2015 Wilde Awards Nominees Announced

Theater professionals from across Michigan will gather together Aug. 31 when The 2015 Wilde Awards are presented at The Berman Center for the Performing Arts in the Detroit suburb of West Bloomfield. Presented by EncoreMichigan.com, the most comprehensive resource for news and information about the state's professional theater industry, The Wilde Awards were established in 2002 to honor the excellent work produced by Michigan's professional theaters.

"Although I say something similar pretty much every year, this past season was certainly a memorable one -- both onstage and behind the scenes," said Donald V. Calamia, co-founder and editor-at-large of EncoreMichigan.com. "New theaters popped up, a few established ones kept a very low profile, and quality work was seen on stages all across the state and in theaters large and small. Plus, we got a new owner not long before the end was imminent. So all in all, I'd call this one heck of a successful season!"

Even another extraordinarily cold winter couldn't squash the enthusiasm and hard work found in our theaters, Calamia noted. "Despite the frigid temperatures and what seemed to be a never-ending tepid economy, patrons still showed up at the box office and our theater artists continued to turn out work of the highest caliber. And that made our jobs quite difficult, as how do you sift through 150-plus performances from across the state -- and the work of hundreds of theater artists - to determine which were the best or most memorable of the 2014-15 season? But we did it -- and that's what we'll be honoring when the community comes together this coming August!"

Now in its 14th year, The Wilde Awards - named in honor of 19th century playwright Oscar Wilde - honors the best productions, performances and technical work produced or presented by professional theaters across the state. Nominations are based on reviews written by EncoreMichigan.com's team of professional critics. Only shows produced or presented by Michigan's professional theaters and opera companies - both union and non-union - and reviewed by EncoreMichigan.com's theater critics during the 2014-15 season were eligible for a 2015 Wilde Awards nomination.

This year's team of critics included Carolyn Hayes Harmer, (owner and editor-in-chief) David Kiley, Martin F. Kohn, Jenn McKee, Sue Merrell, Amy J. Parrent, Frank Anthony Polito, John Quinn, Bridgette M. Redman, Judith Cookis Rubens and guest critic Jennifer Knightstep."And for only the second time since the inception of The Wilde Awards, I had no horse in the race," Calamia said. "I reviewed a grand total of one play this past season, and that's it. But I certainly had a lot of input based on the overall number of shows I saw throughout the season."

An abbreviated year

This year, the 14th annual Wilde Awards returns to its pre-Labor Day roots after last year's move to September. The change, Calamia said, is the direct result of feedback received from throughout the community. "Last year, we moved the show to September and changed the review season to August through July, which made sense when we had different owners and a different financial model. What we didn't fully consider was the timing of the ceremony and how a mid or late September date would be in conflict with so many shows scheduled to open pretty much at the same time. So attendance last year was down considerably. And since our goal is to bring the community together that night and not find ways to prevent them from attending, we listened to the feedback and decided to return the ceremony to its traditional slot."

What's also changed -- again -- is the review season. "For the first 12 years of The Wilde Awards, we based our nominations and awards on shows our critics reviewed from mid-May to mid-May," Calamia said. "For last year's awards, when we decided to move the date of the ceremony to September, we also changed the season from August to July, which is pretty close to a traditional theater season. But that caused an interesting dilemma: Because the prior season ended in mid-May and the new season began in August, that meant we had to extend the nominations to include 14 months of shows rather than 12 to make sure we included those produced in the otherwise-orphaned June and July of 2013. And the result was that the summer theaters competed against themselves across two different seasons."

This year, however, the problem is just the opposite. "For this year's awards and from this point forward, our review season is June through May," Calamia said. "But since June and July of 2014 were included with last year's awards, nominations this year will include the months of August 2014 through May 2015 only - which means the summer theaters that had all of their shows reviewed last year in June or July won't have any shows considered for an award this year."

It's confusing, and not a perfect solution, Calamia, noted. "But it allows us to make a one-time re- adjustment to get us back on track for the future. And what that means is that next year, for the first time in a couple of years, the season will run a full 12 months -- and I'm sure it will remain that way for years to come."

