2012 Innovative Theater Award Nominees Announced
By: Caryn Robbins Jul. 24, 2012
On Monday, July 23, 2012, The New York Innovative Theatre Foundation, the organization dedicated to celebrating Off-Off-Broadway, announced the 2012 nominees at its annual sold-out event at the Carmine Street Recreation Center located at 25 Carmine Street. The announcement was made by the co-executive directors, Shay Gines and Nick Micozzi, plus members of the community including: Jolie Garrett, Cat Parker, David Pincus, Derek Shore, Tari Stratton and Kristen Vaughan.
Over the past eight years, the IT Awards has honored over 1,650 individual artists, over 450 productions, and 350 theatre companies; having collected over 35,000 ballots and disseminated more than 6,000 judges. The 2012 Nominees include 137 individual artists, 52 different
productions and 57 Off-Off-Broadway theatre companies.
In November of 2011 the IT Foundation held a virtual townhall meeting on their blog. Community members weighed in on a number of topics including the qualifications, requirements of the awards’ system as well as award categories. In direct response to that conversation, the IT Awards has split the “Outstanding Production of a Play” category into two categories “Outstanding Production of a Remounted Play” and “Outstanding Premiere Production of a Play”.
Loom Ensemble’s production of Erosion: a Fable examined corporate America and integrated several artistic disciplines including dance, theater and live music. The production required an urban and nontraditional composition to accompany the piece. Outstanding Original Music nominee, Sasha Bogdanowitsch found inspiration for his score at his local hardware store. “A lot of the instruments I wrote for this production were homemade, especially from plumbing material like ABS pipe and metal conduit pipe,” says Bogdanowitsch.
Each year Off-Off-Broadway companies find creative ways to weave new technologies into live performances. This year we are happy to recognize such innovators as Gyda Arber & AaRon Baker for Phone & Text Design for the production of Red Cloud Rising and Suchan Vodoor’s Interactive Technology Design in Collision Productions’ Endure: A Run Woman Show. The interactive elements “gave our team an opportunity to take audiences into a new territory,” said Jessica D. Baker, a producer for Collision Productions.
For the first time a production that was performed entirely by talented kids between the ages of 8 and 18 from the NY-metro area is nominated for Outstanding Production of a Musical. Up To You, produced by TADA! Youth Theater is an original musical that examines the troubling issues of bullying in a school setting.
2012 Nominees:
Outstanding Ensemble
The Complete and Condensed Stage Directions of Eugene O'Neill: Vol. 1,
Early/Lost Plays
Daniel Burnam, Brendan Donaldson, Cara Francis, Connor Kalista,
Jacquelyn Landgraf, Erica Livingston, Lauren Sharpe, New York
Neo-Futurists
Conni's Avant Garde Restaurant Returns in: The Mothership Landing
Justin Badger, David M. Barber, Melody Bates, Stephanie Dodd, Jeffrey
Fracé, Connie Hall, Kelly Hayes, Jerusha Klemperer, Peter Lettre,
Rachel Murdy, Melody Bates, Peter Richards, Conni’s Avant Garde
Restaurant in association with the Irondale Center
Eightythree Down
Melody Bates, Ian Holcomb, Bryan Kaplan, Brian Miskell, Hard Sparks in
association with Horse Trade Theatre Group
For Black Boys Who Have Considered Homicide When the Streets Were Too Much
Loren Amos, Duane Boutte, Alexis Francisco, Anthony Gaskins, Michael
Alexis Palmer, David Roberts, Robert G. Siverls, Zook, Modern-Day
Griot Theatre Company
Homunculus: Reloaded
Adriana Chavez, David DeSantis, Lauren Elder, Regina Gibson, Mel
House, Jennifer Luong, Eeva Semerdjiev, William Silva, Brett Teresa,
Homunculus Mask Theater
Urban Odyssey
Penelope Armstead-Williams, Rocky Bostick, Ching-I Chang, Maura
Donohue, Denise Greber, Alice Pasturel, Federico Restrepo, Gilbert
Reyes, Kiku Sakai, Kayla Schetter, LaMaMa Experimental Theater Club in
association with LOCO7
Outstanding Solo Performance
Bree Benton, Poor Baby Bree in I Am Going to Run Away, LaMaMa
Experimental Theater Club
Greg Oliver Bodine, Poe, Times Two, WorkShop Theater Company
Zac Jaffee, Heroes and Other Strangers, the cell theatre
Melanie Jones, Endure: A Run Woman Show, Collision Productions
Juan Francisco Villa, Empanada For A Dream, Ballybeg & terraNOVA Collective
Raïna von Waldenburg, Oysters org*sms Obituaries, LaMaMa Experimental
Theater Club in association with Center for Embodied Performance
