Theatre Philadelphia Reveals 2022-2023 Barrymore Award Recipients

Monday night, after a nearly three year hiatus, the Barrymore Awards, run by Theatre Philadelphia, returned to honor the 2022-2023 theatre season, the first full season back for many theatres after the pandemic. In a ceremony held at Fringe Arts, Theatre Philadelphia gave out 24 Barrymore Awards to productions from 10 theatres across the region. Recipients were given a brand new Barrymore designed by Nyred Jackson. The Barrymore Awards recognize professional theatre in the Greater Philadelphia region, honoring local artists and theatre companies while increasing public awareness of the richness and diversity of our city's thriving theatre community.  More information about the Barrymore Awards and their history can be found at www.theatrephiladelphia.org.

“Theatre Philadelphia expresses much gratitude to the members of the Philadelphia Theatre Community who have extended us grace, support, and congratulations during the multiple transitions and circumstances surrounding the remounting of the Barrymore Awards,” said Theatre Philadelphia Executive Director Sabriaya Shipley. “ We look forward to how we can continue to celebrate theatre in all its intersections with community in mind and center. We are especially excited about the programming that we aim to create that not only documents moments of celebration like this but, even more importantly, the diverse stories of artists, teaching artists, students of the arts, and audience members who work, support, and carry on the vitality of storytelling.”

This year 66 productions were Barrymore recommended by 66 nominators and 30 judges. This year's nominations honored 43 productions.

At the ceremony, Delaware Theatre Company received seven Barrymore Awards for its take on the musical classic Man of La Mancha. The musical, which had its cast play instruments in the production, received Barrymores for Outstanding Overall Production of a Musical, Outstanding Ensemble in a Musical, Outstanding Director of Musical for the company's Artistic Director Matt Silva, Outstanding Leading Performance in a Musical for Victor Rodriguez Jr, Outstanding Supporting Performance in a Musical for Justin Yoder,  Outstanding Music Direction for Ryan Touhey, and Outstanding Lighting Design for Alyssandra Docherty. 

The Wilma Theater received four Barrymore Awards. Sarah Gliko and Brandon J. Pierce each were honored for Outstanding Supporting Performance in a Play for their roles in  Eternal Life Pt.1. The Wilma's production of Kiss received Barrymores for Outstanding Scenic Design for Jian Jung and Outstanding Media Design for Alan Price. 

Lantern Theatre Company followed with three Barrymore Awards including Outstanding Overall Production of a Play for its riveting production of The Royale, a play about the life of boxing legend Jack Johnson. Phillip Brown, who played Johnson in the play, received the Barrymore for Outstanding Leading Performance in a Play. The play's director Zuhairah McGill received the Barrymore for Outstanding Choreography and Movement in a Play.

Arden Theatre Company received three Barrymores. The Arden's production of Clyde's received two Barrymores – one for Malika Oyetimein for Outstanding Director of a Play and for Outstanding Ensemble in a Play. The company's production of The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee earned Steve Pacek the Barrymore for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Musical.

Theatre Exile also received three Barrymore Awards. Two were for its production of the World Premiere of Pulitzer Prize winner James Ijames' (Fat Ham) Abandon. The play was recognized for Outstanding Original Production and Melanye Finister was honored for Outstanding Leading Performance in a Play. The theatre also received the Victory Award for Theatre Education for their education programs that include their Paper Wings program, their camps, and their workshop series.

Quintessence Theatre Group received  two Barrymore Awards. One for Hanna Gaffney for Leading Actress in a Musical for her portrayal of the magical nanny in Mary Poppins and one for actor/choreographer Devin Sinclair for Outstanding Choreography in a Musical for his choreography in Mary Poppins. People's Light received two Barrymore's for the celebrated World Premiere of  Alice in Wonderland: A Musical Panto. Rebecca Kanach garnered the award for Outstanding Costume Design and Alex Bechtel  for Outstanding Original Music. 

Anthony Martinez-Briggs earned the  F. Otto Haas Award for Emerging Artist. He received $15,000. The other finalists Ang Bey, Newton Buchanan, Tanaquil Marquez, and Pax Ressler received $2000 each.

Simpatico Theatre was the recipient of the The Philadelphia Award for Social Insight for A Shadow That Broke The Light which provided audiences with insight into the personal stories of those affected by the epidemic of drug overdoses and drug use in the country. As part of the award, the company received $25,000. 

