Kevin Kline Award Winners for St. Louis Theatre Announced

The Repertory Theatre of St. Louis dominated the second annual Kevin Kline Awards ceremony, winning 18 Kevins for four separate productions. The Rep's Off-Ramp production of the irreverent Urinetown, the Musical was the evening's big winner, earning seven Kevin Kline Awards, including Outstanding Production of a Musical. The Rep's world premiere production of the musical Ace received six Kevin Kline Awards, including Outstanding New Play or Musical. The Rep's staging of the one-man drama I Am My Own Wife received three Kevin Kline Awards, including Outstanding Production of a Play. In addition, The Musical of Musicals – The Musical! earned two awards.

In all, 23 Kevin Kline Awards were bestowed in 22 categories. (The voting in one category – Outstanding Costume Design – resulted in a tie.) Sponsored by the Professional Theatre Awards Council to honor theater achievement in St. Louis, the March 26 ceremony was held at the Roberts Orpheum Theater.

Nine of the 37 plays and musicals that received nominations were recognized with awards Those nine plays and musicals were staged by five different theater companies. In addition to the Repertory Theatre of St. Louis, Kevin Kline Awards also went to HotCity Theatre (Polish Joke and The Probe: An Inquiry into the Meteoric Rose and Spectacular Fall of Orson Welles in Hollywood, which HotCity produced in conjunction with Theatre de la Belle Bete), New Jewish Theatre (From Door to Door), the Shakespeare Festival of St. Louis (Julius Caesar) and Stages St. Louis (You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown).

Director Rob Ruggiero became the first person to win multiple Kevin Kline Awards. Last year Ruggiero was voted Outstanding Director of a Play for Take Me Out. This year he was voted Outstanding Director of a Musical for Urinetown, the Musical. 

The gala ceremony was hosted by former St. Louisan Ken Page, star of such Broadway hits as Cats and Ain't Misbehavin'. Guest presenters included Pulitzer Prize-nominated playwright Willy Holtzman and Urinetown composer Mark Hollmann, both of who hail from St. Louis, and veteran Broadway actor Edmund Lyndeck.

The Professional Theatre Awards Council (PTAC) was formed in 2004 to heighten awareness of theater in St. Louis. During the twelve months of 2006, 95 different plays and musicals were evaluated by a floating pool of 45 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 winners and nominees follow (categories listed in the order in which they were announced):

Outstanding Production for Young Audiences
Winner: YOU'RE A GOOD MAN, CHARLIE BROWN (Stages St. Louis)
Other nominees: Beowulf (Metro Theater Company)
Do Over (Spotlight Theatre)
Lilly's Purple Plastic Purse (Metro Theater Company)
The Velveteen Rabbit (The Imaginary Theatre Company)

Outstanding Ensemble in a Musical
Winner: URINETOWN, THE MUSICAL (The Repertory Theatre of St. Louis)
Other nominees: Ace (The Repertory Theatre of St. Louis)
Aida (The Muny)
Cabaret (Stages St. Louis)
Johnny Appleweed (New Line Theatre)
The Musical of Musicals – The Musical! (The Repertory Theatre of St. Louis)

Outstanding Ensemble in a Play
Winner: THE PROBE: AN INQUIRY INTO THE METEORIC RISE AND  SPECTACULAR FALL OF Orson Welles IN HOLLYWOOD (HotCity Theatre Company and Theatre de la Belle Bete)
Other nominees: The Crucible (Muddy Waters Theatre)
Marija's Pictures (Upstream Theater)
Metamorphoses (St. Louis Shakespeare)
The Pillowman (The Repertory Theatre of St. Louis)

Outstanding Lighting Design
Winner: CHRIS AKERLIND (Ace, The Repertory Theatre of St. Louis)
Other nominees: F. Mitchell Dana (I Am My Own Wife, The Repertory Theatre of  St. Louis)
Mary Jo Dondlinger (The Musical of Musicals – The Musical!, The Repertory Theatre of  St. Louis)
James Sale (Of Mice and Men, The Repertory Theatre of St. Louis)
Peter E. Sargent (Urinetown, the Musical, The Repertory Theatre of St. Louis)