Outstanding Actor in a Featured Role
Karl Gregory, Frogs, Fault Line Theatre
Ian Holcomb, Eightythree Down, Hard Sparks in association with Horse
Trade Theatre Group
Jason Howard, Advance Man, Gideon Productions
Bryan Kaplan, Eightythree Down, Hard Sparks in association with Horse
Trade Theatre Group
Curry Whitmire, Christopher Marlowe's Chloroform Dreams, Lunar Energy
Stephen Alan Wilson, The Last Days of Judas Iscariot, T. Schreiber Studio
Outstanding Actress in a Featured Role
Celeste Arias, Demon Dreams (Oni No Yume), Magic Futurebox
Lauren Blumenfeld, Exit Carolyn, Sans A Productions
Teresa Kelsey, The House of Mirth, Metropolitan Playhouse
Marie Marshall, The House of Mirth, Metropolitan Playhouse
Ryan Templeton, A Hard Wall at High Speed, Astoria Performing Arts Center
Halley Wegryn Gross, Sex Good; Money Bad, Broken Watch Theatre Company
Outstanding Actor in a Lead Role
Adam Barrie, Dust, Tenement Street Workshop in association with
Incubator Arts Project
Hunter Canning, Dust, Tenement Street Workshop in association with
Incubator Arts Project
Karl Gregory, From White Plains, Fault Line Theatre
Greg Horton, A Man of No Importance, The Gallery Players
Brian Miskell, Eightythree Down, Hard Sparks in association with Horse
Trade Theatre Group
Charlie Owens, A Man of No Importance, The Gallery Players
Aidan Redmond, The Real Thing, Boomerang Theatre Company
Outstanding Actress in a Lead Role
Melody Bates, Eightythree Down, Hard Sparks in association with Horse
Trade Theatre Group
Renee Claire Bergeron, A Man of No Importance, The Gallery Players
Casandera M.J. Lollar, The Runner Stumbles, Retro Productions
Charlotte Pines, Callous Cad, Tom X. Chao in association with Kim Katzberg
Laura Ramadei, Exit Carolyn, Sans A Productions
Christina Shipp, Ajax in Iraq, Flux Theatre Ensemble
Outstanding Choreography/Movement
Jessica Isa Burns, For Black Boys Who Have Considered Homicide When
the Streets Were Too Much, Modern-Day Griot Theatre Company
Lee Sunday Evans, The Deepest Play Ever: The Catharsis of Pathos,
CollaborationTown
Christine O'Grady, A Man of No Importance, The Gallery Players
Joe Osheroff & Evan Zes, Homunculus: Reloaded, Homunculus Mask Theater
Lauren Sharpe, The Complete and Condensed Stage Directions of Eugene
O'Neill: Vol. 1, Early/Lost Plays, New York Neo-Futurists
Turner Smith, Romeo and Juliet, Northwest Passage
Outstanding Director
Kevin Laibson, Demon Dreams (Oni No Yume), Magic Futurebox
Christopher Loar, The Complete and Condensed Stage Directions of
Eugene O'Neill: Vol. 1, Early/Lost Plays, New York Neo-Futurists
Joe Osheroff, Homunculus: Reloaded, Homunculus Mask Theater
Alex Roe, The House of Mirth, Metropolitan Playhouse
Aaron Rossini, Frogs, Fault Line Theatre
August Schulenburg, Ajax in Iraq, Flux Theatre Ensemble
Outstanding Lighting Design
Nick Francone, Miranda, MirandaCo
Richard Kent Green, Poe, Times Two, WorkShop Theater Company
Ben Hagen & Joe Skowronski, LoveSick (or Things That Don't Happen),
Project Y Theatre Company
David A. Sexton, The Spring Fling: My Best/Worst Date Ever, F*It Club
Cat Tate Starmer, A Hard Wall at High Speed, Astoria Performing Arts Center
Jeanette Oi-Suk Yew, Conni's Avant Garde Restaurant Returns in: The
Mothership Landing, Conni’s Avant Garde Restaurant in association with
the Irondale Center
Outstanding Costume Design
Sidney Fortner, The House of Mirth, Metropolitan Playhouse
Denise Greber, Urban Odyssey, LaMaMa Experimental Theater Club in
association with LOCO7
Kim Katzberg, Penetrating the Space, Kim Katzberg
Jessica Sofia Mitrani, Hypnotik: The Seer Will Doctor You Now, The New
Stage Theatre Comapny
Ayanna Siverls-Streater, For Black Boys Who Have Considered Homicide
When the Streets Were Too Much, Modern-Day Griot Theatre Company
David L. Zwiers, The Asphalt Christmas, Gracye Productions
Outstanding Set Design
Stephen K. Dobay, A Hard Wall at High Speed, Astoria Performing Arts Center
Kevin Judge, LoveSick (or Things That Don't Happen), Project Y Theatre Company
Sarah E. Martin & Sara Nelson, The Spring Fling: My Best/Worst Date
Ever, F*It Club
Steve O'Shea, Up To You, TADA! Youth Theater
Sean Ryan, Clowns Full-Tilt: A Musing on Aesthetics, Clowns Ex Machina/La MaMa
Andy Yanni, Felix and the Diligence, or a Play About Fishermen in the
1940's, Pipeline Theatre Company
Outstanding Sound Design
Martha Goode, Costa Rehab, Maieutic Theatre Works (MTWorks)
Christopher Loar, The Complete and Condensed Stage Directions of
Eugene O'Neill: Vol. 1, Early/Lost Plays, New York Neo-Futurists
