The New York Innovative Theatre Awards Celebrates 15 Years & The 2019 Award Nominees

On Monday, July 29, 2019, The New York Innovative Theatre Awards, announced the 2019 nominees for the annual Off-Off-Broadway awards. The It Awards have celebrated the vibrant and creative theatre community for the past 15 years. The official announcement took place at (Le) Poisson Rouge by six celebrated artists and producers from the community including: Jazmyn Arroyo, Jennifer Betite Yen, Iyvon Edebiri, Chris Ignacio, Ashley Rogers, and Erez Ziv.

Two honorary awards, "The Founders Award" were presented by the co-founders, Shay Gines and Nick Micozzi, plus Akia, to publicist Katie Rosin and volunteer Christopher Borg for their fifteen years of service to the organization. "Both Katie and Christopher have been dedicated members of the Indie Theatre community. For the for the past 15 years we have been lucky enough that they have shared their passion and skills with our organization. We were honored to be able to recognize their contributions to the It Awards and to the community as a whole," stated Micozzi.

This year's nominees include 147 individual artists and 64 productions presented by 73 theatre companies. Over the past 15 years, the It Awards have honored over 2,600 artists, 750 productions and over 725 Indie Theatre companies.

"It's remarkably nourishing to receive recognition from the larger New York Indie Theatre community, which feels like a continuation of the work we started with our production," said Alexis Roblan who is nominated for Outstanding Original Full-Length Script for Red Emma and the Mad Monk.

"Fifteen years is a big milestone for our organization, and we are making the most of it. We are looking forward to sharing some amazing surprises over the next few months," said Executive Director Shay Gines.

List of the 2019 New York Innovative Theatre Awards Nominees Follows:

OUTSTANDING ENSEMBLE

Alex & Eugene
Isle of Shoals Productions, Inc.
Aja Downing, Reggie Herold, Katherine Leidlein, Joseph M. Mace, Rori Nogee, Noah Pyzik, Jae Shin, Anna Stefanic, Brittany Zeinstra

Hamlet (What Dreams May Come)
Ript Theater Company in association with The Secret Theatre
Lindsay Alexandra Carter, Ade Otukoya, Chauncy Thomas, Nathan Winkelstein

The Maids
The Seeing Place Theater
Erin Cronican, Christine Redhead, Gaia Visnar

Plan G
Randomly Specific Theatre
Allan Hayhurst, Lauren LeBeouf, Tiffany May McRae, Sarah Misch, Larry Phillips, Forrest Weber

Spring Awakening
Gallery Players
Taylor Bloom, Aaron Braden, Harrison Bryan, Jacob Anthony Cain, Brendan Charles, Osborn Focht, Nick Godfrey, Gaby Greenwald, Nathaniel Gregory, Mikaela Kafka, Raquel Kahn, Isabella King, Thomas Kuklenski, Nicole Lopez, Gaby Mank, Tyler Moscaritola, Mariela Flor Olivo, Amanda Starr

Who Am I This Time? (And Other Conundrums Of Love)
Wise Fish Theater Collective in association with Martina Bonolis & Meghan Ginley
Zach Gamble, Meghan Ginley, Robin Johnson, Kent Koren, Franco Pedicini, Isabel Shill, Stephen Zuccaro

OUTSTANDING SOLO PERFORMANCE

Amie Cazel
Pregnant Pause
Good Pilgrim

Kim Katzberg
Dad in a Box
Eat a Radish Productions

Larry Phillips
The Art of Acting: A Master Class with Fozzie Bear
Larry Phillips

Laura Sisskin Fernandez
You Hold a Pole Everday
Playful Substance

OUTSTANDING ACTOR IN A FEATURED ROLE

Bruce Barton
Hamlet
Hudson Warehouse in association with Susane Lee

Daniel Burns
She Calls Me Firefly
Parity Productions in association with New Perspectives Theatre Company

Connor Chaney
The Harrowing of Hell
American Theatre of Actors in association with Collectio Musicorum, Inc.

Desmond Dutcher
Mary, Mary
Retro Productions

David Leeper
Stupid f-ing Bird
Stripped Scripts

Jacob Lewis Lovendahl
Experimenting with Katz
New Ambassadors Theatre Company in association with Julia Botero

Federico Mallet
Eight Tales of Pedro
The Secret Theatre

Scott McCord
The Head Hunter
One Shot Deal

OUTSTANDING ACTRESS IN A FEATURED ROLE

Maybe Burke
Red Emma and the Mad Monk
The Tank & Emma Orme

Adiagha Faizah
You Wouldn't Expect
American Bard Theater Company

Melissa Glasgow
A Chorus Line
Gallery Players

Meghan E. Jones
Mary, Mary
Retro Productions

Meredith M. Sweeney
Catch the Sparrow
Isle of Shoals Productions, Inc.

