George Salazar, MJ Rodriguez and More Nominated for LA STAGE Alliance Ovation Awards

Nominees for the 31st Annual LA Stage Alliance Ovation Awards were announced today and some familiar Broadway names are among the nominations.

George Salazar and MJ Rodriguez are both up for acting awards for their performances in Little Shop of Horrors at Pasadena Playhouse. Tony-nominee Alfred Molina was recognized for another Pasadena Playhouse production, The Father.

Veteran artist Tovah Feldshuh received a nomination for her work in Sisters in Law at the Wallis Annenberg Center.

The ceremony will be presented virtually in mid-March, exact date and time will be announced shortly.

Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts leads the pack with 22 nominations for its productions of Frankenstein (12), Love Actually Live! (8), Sisters in Law (1), and for Best Season. Geffen Playhouse follows with 19 nominations for its productions of Skintight (2), Witch (7), Key Largo (5), and Revenge Song (4). Antaeus Theatre Company earned 12 nominations for its productions of Eight Nights (9) and The Abuelas (3). Rockwell Table & Stage garnered 11 nominations for its production of Rockwell Musical Parodies Presents: Stephen King's IT.

Pasadena Playhouse received 10 nominations for its productions of Little Shop of Horrors (6), The Father (2), The Great Leap (1), and for Best Season. Fountain Theatre gets 9 nominations for its productions of Between Riverside and Crazy (6), Hannah and the Dread Gazebo (1), Human Interest Story (1), and Best Season.

Ovation Honors, which recognizes outstanding achievement in areas that are not among the standard list of nomination categories, have been awarded to Robert Oriol (Music Composition for a Play, Frankenstein, A Noise Within), and Sean Cawelti & Emory Royston (Puppet Design, Miss Lilly Gets Boned, Rogue Machine).

During the abbreviated 2019-2020 voting season, 137 productions were registered for awards consideration by 36 producing organizations, and 174 individual artists were evaluated. Of those productions registered, 40 were 'Ovation Recommended,' identified during their runs as scoring in the top quarter of all productions in the Overall Production category. This year's 303 voters cast a total of 1,400 ballots. The eligibility period ran from September 1, 2019 through March 31, 2020.

See the full list of nominees here.