Designers from 'A GENTLEMAN'S GUIDE,' THE GLASS MENAGERIE & More to be Honored at 2014 Henry Hewes Awards

Five theater artists will be honored by the Henry Hewes Design Awards Committee during the presentation of its 2014 Awards in a luncheon ceremony scheduled for October 6. Bob Crowley (The Glass Menagerie), Linda Cho (A Gentleman's Guide to Love and Murder), Justin Townsend (Mr. Burns, a Post-Electric Play) and G. Lucas Crane and Keith Skretch (This Was the End) will be honored with 2014 Henry Hewes Design Awards. Three of the five are receiving his or her first Henry Hewes Design Award. Bob Crowley was previously honored in 2007 for his work with Scott Pask on The Coast of Utopia. For the 2014 honors, 91 theater artists were nominated for outstanding artistry in 59 productions presented during the 2013-2014 New York theater season. (A complete list of 2014 nominees follows this awards announcement.)

These annual awards honor designers for work in venues on Broadway, Off Broadway and Off Off Broadway, recognizing not only the traditional categories of Scenic Design, Costume Design and Lighting Design, but also "Notable Effects," which encompass sound, music, video, puppetry and other creative elements. All nominated designs must have originated in United States productions. The Hewes Awards Committee considered more than 200 productions when making its nominations.

Jane Cox led all artists with three nominations for lighting designs on and Off Broadway. Eight other designers received two nominations each for their work during the 2013-2014 season. The Broadway production of A Gentleman's Guide to Love and Murder and the Playwrights Horizons production of Mr. Burns, a Post-Electric Play led all other productions with five nominations each. Lincoln Center Theater's Broadway production of Act One received four nominations. Seven productions on, Off, and Off Off Broadway received three nominations each. Fifteen other productions received two nominations each.

The HHDA Committee named honorees in four categories: Scenic Design, Costume Design, Lighting Design and Notable Effects. As of the 2013 awards, the Committee has bestowed 290 honors on 188 artists representing 203 productions.

Originally known as the Maharam Awards at their inception in 1965, the Hewes Awards were later known as the American Theatre Wing Design Awards in honor of the Wing's generous sponsorship. They were renamed in 1999 for noted critic Henry Hewes, who created the awards and served as a board member of the American Theatre Wing until his death in 2006 at age 89.

The Henry Hewes Design Awards Committee includes theater critics Jeffrey Eric Jenkins, chair; Dan Bacalzo; David Barbour; David Cote; Glenda Frank; Mario Fratti; Helen Shaw; Michael Sommers; and Joan Ungaro.