Jo Vetter
The Poor of New York
Metropolitan Playhouse

Yokko
Shinka
Ren Gyo Soh

OUTSTANDING ACTOR IN A LEAD ROLE

Adam Belvo
The Brutes
spit&vigor in association with Jay Michaels Arts & Entertainment

Harrison Bryan
Spring Awakening
Gallery Players

Braeson Herold
Worse Than Tigers
The Mill in association with New Ohio Theatre

Milo Longenecker
The Fantastical Dangerous Journey of Q
Rebel Playhouse in association with 14th Street Y

Vinnie Penna
Twelfth Night
Boomerang Theatre Company

Olivier Renaud
Stupid f-ing Bird
Stripped Scripts

Evan Teich
Assassins
The Secret Theatre

Ronnie Williams
Man Frog and Other People
Necessary I. T. E. M. S. Project

OUTSTANDING ACTRESS IN A LEAD ROLE

Heather E. Cunningham
Mary, Mary
Retro Productions

Naomi Lorrain
Entangled
The Amoralists

Lori Elizabeth Parquet
Operating Systems
Flux Theatre Ensemble

Mahima Saigal
Queen
Astoria Performing Arts Center

Lisa Strum
whatdoesfreemean?
Nora's Playhouse in association with The Tank

Shannon Marie Sullivan
Worse Than Tigers
The Mill in association with New Ohio Theatre

Gaia Visnar
The Maids
The Seeing Place Theater

OUTSTANDING CHOREOGRAPHY/MOVEMENT

Shiloh Goodin
Spring Awakening
Gallery Players

Eddie Gutierrez
A Chorus Line
Gallery Players

Alex Johnson
Alex & Eugene
Isle of Shoals Productions, Inc.

Joey McKneely
Shadows, a dance musical
Go Joe Enterprises

Shoko Tamal
The Tempest
The Secret Theatre

Yoshiko Usami
Shinka
Ren Gyo Soh

OUTSTANDING DIRECTOR

Adam Knight
Stupid f-ing Bird
Stripped Scripts

Katie Lindsay
Red Emma and the Mad Monk
The Tank & Emma Orme

Lauren A Shields
Assassins
The Secret Theatre

Sara Thigpen
Twelfth Night
Boomerang Theatre Company

Owen Thompson
The Tempest
The Secret Theatre

Yoshiko Usami
Shinka
Ren Gyo Soh

OUTSTANDING LIGHTING DESIGN

Annie Garrett-Larsen
And Then There Were None
The Secret Theatre

Asa Lipton
Alex & Eugene
Isle of Shoals Productions, Inc.

Anthony Logan Cole
The Tempest
The Secret Theatre

kia rogers
Operating Systems
Flux Theatre Ensemble

kia rogers
Real
Rodrigo Nogueira in association with The Tank

Cha See
Honors Students
Tavine Productions

OUTSTANDING COSTUME DESIGN

Michelle Beshaw
Duke Oldřich & Washerwoman Božena, the True Story
GOH Productions in association with Czechoslovak American Marionette Theatre

Sarah Marie Dixey
Hamlet (What Dreams May Come)
Ript Theater Company in association with The Secret Theatre

Julia Kulaya
Experimenting with Katz
New Ambassadors Theatre Company in association with Julia Botero

Marissa L. Menezes
Once Upon a Mattress
Gallery Players

Ben Philipp
Mary, Mary
Retro Productions

Yunzhu Zeng
Where Is My Maple Town
MapleTown Production Company

OUTSTANDING SET DESIGN

Matt Carlin
Worse Than Tigers
The Mill in association with New Ohio Theatre

Jack Cunningham & Rebecca Cunningham
Mary, Mary
Retro Productions

Gabriel Firestone
Whirlwind
Jordan's Play Lab in association with Rebecca Crigler & Barn Owl, LLC

Lily Guerin
The Year of the Solar Eclipse
Kyoko & Ezra

Daniel Hogan
Friendly's Fire
The Rising Sun Performance Company in association with the Theatre at the 14th Street Y

Matthew D. McCarren
Goodbody
The Crook Theater Company

Tim McMath
Cannibal Galaxy: a love story
Between Two Boroughs Productions

OUTSTANDING SOUND DESIGN

Beata Bocek
Duke Oldřich & Washerwoman Božena, the True Story
GOH Productions in association with Czechoslovak American Marionette Theatre

