In
all, 24 Kevin Kline Awards were bestowed in 22 categories. (The voting
in two categories – Outstanding Director of a Musical and Outstanding
Female Actor in a Play – resulted in ties.) Richard Greenberg's
2003 Tony Award-winning play Take Me Out, which received its
St. Louis debut last September as the inaugural production of the Repertory
Theatre of St. Louis' new Off-Ramp season, received four Kevin Kline
Awards, including Outstanding Production of a Play.
Of
the 37 plays and musicals that received nominations, twelve St. Louis
productions, which were staged by eight different theater companies,
received recognition. The Muny and the Repertory Theatre of St. Louis
each received six awards. Other double-digit recipients were Stages
St. Louis, with four awards split between two musicals (Footloose
and Hello, Dolly!), the fledgling Orange Girls with three awards
for its sole production, Going to See the Elephant, and the Shakespeare
Festival of St. Louis with two awards for its production of The Tempest.
Additional awards went to Act, Inc., New Jewish Theatre and the Washington
Avenue Players Project.
Broadway veterans Natascia Diaz and Ken Page also received awards--for The Muny's productions of West Side Story and Jesus Christ Superstar, respectively.
Kevin
Kline, the Academy Award and Tony Award-winning actor, who grew up in
Clayton and attended high school at the St. Louis Priory, returned to
St. Louis for the inaugural ceremony and presented six of the acting
awards. In addition, Kline received the first-ever Kevin Kline Award
to be struck. While onstage, he was informed of the creation of the
Kevin Kline Theater Ticket Fund, which will provide free tickets to
area high school students in his honor.
The
Professional Theatre Awards Council of Greater St. Louis (PTAC) was
formed in 2004 to heighten awareness of theater in St. Louis. During
the twelve months of 2005, 79 different plays and musicals were evaluated
by a floating pool of 36 judges. Each show was seen by seven judges,
and each judge was required to submit his or her ballot within 24 hours
of attending a production, thus insuring that each production was weighed
on its own merits rather than in comparison to others.
The
gala ceremony was hosted by former St. Louisan Jason Danieley, star
of such Broadway hits as The Full Monty
and Candide. In addition to Kline, celebrity presenters included
Broadway impresario Rocco Landesman and popular entertainer Ken Page,
who also received a Kevin Kline Award for his performance as King Herod
in last summer's Muny staging of Jesus Christ Superstar.
***
The winners and nominees (categories listed in the order in which they were announced) are:
Winner: BROOKE EDWARDS (Going to See the Elephant, Orange Girls)
Other nominees: Teresa Doggett (Separate Tables, Act, Inc.)
Michelle Hand (Going to See the Elephant, Orange Girls)
Liz Hopefl (Separate Tables, Act Inc.)
Rory Lipede (Valhalla, HotCity Theatre)
Magan Wiles (The Tempest, Shakespeare Festival of St. Louis)
Winner: GARY WAYNE BARKER (Driving Miss Daisy, New Jewish Theatre)
Other nominees: Michael Balsley (Take Me Out, The Repertory Theatre of St. Louis)
Drew Bell (Glen or Glenda: Live!, Magic Smoking Monkey Theatre)
Jim Butz (The Merchant of Venice, New Jewish Theatre)
John Kinney (Unexpected Tenderness, New Jewish Theatre)
Winner: BAH! HUMBUG! (The Imaginary Theatre Company/The Repertory Theatre of St. Louis)
Other nominees: Free to Be … You and Me (Stages St. Louis)
Honk! (DramaRama)
Salt and Pepper (Metro Theatre Company)
The Tempest in a Flash (Shakespeare Festival of St. Louis)
Winner: The Ensemble (So to Speak, Washington Avenue Players Project)
Other nominees: Lee Patton Chiles (Dancing on Air, Historyonics)
Margeau Steinau, B. Weller and Rachel Jackson (Famous Monsters, HotCity Theatre)
Winner: Robin Weatherall & ANN SLAYTON (The Tempest, Shakespeare Festival of St. Louis)
Other nominees: Janet Kalas (Take Me Out, The Repertory Theatre of St. Louis)
Jason Krueger (West Side Story, The Muny)
Nathan Ruyle (Adult Entertainment, HotCity Theatre)
John Taylor (Frankie and Johnny in the Clair de Lune, Spotlight Theatre)
Winner: JOHN LASITER (Take Me Out, The Repertory Theatre of St. Louis)
Other nominees: Christopher Edwards (Valhalla, HotCity Theatre)
Don Guy (The Tempest, Shakespeare Festival of St. Louis)
Matthew McCarthy (Hello, Dolly!, Stages St. Louis)
Matthew McCarthy (Man of La Mancha, Stages St. Louis)
Peter Sargent (A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, The Repertory Theatre of St. Louis)
Winner: REGGIE RAY (Crowns, The Repertory Theatre of St. Louis)
Other nominees: Lou Bird (Hello, Dolly!, Stages St. Louis)
Jennifer "JC" Carter (Dangerous Liaisons, St. Louis Shakespeare)
Michael J. McDonald (Take Me Out, The Repertory Theatre of St. Louis)
