges select outstanding artists and productions in each major category, and may even invent new categories to reward artistic merit. Past winners have included well-known stars such as Dustin Hoffman, Meryl Streep, William Hurt, Morgan Freeman, Mos Def, Amy Irving, Kevin Kline, Nathan Lane, Olympia Dukakis, Robert Duvall, Denzel Washington, Kevin Bacon, Alec Baldwin, Kathy Bates, James Earl Jones, Joan Cusack and Harvey Fierstein, to name a few.
Producer Eileen Phelan and publicist Gail Parenteau return to serve the Village Voice Obies for the 16th consecutive year. Ms. Phelan will produce and direct the Obie Awards Ceremony, staging the event and coordinating the presenters, hosts and entertainment for the ceremony. Ms. Parenteau will handle publicity and media relations and will assist with promotion and event execution.
The presentation of the 2008-2009 Village Voice Obie Awards will be held on May 18, 2009, at a time and venue to be announced soon.
About the Judges:
Michael Feingold (Chairman) is entering his third year as Chairman of the Obie Awards Committee, and his third decade as chief theater critic of The Village Voice. A Pulitzer Prize finalist and a winner of the coveted George Jean Nathan Award for Dramatic Criticism, he is also well known as a playwright, translator, and dramaturg. His translation of Brecht and Weill's 'Mahagonny' is currently available on DVD in a production by the LA Opera, starring Patti LuPone and Audra MacDonald.
Eisa Davis won an Obie Award last year for her share in the ensemble performance of 'Passing Strange,' which she will reprise in the forthcoming Spike Lee film version. Her play Bulrusher was a finalist for the 2008 Pulitzer Prize in Drama. This April she will appear in her new play 'Angela's Mixtape,' to be produced by New Georges at the Ohio Theatre.
Eric Grode has been chief theater critic for the New York Sun since 2005. He has also written for the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, American Theater, Time Out New York, Broadway.com, and Playbill.com. He is vice-president of the New York Drama Critics Circle and is on the advisory board for Syracuse University's Goldring Arts Journalism Program.
Ty Jones won a 2003 Obie Award for his performance in 'The Blacks.' His Broadway credits include 'Julius Caesar' with Denzel Washington, 'Henry IV' with Kevin Kline, and 'Judgment at Nuremberg.' He has received two AUDELCO Award nominations and a Drama Desk Award for his work with Classical Theater of Harlem which includes, in addition to 'The Blacks,' major roles in 'Macbeth,' 'Trojan Women,' and 'King Lear.' His frequent film and TV appearances include 'The Taking of Pelham 123,' 'The International,' Brian De Palma's 'Redacted,' and every edition of 'Law & Order.' His play 'Emancipation' was produced in New York last year, and TimeOut NY named him "One of 25 to Watch".