Outstanding Sound Design
Winners: JOHN H. SHIVERS, DAVID PATRIDGE (Ace, The Repertory Theatre of St. Louis)
Other nominees: Tori Meyer (Urinetown, the Musical, The Repertory Theatre of St. Louis)
Joe Payne (I Am My Own Wife, The Repertory Theatre of St. Louis)
Farshid Soltanshahi (Marija's Pictures, Upstream Theater)
Robin Weatherall (Metamorphoses, St. Louis Shakespeare)

Outstanding Set Design
Winner: David Korins (Ace, The Repertory Theatre of St. Louis)
Other nominees: Patrick Huber (Metamorphoses, St. Louis Shakespeare)
Adrian W. Jones (The Pillowman, The Repertory Theatre of St. Louis)
Tim Poertner (The Last Days of Judas Iscariot, HotCity Theatre)
Michael Schweikardt (Urinetown, the Musical, The Repertory Theatre of St. Louis)

Outstanding Costume Design – A TIE
Winners: MARIE ANNE CHIMENT (Ace, The Repertory Theatre of St. Louis) … and …
ANNE KENNEY (Urinetown, the Musical, The Repertory Theatre of St. Louis)
Lou Bird (Meet Me in St. Louis, Stages St. Louis)
Teresa Doggett (Metamorphoses, St. Louis Shakespeare)
Vincent J. Scassellati (Aida, The Muny)

Outstanding New Play or Musical
Winner: Richard Oberacker, ROBERT TAYLOR, Ace (The Repertory Theatre  of St. Louis)
Other nominees: Chuck Harper, The Probe: An Inquiry into the Meteoric Rise and Spectacular Fall of Orson Welles in Hollywood (HotCity Theatre  Company and Theatre de la Belle Bete)
Lydia Scheuermann Hodak, Marija's Pictures (Upstream Theater)
Carter W. Lewis, Ordinary Nation (The Repertory Theatre of St. Louis)
Scott Miller, Johnny Appleweed (New Line Theatre)

Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Play
Winner: LAVONNE BYERS (Polish Joke, HotCity Theatre)
Other nominees: Elizabeth Birkenmeier (Marija's Pictures, Upstream Theater)
Sarah Cannon (The Crucible, Muddy Waters Theatre)
Ruth Heyman (Broken Glass, New Jewish)
Dale Hodges (Witness for the Prosecution, The Repertory Theatre of St. Louis)
Jennifer M. Theby (Tartuffe, Stray Dog Theatre)

Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Play
Winner: JIM BUTZ (Julius Caesar, Shakespeare Festival of St. Louis)
Other nominees: Robert Ashton (The Crucible, Muddy Waters Theatre)
Charlie Barron (Drama at Inish, Act Inc.)
Jim Butz (Troilus and Cressida, St. Louis Shakespeare)
Robert A. Mitchell (Girl Gone, The NonProphet Theater Company)
David Wassilak (Buried Child, Muddy Waters Theatre)

Outstanding Lead Actress in a Play
Winner: DONNA WEINSTING (From Door to Door, New Jewish Theatre)
Other nominees: Dana Acheson (Ordinary Nation, The Repertory Theatre of St. Louis)
Lavonne Byers (The Sisters Rosensweig, New Jewish Theatre)
Linda Kennedy (Marija's Pictures, Upstream Theater)
Magan Wiles (The Sugar Syndrome, Echo Theatre Company)

Outstanding Lead Actor in a Play
Winner: ARNIE BURTON (I Am My Own Wife, The Repertory Theatre of St. Louis)
Other nominees: John Contini (A Walk in the Woods, Avalon Theatre Company)
Joneal Joplin (Molly Sweeney, Avalon Theatre Company)
Andrew Long (Pirandello's Henry IV, The Repertory Theatre of St. Louis)
David Wassilak (The Crucible, Muddy Waters Theatre)