To participate in the Barrymore Awards a theatre needs to be a 501(c)(3) or fiscally-sponsored organization. Organizations have to have their organizational residency and performance venue within a 35-mile radius of City Hall in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. All productions for Barrymore consideration must be submitted at least eight weeks before the first performance. There is a fee of $130 per production that needs to be paid at least four weeks before the first performance. Theatres must provide at least one complimentary ticket (a 2nd ticket as a courtesy is encouraged) to each of eight randomly-selected Barrymore Nominators for initial Barrymore consideration. Theatres must provide at least one complimentary ticket to each of the Barrymore Judges for all productions elevated to Barrymore Recommended status.

Each production submitted for consideration must have a minimum of 12 performances, or must have at least four shows on at least three unique days that begin at least five days after the last Nominator performance, to be considered. Theatres need to meet or exceed the following minimum pay scale: $150 per week for all actors who appear on stage; $500 per production for all credited composers, choreographers, and scenic, costume, lighting, and sound designers; and $750 per production per director.

The adjudication system is tiered.  Eight randomly assigned nominators are sent to each production. An online ballot is submitted by each of these voters where they indicate if the show should move to the second tier for any available category. If a show receives five  “Yes” votes in any single category it moves to Tier 2. In the second tier, Judges are assigned based on which categories gained enough votes from the Nominators. This year, there were four panels of Judges based on these categories: Play + New Works, Musical, Design, and Outdoor. 

Nominees and recipients are determined in a series of steps involving the pool of Judges. After the quarterly meetings throughout the season, the notes from the meetings are aggregated for discussion in a meeting to discuss each category and determine the list of nominees. The nominee list is finalized, and then a blind online vote is used to determine the recipients (this ballot contains a weighted scoring system). The Judges are then called for a final meeting to confirm the list of recipients, to be announced at the Barrymore Awards ceremony.

The Barrymore Oversight Committee handles decisions, rule adjustments, and feedback for the Barrymore Awards. This committee is a volunteer group made up of community artists, administrators, and educators from varied disciplines.

The 2022-2023 Barrymore Recipients are: 

Outstanding Overall Production of a Play

The Royale - Lantern Theater Company

Outstanding Ensemble in a Play

Clyde's - Arden Theatre Company

Outstanding Direction of a Play

Malika Oyetimein - Clyde's, Arden Theatre Company

Outstanding Leading Performance in a Play

Melanye Finister - Abandon, Theatre Exile

Phillip Brown - The Royale, Lantern Theater Company

Outstanding Supporting Performance in a Play

Sarah Gliko – Eternal Life Pt. 1, Wilma Theater 

Brandon Pierce- Eternal Life Pt. 1, Wilma Theater 

Outstanding Original Production

Abandon, Theatre Exile

Outstanding Choreography/Movement in a Play

Zuhairah McGill - The Royale, Lantern Theater Company

Outstanding Overall Production of a Musical

Man of La Mancha - Delaware Theatre Company

Outstanding Ensemble in a Musical

Man of La Mancha - Delaware Theatre Company

Outstanding Direction of a Musical

Matt Silva - Man of La Mancha, Delaware Theatre Company

Outstanding Leading Performance in a Musical

Hanna Gaffney - Mary Poppins, Quintessence Theatre Group

Victor Rodriguez - Man of La Mancha, Delaware Theatre Company

Outstanding Supporting Performance in a Musical

Justin Yoder - Man of La Mancha, Delaware Theatre Company

Steve Pacek - The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, Arden Theatre Company

Outstanding Choreography/Movement in a Musical

Devon Sinclair - Mary Poppins, Quintessence Theatre Group

Outstanding Musical Direction

Ryan Touhey - Man of La Mancha, Delaware Theatre Company

Outstanding Lighting Design

Alyssandra Docherty - Man of La Mancha, Delaware Theatre Company

Outstanding Scenic Design

Jian Jung - Kiss, Wilma Theater

Outstanding Costume Design

Rebecca Kanach - Alice in Wonderland: A Musical Panto, People's Light

Outstanding Sound Design

Larry Fowler & Adiah Hicks - a hit dog will holler, Azuka Theatre

Outstanding Media Design

Alan Price - Kiss, Wilma Theatre

Outstanding Original Music

Alex Bechtel - Alice in Wonderland: A Musical Panto, People's Light

Outstanding Outdoor Production

Dreamgirls - Theatre in the X

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