Margaret Montagna
Queen
Astoria Performing Arts Center

John Salutz
Red Emma and the Mad Monk
The Tank & Emma Orme

Aj Surasky
Worse Than Tigers
The Mill in association with New Ohio Theatre

Jeanne Travis
Honors Students
Tavine Productions

Fan Zhang
Cannibal Galaxy: a love story
Between Two Boroughs Productions

OUTSTANDING INNOVATIVE DESIGN

Hao Bai, Eric Marciano & Ildiko Nemeth - for Projection Design
Electronic City, The New Stage Theatre Comapny

Yana Birykova - for Projection Design
Cannibal Galaxy: a love story, Between Two Boroughs Productions

Magnus Pind Bjerre - for Video Design
The Neurology of the Soul, Untitled Theater Co. No. 61

Raquel Cion, Maia Cruz Palileo, & Kim Katzberg
for Video Design
Dad in a Box, Eat a Radish Productions

Sarah George & Sonya Plenefisch - for Properties Design
Whirlwind
Jordan's Play Lab in association with Rebecca Crigler & Barn Owl, LLC

John J.A. Jannone - for Video Design
The Female Role Model Project, Transforma Theatre, Inc.

Keo X-Men - for Graffiti Design
This Is Modern Art, Blessed Unrest

OUTSTANDING ORIGINAL MUSIC

Karen Bishko, Maxim Moston, & Edison Woods
Shadows, a dance musical
Go Joe Enterprises

Beata Bocek
Duke Oldřich & Washerwoman Božena, the True Story
GOH Productions in association with Czechoslovak American Marionette Theatre

Luis D'Elias
Eight Tales of Pedro
The Secret Theatre

Joe Jung
A Midsummer Nights Dream
Smith Street Stage

Teresa Lotz
Red Emma and the Mad Monk
The Tank & Emma Orme

Francesco Santalucia
MacBeth
First Maria Ensemble

OUTSTANDING ORIGINAL SHORT SCRIPT

Eliza Bent
The Beyoncé
Adjusted Realists

Kathleen Jones
Pregnant Pause
Good Pilgrim

Kim Katzberg
Dad in a Box
Eat a Radish Productions

Teresa Lotz
She Calls Me Firefly
Parity Productions in association with New Perspectives Theatre Company

Larry Phillips
The Art of Acting: A Master Class with Fozzie Bear
Larry Phillips

Carrie Robbins
The Dragon Griswynd
Days of the Giants LLC

OUTSTANDING ORIGINAL FULL-LENGTH SCRIPT

Emily J Daly
#yourmemorial
Pigeonholed

Gabriel Jason Dean
Entangled
The Amoralists

Tori Keenan-Zelt
Truth/Dare
Project Y Theatre Company

Dorothy Lyman
In The Bleak Midwinter
Stuffed Olive, Inc. in association with Allison Threadgold & Tana Sirois

Alexis Roblan
Red Emma and the Mad Monk
The Tank & Emma Orme

Madhuri Shekar
Queen
Astoria Performing Arts Center

Charly Evon Simpson
Entangled
The Amoralists

OUTSTANDING PERFORMANCE ART PRODUCTION

The 11th Dimension
ETdC Projects' Lab in association with Roi Escudero & Valentin Ewan

Arkham
Part of the 10th Annual H.P.Lovecraft Festival
Radiotheatre in association with Theatre At St.John's

Befuddled 101
Amnesia Wars Productions

Electronic City
The New Stage Theatre Company

The Harrowing of Hell
American Theatre of Actors in association with Collectio Musicorum, Inc.

now my hand is ready for my heart: intimate histories
LaMaMa Experimental Theater Club In Association with Mount Tremper Arts

OUTSTANDING PRODUCTION OF A MUSICAL

Assassins
The Secret Theatre

Caroline, or Change
Astoria Performing Arts Center

A Chorus Line
Gallery Players

Into The Woods
Theater 2020

Red Emma and the Mad Monk
The Tank & Emma Orme

Spring Awakening
Gallery Players

OUTSTANDING PREMIERE PRODUCTION OF A PLAY

36 Juniper
Wrong House Productions

In The Bleak Midwinter
Stuffed Olive, Inc. in association with Allison Threadgold & Tana Sirois

Queen
Astoria Performing Arts Center

Shinka
Ren Gyo Soh

Whirlwind
Jordan's Play Lab in association with Rebecca Crigler & Barn Owl, LLC

Worse Than Tigers
The Mill in association with New Ohio Theatre

OUTSTANDING REVIVAL OF A PLAY

And Then There Were None
The Secret Theatre

Hamlet (What Dreams May Come)
Ript Theater Company in association with The Secret Theatre

The Maids
The Seeing Place Theater

Mary, Mary
Retro Productions

Stupid f-ing Bird
Stripped Scripts

The Tempest
The Secret Theatre

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