Outstanding Director of a Play
Winner: JOHN GOING (I Am My Own Wife, The Repertory Theatre of St. Louis)
Other nominees: Edward Coffield (From Door to Door, New Jewish Theatre)
John Contini (Molly Sweeney, Avalon Theatre Company)
Andrea Urice (Ordinary Nation, The Repertory Theatre of St. Louis)
Milton Zoth (Metamorphoses, St. Louis Shakespeare)

Outstanding Production of a Play
Winner: I AM MY OWN WIFE (The Repertory Theatre of St. Louis)
Other nominees: Julius Caesar (Shakespeare Festival of St. Louis)
Marija's Pictures (Upstream Theater)
Metamorphoses (St. Louis Shakespeare)
Ordinary Nation (The Repertory Theatre of St. Louis)

Outstanding Musical Direction
Winner: HENRY PALKES (The Musical of Musicals –  The Musical!, The Repertory Theatre of St. Louis)
Other nominees: Kevin Farrell (The King and I, The Muny)
Andrew Graham (Aida, The Muny)
David Kreppel (Ace, The Repertory Theatre of St. Louis)
F. Wade Russo (Urinetown, the Musical, The Repertory Theatre of St. Louis)

Outstanding Choreography
Winner: PAMELA HUNT (The Musical of Musicals – The Musical!, The Repertory Theatre of St. Louis)
Other nominees: Kelli Barclay (Cabaret, Stages St. Louis)
Kelli Barclay (White Christmas, The Muny)
Pepper Clyde (Seven Brides for Seven Brothers, The Muny)
Ralph D. Perkins (Urinetown, the Musical, The Repertory Theatre of St. Louis)

Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Musical
Winner: SANDIE ROSA (Urinetown, the Musical, The Repertory Theatre of St. Louis)
Other nominees: Gabrielle Boyadjian (Ace, The Repertory Theatre of St. Louis)
Kari Ely (Cabaret, Stages St. Louis)
Alice Kinsella (Johnny Appleweed, New Line Theatre)
Reveka Mavrovitis (The King and I, The Muny)

Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Musical
Winner; JONEAL JOPLIN (Urinetown, the Musical, The Repertory Theatre of St. Louis)
Other nominees: John Alban Coughlan (Cabaret, Stages St. Louis)
Zac Halley (Meet Me in St. Louis, Stages St. Louis)
Matthew Korinko (Johnny Appleweed, New Line Theatre)
P.J. Palmer (The King and I, The Muny)
Keldon LaVar Price (Grease, Stages St. Louis)
Jeffrey C. Wolf (Cabaret, Stages St. Louis)

Outstanding Lead Actress in a Musical
Winner: Jayne Paterson (Urinetown, the Musical, The Repertory Theatre of St. Louis)
Other nominees: Jessica Boevers (Ace, The Repertory Theatre of St. Louis)
Lisa Brescia (Aida, The Muny)
Simone (Aida, The Muny)
Zoe Vonder Haar (Urinetown, the Musical, The Repertory Theatre of St. Louis)

Outstanding Lead Actor in a Musical
Winner: Noah Galvin (Ace, The Repertory Theatre of St. Louis)
Other nominees: Matt Bailey (The Musical of Musicals – The Musical!, The Repertory Theatre of St. Louis)
Edwin Cahill (The Musical of Musicals – The Musical!, The Repertory Theatre of St. Louis)
David Elder (Cabaret, Stages St. Louis)
Ben Nordstrom (Urinetown, the Musical, The Repertory Theatre of St. Louis)

Outstanding Director of a Musical
Winner: ROB RUGGIERO (Urinetown, the Musical, The Repertory Theatre of St. Louis)
Other nominees: Stafford Arima (Ace, The Repertory Theatre of St. Louis)
Michael Hamilton (Cabaret, Stages St. Louis)
Pamela Hunt (The Musical of Musicals – The Musical!, The Repertory Theatre of St. Louis)
Matt Lenz (Aida, The Muny)

Outstanding Production of a Musical
Winner: URINETOWN, THE MUSICAL (The Repertory Theatre of St. Louis)
Other nominees: Ace (The Repertory Theatre of St. Louis)
Aida (The Muny)
Cabaret (Stages St. Louis)
The Musical of Musicals – The Musical! (The Repertory Theatre of St. Louis)