Austin Sanderson (The Tempest, Shakespeare Festival of St. Louis)
Winner: CHRISTOPHER PICKART (The Tempest, Shakespeare Festival of St. Louis)
Other nominees: John Ezell (A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, The Repertory Theatre of St. Louis)
Mark Halpin (Hello, Dolly!, Stages St. Louis)
Adrian W. Jones (Take Me Out, The Repertory Theatre of St. Louis)
Christopher Pickart (Lobby Hero, The Repertory Theatre of St. Louis)
Winner: WEST SIDE STORY (The Muny)
Other nominees: Crowns (The Repertory Theatre of St. Louis)
Footloose (Stages St. Louis)
A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum (The Repertory Theatre of St. Louis)
Hello, Dolly! (Stages St. Louis)
Man of La Mancha (Stages St. Louis)
Winner: GOING TO SEE THE ELEPHANT (Orange Girls)
Other nominees: Adult Entertainment (HotCity Theatre)
Lobby Hero (The Repertory Theatre of St. Louis)
The Tempest (Shakespeare Festival of St. Louis)
This Is Our Youth (The Repertory Theatre of St. Louis)
Winner: Natascia Diaz (West Side Story, The Muny)
Other nominees: Melissa Bohon (Hello, Dolly!, Stages St. Louis)
Lynn Eldredge (A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, The Repertory Theatre of St. Louis)
Georgia Engel (Mame, The Muny)
Lynette Knapp (A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, The Repertory Theatre of St. Louis)
Jamie McKittrick (The Robber Bridegroom, New Line Theatre)
Winner: Ken Page (Jesus Christ Superstar, The Muny)
Other nominees: Nat Chandler (A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, The Repertory Theatre of St. Louis)
Thomas E. O'Brien (Man of La Mancha, Stages St. Louis)
Jeffrey Pruett (The Robber Bridegroom, New Line Theatre)
John Seidman (A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, The Repertory Theatre of St. Louis)
Winner: KELSEY HALBERT (West Side Story, The Muny)
Other nominees: Lisa Campbell Albert (Man of La Mancha, Stages St. Louis)
Tim Carpenter (Crowns, The Repertory Theatre of St. Louis)
Al Fischer (Hello, Dolly!, Stages St. Louis)
Ben Whiteley (Beauty and the Beast, The Muny)
Winner: DANA LEWIS (Footloose, Stages St. Louis)
Other nominees: Kevin Backstrom (West Side Story, The Muny)
Dana Lewis (Hello, Dolly!, Stages St. Louis)
Janet Watson (A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, The Repertory Theatre of St. Louis)
Vivian Anderson-Watt and Theodore Jamison (Dancing on Air, Historyonics)
Winners: KEVIN BACKSTROM (West Side Story, The Muny) …and…
MICHAEL HAMILTON (Footloose, Stages St. Louis)
Other nominees: Ron Gibbs (Jesus Christ Superstar, The Muny)
Michael Hamilton (Hello, Dolly!, Stages St. Louis)
Michael Hamilton (Man of La Mancha, Stages St. Louis)
Edward Stern (A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, The Repertory Theatre of St. Louis)
Winner: WEST SIDE STORY (The Muny)
Other nominees: Footloose (Stages St. Louis)
A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum (The Repertory Theatre of St. Louis)
Hello, Dolly! (Stages St. Louis)
Man of La Mancha (Stages St. Louis)
Winner: ROB RUGGIERO (Take Me Out, The Repertory Theatre of St. Louis)
Other nominees: Deanna Jent (Going to See the Elephant, Orange Girls)
Tom Martin (Lobby Hero, The Repertory Theatre of St. Louis)
Wayne Salomon (Frankie and Johnny in the Clair de Lune, Spotlight Theatre)
Russell Treyz (The Tempest, Shakespeare Festival of St. Louis)
Winner: TAKE ME OUT (The Repertory Theatre of St. Louis)
Other nominees: Going to See the Elephant (Orange Girls)
The Merchant of Venice (New Jewish Theatre)
The Tempest (Shakespeare Festival of St. Louis)
Valhalla (HotCity Theatre)
Winner: BEN NORDSTROM (Footloose, Stages St. Louis)
Other nominees: Bill Lynch (Footloose, Stages St. Louis)
David Schmittou (Hello, Dolly!, Stages St. Louis)
Matthew Scott (West Side Story, The Muny)
Bob Walton (A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, The Repertory Theatre of St. Louis)
Winner: ZOE VONDER HAAR (Hello, Dolly!, Stages St. Louis)
Other nominees: Kate Baldwin (The Sound of Music, The Muny)
Andrea Burns (West Side Story, The Muny)
Kari Ely (Footloose, Stages St. Louis)
Sarah Litzsinger (Beauty and the Beast, The Muny)
Winner: NAT DeWOLF (Take Me Out, The Repertory Theatre of St. Louis)
Other nominees: Philip Anthony-Rodriguez (Take Me Out, The Repertory Theatre of St. Louis)
Jim Butz (Lobby Hero, The Repertory Theatre of St. Louis)
Norman McGowan (I'm Not Rappaport, New Jewish Theatre)
Andrew Michael Neiman (The Elephant Man, Stray Dog Theatre)
Winners: MICHELLE HAND (Separate Tables, Act, Inc.) …and…
NANCY LEWIS (Going to See the Elephant, Orange Girls)
Other nominees: Michelle Hand (A Streetcar Named Desire, Stray Dog Theatre)
Darrie Lawrence (The Retreat from Moscow, The Repertory Theatre of St. Louis)
Meghan Maguire (Going to See the Elephant,
Orange Girls)
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