Mark Parenti, The Spring Fling: My Best/Worst Date Ever, F*It Club
Nathan A. Roberts, A Hard Wall at High Speed, Astoria Performing Arts Center
Tim Schellenbaum, Urban Odyssey, LaMaMa Experimental Theater Club in
association with LOCO7
Matt Schloss, Miranda, MirandaCo
Outstanding Innovative Design
Gyda Arber & AaRon Baker, Phone & Text Design, Red Cloud Rising, The
Fifth Wall in association with The Brick Theater
Maia Cruz Palileo, Animation and Sculpture, Penetrating the Space, Kim Katzberg
Elizabeth Barrett Groth & Amy Mathews, Puppet Design, We in Silence
Hear a Whisper, Red Fern Theatre Company
Joe Osheroff, Mask Design, Homunculus: Reloaded, Homunculus Mask Theater
Federico Restrepo & Angela Sierra, Video Editing & Design, Urban
Odyssey, LaMaMa Experimental Theater Club in association with LOCO7
Suchan Vodoor, Interactive Technology Design, Endure: A Run Woman
Show, Collision Productions
Outstanding Original Music
Karolyn Bethke, Kris Kukul, John Sully, Elizabeth Swados & Martin
Wallace, Urban Odyssey, LaMaMa Experimental Theater Club in
association with LOCO7
Sasha Bogdanowitsch, Erosion: a Fable, Loom Ensemble
Christine Owman, Endure: A Run Woman Show, Collision Productions
Jeff Raab, 12th Night, Libra Theater Company
Kamala Sankaram, Miranda, MirandaCo
Sxip Shirey, Prometheus Within, LaMaMa Experimental Theater Club in
association with Skysaver Productions
Outstanding Original Short Script
Lucy Boyle, Mort, The Spring Fling: My Best/Worst Date Ever, F*It Club
Chisa Hutchinson, This is Not the Play, Mad Dog Theatre Company
Dean Imperial, The Needle Through the Arm Trick, Too Much Too Soon,
Lesser America
Vincent Marano, Artistic License, What I Meant Was... The Odd,
Short-Ish Of Vinnie Marano, teatro oscuro
Joe Osheroff & Evan Zes, Homunculus: Reloaded, Homunculus Mask Theater
Anna Ziegler, A Map of Broken Glass, The Spring Fling: My Best/Worst
Date Ever, F*It Club
Outstanding Original Full-Length Script
Zac Jaffee, Heroes and Other Strangers, the cell theatre
Melanie Jones, Endure: A Run Woman Show, Collision Productions
Mariah MacCarthy, The Foreplay Play, Caps Lock Theatre
Michael Perlman, From White Plains, Fault Line Theatre
Mac Rogers, Advance Man, Gideon Productions
Juan Francisco Villa, Empanada For A Dream, Ballybeg & terraNOVA Collective
Outstanding Performance Art Piece
The Complete and Condensed Stage Directions of Eugene O'Neill: Vol. 1,
Early/Lost Plays, New York Neo-Futurists
Conni's Avant Garde Restaurant Returns in: The Mothership Landing,
Conni’s Avant Garde Restaurant in association with the Irondale Center
Empanada For A Dream, Ballybeg & terraNOVA Collective
Endure: A Run Woman Show, Collision Productions
For Black Boys Who Have Considered Homicide When the Streets Were Too
Much, Modern-Day Griot Theatre Company
Homunculus: Reloaded, Homunculus Mask Theater
Outstanding Production of a Musical
LoveSick (or Things That Don't Happen), Project Y Theatre Company
A Man of No Importance, The Gallery Players
Miranda, MirandaCo
The Secret Garden, Astoria Performing Arts Center
Unville Brazil, FullStop Collective
Up To You, TADA! Youth Theater
Outstanding Premiere Production of a Play
Advance Man, Gideon Productions
Demon Dreams (Oni No Yume), Magic Futurebox
Eightythree Down, Hard Sparks in association with Horse Trade Theatre Group
The Foreplay Play, Caps Lock Theatre
From White Plains, Fault Line Theatre
A Hard Wall at High Speed, Astoria Performing Arts Center
Outstanding Production of a Remounted Play
Ajax in Iraq, Flux Theatre Ensemble
Frogs, Fault Line Theatre
The House of Mirth, Metropolitan Playhouse
Poe, Times Two, WorkShop Theater Company
The Real Thing, Boomerang Theatre Company
The Violet Hour, The Active Theater in association with Goode Productions
The NEW YORK INNOVATIVE THEATRE AWARDS CEREMONY will be held September 24, 2012
HOSTED BY HARRISON GREENBAUM.
The New York Innovative Theatre Foundation is a not-for-profit organization recognizing the great work of New York City's Off-Off-Broadway, honoring its artistic heritage, and providing a meeting ground for this extensive and richly varied community. The organization advocates for Off-Off-Broadway and recognizes the unique and essential role it plays in contributing to American and global culture. They believe that publicly recognizing excellence in Off-Off-Broadway will expand audience awareness and foster greater.
appreciation of the New York theatre experience. www.nyitawards.com
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