The San Francisco Bay Area Theatre Critics Circle (SFBATCC) held its 43rd Annual Excellence in Theatre Awards Gala on Monday, March 25th at San Francisco's historic Victoria Theatre. Over 300 members of the community gathered as 67 production awards for theatre produced in 2018 and four Special Awards were presented. The evening was hosted by Daniela Innocenti Beem and David Templeton 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.
The Spreckels Theatre Company of Rohnert Park's production of The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time was the evening's big winner, taking home eight awards for productions in a house with fewer than 100 seats including Lighting, Set, and Sound Design, Principal Actor in a Play, Ensemble, Stage Direction, Entire Production - North Bay and Entire Production - Bay Area.
The San Francisco Playhouse production of Sunday in the Park with George collected six Award Certificates including Costume Design, Projection Design, Principal Actress in a Musical, Musical Direction and Stage Direction, as well as Entire Production - San Francisco in a house with 100 to 300 seats.
San Francisco's Custom Made Theatre Company's production of Man of La Mancha took home four awards for productions in a house with fewer than 100 seats including Principal Actor and Actress in a Musical, Featured Actor in a Musical, and Musical Direction.
Ray of Light Theatre's production of Jesus Christ Superstar also took home four awards for productions in a house with more than 300 seats including light and sound design, Featured Actress in A Musical and Ensemble.
TheatreWorks Silicon Valley took home multiple awards for their productions of The Bridges of Madison County and Fun Home, also for productions in a house with more than 300 seats.
Other multiple award-winning companies included American Conservatory Theater, Aurora Theatre Company, Bay Area Musicals, Berkeley Repertory Theatre, and Marin Theatre Company
Twenty other companies/producing entities had their work recognized for Excellence in Theatre by the SFBATCC including the Palo Alto Players, San Francisco's 42nd Street Moon, Berkeley's Central Works Theater Company, and Napa's Lucky Penny Productions.
Four Special Awards were also presented Monday evening. Berkeley's Shotgun Players received the Paine Knickerbocker Award for making a continuing contribution to Bay Area theatre. Retired theatre critic Richard Connema received the Gene Price Award for Professionalism and Passion for Theatre. San Francisco's Bay Area Musicals (BAM) 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. Meredith Hagedorn, who recently retired as Executive Artistic Director of the Peninsula's Dragon Productions Theatre Company, received the Jerry Friedman Lifetime Achievement Award.
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, go to www.sfbatcc.org
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