Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle Announces Noms For 2010 Achievements

The Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle has announced its nominations and special awards for excellence in Los Angeles and Orange County theatre for the year 2010 (Dec. 1, 2009 - Nov. 30, 2010).

The 42nd Annual Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle Awards ceremony will take place on Monday, March 14 at Burbank's Colony Theatre, thanks to the generous donation of the Colony's management. The theatre is located at 555 N. Third Street, in Burbank. All event tickets are $40 and can be reserved in advance. Details will be posted at www.ladramacriticscircle.com, and reservations can be made by directly e-mailing crixawards2011@gmail.com.

The doors will open at 6:30 p.m. for a catered reception (with no-host bar), the show commencing at 7:30 p.m.

The scheduled hosts are L.A. theatre favorites the Troubadour Theatre Company, whose season in 2010 has also been recognized with three nominations for their production A Wither's Tale and the presentation to Troubadour artistic director Matt Walker of this year's Joel Hirschhorn Award for outstanding achievement in musical theatre. Also presenting awards with members of the Circle will be a host of the L.A. theatre community's most exciting talents - details to be released at a later date.

Awards will be presented in eighteen categories, honoring excellence in theatre over the past year. Four award recipients were named by acclamation: Lin-Manuel Miranda for his music and lyrics for the national tour of In The Heights; Chris Bell for his special effects for the Grand Guignolers' Absinthe, Opium & Magic; and Matthew W. Mungle and Waldo Warshaw for their special effects and prosthetic effects in the Mark Taper Forum's The Lieutenant Of Inishmore. Finally, seven special awards will also be presented, thanks to the sponsorship of organizations to whom the LADCC is most grateful.

The 2010 LADCC special award recipients are as follows:

The Ted Schmitt Award for the world premiere of an outstanding new play will be awarded to Del Shores for Yellow. The award is accompanied by an offer to publish and a $1,000 check funded by Samuel French, Inc.

The Polly Warfield Award for an excellent season in a small to mid-size theatre will be awarded to The Antaeus Company. The award is accompanied by a $500 check, funded by the Nederlander Organization.

The Bob Z award for sustained achievement in set design will be awarded to Francois-Pierre Couture. The award is accompanied by a $500 check (sponsor to be announced).

The Angstrom Award for career achievement in lighting design will be awarded to Dan Weingarten. The award is accompanied by a $1,000 check, funded by Angstrom Lighting.

The Margaret Harford Award for sustained excellence in theatre will be awarded to City Garage. The award is accompanied by a $500 check (sponsor to be announced).

The Joel Hirschhorn Award for outstanding achievement in musical theatre will be awarded to Matt Walker. The award is accompanied by a $500 check, funded by David Elzer/Demand PR.

The Milton Katselas Award for career or special achievement in direction will be awarded to Simon Levy. The award is accompanied by a $1,000 check, funded by Camelot Artists.

The nominees for the 2010 Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle Awards for theatrical excellence are as follows:

Production

Four Places, Rogue Machine
King Lear, The Antaeus Company
Opus, The Fountain Theatre
The Ballad Of Emmett Till, The Fountain Theatre
The Twentieth-Century Way, The Theatre@Boston Court
Wit, Actors Co-op
Yellow, JD3atrical Productions

McCulloh Award for Revival (shows between 1920 and 1980)

Awake And Sing!, A Noise Within
Orpheus Descending, Theatre/Theater
South Pacific, Bob Boyett, NETworks Presentations, LLC, Bob Bartner/Howard Panter for Ambassador Theatre Group, Roger Berlind and Thomas L. Miller; Center Theatre Group/Ahmanson Theatre

Direction

Bart DeLorenzo, King Lear
Shirley Jo Finney, The Ballad Of Emmett Till
Michael Michetti, The Twentieth-Century Way
Marianne Savell, Wit
Matt Shakman, Forgiveness, Black Dahlia Theatre
August Viverito, Amadeus, The Production Company

Writing

Michael Hollinger, Opus
Tom Jacobson, The Twentieth-Century Way
Joel Drake Johnson, Four Places

Writing (Adaptation)

Luis Alfaro, Oedipus El Rey, The Theatre@Boston Court
Jeffrey Hatcher, Cousin Bette, The Antaeus Company

Musical Direction

Eric Heinly, A Wither's Tale, Troubadour Theatre Company
David O, See What I Wanna See, The Blank Theatre
Steve Orich, A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To The Forum, Reprise Theatre Company

Choreography

Allison Bibicoff, The Who's Tommy, Chance Theatre (Anaheim)
Andy Blankenbuehler, In The Heights, Kevin McCollum, Jeffrey Seller, Jill Furman Willis, Sander Jacobs, Goodman/Grossman, Peter Fine, Everett/Skipper; Broadway/LA; Pantages Theatre
Ayana Cahrr, Neighbors, Matrix Theatre Company