The 2014-15 season

In total, EncoreMichigan.com's team of critics reviewed 168 productions produced or presented by 49 professional theater companies located in 25 communities across the state during the abbreviated 2014-15 season. Shows had to be performed for four consecutive days or more or over two weekends or more to be eligible for a review. And only shows reviewed by EncoreMichigan.com could be nominated for a Wilde Award.

Awards this year will be given out in 25 categories, Calamia explained. "And this, too, is a change from past years. One of my personal delights in previous seasons was the sheer scope of creativity that exploded from the improv community and other small or independent producers that resulted in a large slate of very funny original one-act comedies and one-person shows. For a number of reasons, we reviewed far fewer of these shows this past season, and because the field was so uncharacteristically narrow, instead we folded them in for consideration with the standard 'comedy' categories. Every year sees some refinement in the categories to adequately reflect the recent season. Our hopes are high that these categories will be reinstated with a full slate of well-deserved accolades in future years."

A handful of special awards will be presented, as well.

In total, 34 companies statewide received at least one nomination. Leading the pack with 13 is Michigan Opera Theatre (Detroit), followed by The Encore Musical Theatre Company (Dexter) with 10, while Farmers Alley Theatre (Kalamazoo) and Tipping Point Theatre (Northville) each earned nine. "Most of the nominated theaters received multiple accolades," Calamia said. "Only seven of the total received a single nomination. More impressive, however, is that a handful of nominated theaters were new to the scene, which proves longevity is not necessarily a good indicator of quality."

Of the 72 nominated shows, no single production leaped to the forefront. The Encore Musical Theatre Company's "Spamalot" earned the top spot with 6, while "Annapurna" at The Purple Rose Theatre (Chelsea) and "Sugarhill" at The Jewish Ensemble Theatre (West Bloomfield) both received five. And "A Lovely Sunday for Creve Coeur" at Tipping Point Theatre and "The Secret Garden" at Farmers Alley Theatre each received four nominations. "Only 35 of the 72 productions received two or more nominations, so this year's slate reflects a very broad spectrum of shows, and it proves there's something of note to highlight in pretty much every production we see," Calamia said.

A similar indicator is the number of artists -- actors, directors, designers and playwrights -- whose work is honored this year. "Of the 128 individuals we've nominated, only 12 have two or more nominations," Calamia said. "I think this helps prove Michigan is blessed with an abundance of highly skilled and talented individuals who live and work here, and we're thrilled to acknowledge them and their excellent work during the 2014-15 season."

The 2015 Wilde Awards

The 2015 Wilde Awards, sponsored by Pride Source Media Group, will be held Monday, Aug. 31 at The Berman Center for the Performing Arts in West Bloomfield. Doors will open at 6:30 p.m. with an hors d'oeuvre and cocktail reception. The awards show, produced and co-hosted by Calamia with special guest participants, will begin promptly at 8 p.m.; a dessert afterglow will follow. Naz Edwards returns to coordinate the entertainment.

The evening will not only honor the best performances and productions of the 2014-15 professional theater season, it will also serve to formally introduce the community to new owner and editor-in-chief David Kiley, as well as tease attendees with news regarding future plans for the media company. "The raw materials have been here since day one, but EncoreMichigan.com has never had the marketing and financial muscle to develop into the dynamic company it was designed to be," said Kiley. "We have many exciting plans for the near future -- including a totally redesigned website we'll be launching this fall -- and we'll chat about some of them on the night of the awards."

Admission is $22 per person; VIP admission is $47 per person, which includes unlimited bar service. Drink tickets for all others will be available for purchase on the day of the event. Tickets go on sale at 10 a.m. Friday, June 19 at The Berman's box office, by phone at 248-661-1900, or online at theberman.org.

The Berman Center for the Performing Arts is located at 6600 W. Maple Road, on the campus of the Jewish Community Center at the northwest corner of Maple and Drake Roads in West Bloomfield. Parking is free.

"Our 14th annual celebration of professional theater in Michigan will be a great way to salute the previous season and kick off the next," said Calamia. "And as always, it will truly be 'one Wilde night' to remember!"

To post a comment, you must register and login.