San Francisco Bay Area Theatre Honored At 42nd Annual SFBATCC Awards Gala

The San Francisco Bay Area Theatre Critics Circle (SFBATCC) held its 42nd Annual Excellence in Theatre Awards Gala on Monday, March 26th at San Francisco's historic Victoria Theatre. Over 300 members of the community gathered as 67 production awards for theatre produced in 2017 and four Special Awards were presented. The evening was hosted by Walter Mayes with musical entertainment provided by The Lost Trio.

The SFBATCC utilizes a three-part separation of award categories between theatres with (1) fewer than 100 seats; (2) with 100 to 300 Seats; and (3) more than 300 seats. As such, theatre companies of similar sizes are under consideration for recognition of their outstanding work.

Berkeley Repertory Theatre's production of Ain't Too Proud - The Life and Times of the Temptations was one of the evening's big winners, taking home seven awards for productions in a house with more than 300 seats including Set and Sound Design, Featured Actor and Actress in a Musical, Principal Actor in a Musical, Ensemble, and Entire Production - East Bay.

TheatreWorks Silicon Valley's production of The Four Immigrants: An American Musical Manga received six awards for productions in a house with more than 300 seats including both Min Kahng's Original Script and Original Music as well as awards for Music Direction, Stage Direction, Entire Production - South Bay and Entire Production - Bay Area.

The San Francisco Playhouse production of Barbecue collected four Award Certificates including one for the evening's Jerry Friedman Lifetime Achievement Award recipient Margo Hall for Stage Direction. Other wins for the production in a house with 100 to 300 seats included Ensemble, Entire Production - San Francisco and Entire Production - Bay Area.

Marin County's Novato Theater Company took five awards for productions in a house with fewer than 100 seats. Their production of Company was recognized for Choreography, Featured Actress in a Musical, Principal Actor in a Musical, Ensemble and Entire Production - North Bay.
Other multiple award-winning companies included American Conservatory Theater, The Custom Made Theatre Company and Marin Theatre Company.

Twenty other companies/producing entities had their work recognized for Excellence in Theatre by the SFBATCC including Mountain View's Pear Theatre, San Francisco's 42nd Street Moon, Oakland's Ubuntu Theater Project, Walnut Creek's Center REPertory Theatre, Napa's Lucky Penny Productions and the Santa Rosa Junior College Theatre Arts program.

Along with the aforementioned Friedman Award-winning Margo Hall, three other Special Awards were presented. The San Jose Stage Company received the Paine Knickerbocker Award for making a continuing contribution to Bay Area theatre.

Theatrical photographer Eric Chazankin received the Gene Price Award for Professionalism and Passion for Theatre. San Francisco's FaultLine Theater received the Circle's Annette Lust Award, which is given to an organization that has demonstrated early in its existence the potential to have a significant impact on Bay Area theatre.

The SFBATCC is a private 501(c)(6) non-profit organization dedicated to promoting and serving theatres of all types and sizes in the greater region by recognizing excellence and outstanding achievement in the field. Active since 1976, the Circle consists of reviewers covering theatre in all nine Bay Area counties across various media.

For a complete list of nominations and recipients, please go to www.sfbatcc.org

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