Musical Score

Lin-Manuel Miranda, In The Heights-Award Recipient

Lead Performance

Lorenz Arnell as Emmett Till in The Ballad Of Emmett Till
Anne Gee Byrd as Peggy in Four Places
JoAnna Daniels as Becky Foster in Becky's New Car, Pacific Resident Theatre
Nike Doukas as Cousin Bette
Harry Groener as King Lear
Nan McNamara as Vivian Bearing in Wit
Bonnie McNeil as Mabel Davies in Supernova, Elephant Theatre Company
Chris Pine as Padraic in The Lieutenant Of Inishmore, Center Theatre Group/Taper
Patrick Stafford as Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart in Amadeus
Matt Walker as Leontes in A Wither's Tale
Norbert Weisser as Biedermann in The Arsonists, Odyssey Theatre Ensemble

Featured Performance

Eileen Galindo as Matilde in The Clean House, International City Theatre
Gregory Itzin as the Earl of Kent in King Lear
Matthew Scott Montgomery as Kendall Parker in Yellow
Agatha Nowicki as Susie in Parasite Drag, Elephant Theatre Company
Alan Rosenberg as the Director of the World Bank in Influence, Katselas Theatre Company
Edward Tournier as Gash in Futura, The Theatre@Boston Court
Time Winters as Smythic in The Good Book Of Pedantry And Wonder, The Theatre @ Boston Court and Circle X Theatre Company

Ensemble Performance

A Wither's Tale
Four Places
Opus
The Ballad Of Emmett Till
The Twentieth-Century Way

Set Design

John Arnone, Nightmare Alley, Geffen Playhouse
Brian Sidney Bembridge, The Good Book Of Pedantry And Wonder
Tom Buderwitz, The Autumn Garden, The Antaeus Company

Lighting Design

Brian Sidney Bembridge, The Good Book Of Pedantry And Wonder
James L. Moody, Wit
KC Wilkerson, The Who's Tommy

Costume Design

Julie Keen, Awake And Sing!
Naila Alladin Sanders, Neighbors
Paul Tazewell, Ruined, Geffen Playhouse and Intiman Theatre

Sound Design

Peter Bayne, Opus
Sean Kozma, The Arsonists
John Zalewski, King Lear

Solo Performance

Ed Harris, Wrecks, Geffen Playhouse
Leslie Uggams, Uptown Downtown, Pasadena Playhouse

CGI/Video

Hana Sooyeon Kim, Futura
KC Wilkerson, The Who's Tommy

Specialty

Chris Bell for special effects, Absinthe, Opium & Magic, The Grand Guignolers-Award Recipient
Matthew W. Mungle and Waldo Warshaw for special effects and prosthetic effects, The Lieutenant Of Inishmore-Award Recipients

The Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle was founded in 1969. It is dedicated to excellence in theatrical criticism, and to the encouragement and improvement of theatre in Greater Los Angeles.

The 2010 membership consisted of:

F. Kathleen Foley, Los Angeles Times

Shirle Gottlieb, Gazette Newspapers; stagehappenings.com

Hoyt Hilsman, Back Stage

Wenzel Jones, Frontiers in L.A.; showmag.com

Mayank Keshaviah, L.A. Weekly

Amy Lyons, Santa Monica Mirror; L.A. Weekly; Back Stage

Dany Margolies, Back Stage

Terry Morgan, Laist.com; Variety

Steven Leigh Morris. L.A. Weekly

David C. Nichols, Los Angeles Times

Amy Nicholson, L.A. Weekly

Sharon Perlmutter, talkinbroadway.com

Melinda Schupmann, Back Stage; showmag.com

Madeleine Shaner, Park La Brea News/Beverly Press; Back Stage

Les Spindle, Back Stage; The Hollywood Reporter; theatremania.com

Bob Verini, Variety

NeAl Weaver, L.A. Weekly; Back Stage

Nominations by production:

King Lear 5

Four Places 4

Opus 4

The Ballad Of Emmett Till 4

The Twentieth-Century Way 4

Wit 4

A Wither's Tale 3

The Good Book Of Pedantry And Wonder 3

The Who's Tommy 3

Amadeus 2

Awake And Sing! 2

Cousin Bette 2

Futura 2

In The Heights 2

Neighbors 2

The Arsonists 2

The Lieutenant Of Inishmore 2

Yellow 2

Absinthe, Opium & Magic 1

A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To The Forum 1

Becky's New Car 1

Forgiveness 1

Influence 1

Nightmare Alley 1

Oedipus El Rey 1

Orpheus Descending 1

Parasite Drag 1

Ruined 1

See What I Wanna See 1

South Pacific 1

The Autumn Garden 1

The Clean House 1

Uptown Downtown 1

Wrecks 1

 

Photo Credit: Walter McBride/WM Photos

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