Cincinnati Playhouse Company Earns 9 CEA Nominations

Tony Award-winner John Doyle's acclaimed Cincinnati Playhouse production of Company--which will transfer to Broadway this fall--has been nominated for nine Cincinatti Entertainment Awards.  The ceremony will take place on August 25th at CCM's Corbett Auditorium.

The nominations include Raul Esparza (Acting Performance by Visiting Actor), Barbara Walsh and Heather Laws (both as Acting Performance by a Visiting Actress), Ensemble Acting Performance, David Gallo (Achievement in Scenic Design), Ann Hould-Ward (Achievement in Costume Design), lighting designer Thomas C. Hase (Achievement in Lighting, Sound or Special Effects), John Doyle (Stage Movement and Choreography), and Outstanding Musical.

The acting awards will be voted upon by the public, the rest of the awards by critics.

Company--which was seen in Cincinnati from March 14th through April 14th--will play the Barrymore Theatre when it opens this November.  As with Doyle's hit revival of Stephen Sondheim's Sweeney Todd, Company features its cast doubling as the show's orchestra. Doyle recently picked up a Tony Award for his stripped-down Sweeney staging.  Esparza (Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, Taboo), who received acclaim for playing bachelor Bobby in Ohio, will lead the cast of 14 at the Barrymore, which last played host to the Johnny Cash show Ring of Fire.

Walsh (Hairspray, Falsettos), Keith Buterbaugh, Matt Castle, Robert Cunningham, Angel Desai, Kelly Jeanne Grant, Kristin Huffman, Amy Justman, Laws, Leenya Rideout, Fred Rose, Bruce Sabath and Elizabeth Stanley--all from the Cincinnati production--will star in the show on Broadway.

With music and lyrics by Sondheim and a book by George Furth, traces the love life of bachelor Bobby, whose interactions with his married friends force him to re-evaulate his choices about commitment.  Company marked the first musical in the groundbreaking collaboration between Sondheim and director Harold Prince.

Company features musical direction and orchestrations by Mary-Mitchell Campbell.  The production is capitalized at around $4 million.

Company, starring Dean Jones (who was soon after replaced by Larry Kert), Elaine Stritch and others, opened at the Alvin Theatre on April 26th, 1970 and ran for 705 performances. The show won six Tony Awards--including Best Musical, Best Score, Best Book and Best Scenic Design (for Boris Aronson). Company featured direction by Prince; he was aided by Michael Bennett, who delivered the show's choreography.

For a complete list of Cincinatti Entertainment Award nominations, visit this link.  To vote on the acting categories (and for Outstanding Community Theater Production), visit this link.