L.A. Stage Alliance Announces 2010 Ovation Awards

Nominees for the 2010 LA Stage Alliance Ovation Awards were announced on the evening of Monday, October 18 at The Autry National Center for the American West in Griffith Park. The nominations were presented by 2009 Ovation Award winners Jake Broder, Vanessa Claire Smith, Michael Paternostro, Sarah Cornell, Tasha Ames and Hugo Armstrong, along with Ebony Rep Executive Director Wren Brown and LA Stage Alliance Executive Director Terence McFarland.

The Theatre at Boston Court garnered the most nominations (17), followed by Center Theatre Group (16), the Geffen Playhouse (12) and, in a two-way tie with 10 nominations each, Musical Theatre West and Reprise Theatre Company. The Theatre at Boston Court productions honored with nominations are Oedipus el Rey (7), The Twentieth Century Way (5), The Good Book of Pedantry and Wonder (a co-production with Circle X Theatre Company) - 2, God Save Gertrude (2), and also Best Season. The CTG nominations are for Parade at the Mark Taper Forum (12), The Wake at the Kirk Douglas Theatre (3) and The Lieutenant of Inishmore at the Taper (1). The Geffen Playhouse productions are Equivocation (8) and Through the Night (5).

The breakdown for the two theatre companies tied for 10 nominations each is as follows. Musical Theatre West: Sweeney Todd (6), and The Marvelous Wonderettes (4). Reprise: Carousel (7), How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying (2), as well as Best Season.

For the first time, the category "Ovation Honors" has been added to recognize outstanding achievement in areas that are not among the standard list of nomination categories. This year, Ovation Honors have been awarded to The Who's Tommy (Chance Theatre) for Video Design, The Gogol Project (Bootleg Theater) for Music Composition for a Play, Project Wonderland (Bootleg Theater) for Puppet Design, and Oedipus el Rey (Theatre at Boston Court) for Fight Choreography.

Founded in 1989, the LA Stage Alliance Ovation Awards are the only peer-judged theatre awards in Los Angeles. For the 2009-2010 voting season, there are a grand total of 191 nominations for 63 productions presented by 43 companies. There were 396 total productions registered from 166 companies. Of those registered, 93 were Ovation Recommended, identified during their run as scoring in the top 20% of all productions in the Overall Production categories. 

Voters are L.A. theatre professionals who are chosen each season by the Ovation Awards Review Committee (through an application process). The list of nominees is determined by a tabulation of scores conducted by the entertainment accounting firm Green Hasson & Janks LLP.

LA Stage Alliance is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization dedicated to building awareness, appreciation and support for the performing arts in greater Los Angeles through community building, collaborative marketing, audience development, professional development to strengthen operations for members, and advocacy. LASA serves over 325 organizational members (professional, educational, and community-based producing and presenting performing arts organizations) annually in the counties of Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino, Santa Barbara and Ventura, and individual members comprised of local, regional, national, and international performing arts patrons.

The 2010 Ovation Awards ceremony will take place on Monday, January 17, 2011 at the Thousand Oaks Civic Arts Plaza (Bank of America Performing Arts Center), home of Cabrillo Music Theatre. The curtain will go up at 7:30pm. For more information, visit www.LAStageAlliance.com/ovations.asp.

 

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