2014 Gypsy Rose Lee Award Winners Announced!

Joshua Carter, currently working the national musical tour of Once, wins Performance in a Musical as a Lead Actor (Male) for his work in Little Shop of Horrors, along with his co-lead, Jessica Skerritt. Bill Berry wins as well as director of the co-production of ACT Theatre and The 5th Avenue Theater (housed at ACT).

ACT Theatre continues a year of great performances with a win for Excellence in Production of a Play for their presentation of Ayad Akhtar's play, The Invisible Hand. This puts them atop the leaderboard for companies with five wins (three shared with The 5th Avenue)!

Seattle Theater Writers critics' circle is pleased to present the rest of winners' slate of the 2014 Gypsy Rose Lee Awards, theater awards devoted to recognizing excellence across the economic spectrum of professional Seattle theaters.

A previously announced Special Award of Recognition for Excellence in Playwriting was given to Robert Schenkkan for his two LBJ histories.

"The winners represent coming to a consensus, which can be quite a challenge," Miryam Gordon, head writer-wrangler says. "It's not easy to bring people with very different opinions to agreement. We all take these selections quite seriously. Invariably, we each champion different people or productions and sometimes there is vigorous debate before we settle on our slate."

The 2014 Gypsy Rose Lee Award Winners are:

Excellence in Production of a Play

(Larger Theater): The Invisible Hand - ACT Theatre

(Smaller Theater): A Small Fire - Sound Theatre Company

Excellence in Production of a Musical

In the Heights - Village Theatre

Excellence in Direction of a Play

(Larger Theater): Myra Platt - The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay (Book-It Repertory Theatre)

(Smaller Theater): Julie Beckman - A Small Fire (Sound Theatre Company)

Excellence in Direction of a Musical

Bill Berry - Little Shop of Horrors (The 5th Avenue Theatre/ACT Theatre co-production)

Excellence in Performance as a Lead Actor in a Play (Male)

(Larger Theater): Greg Lyle-Newton - The Normal Heart (Strawberry Theatre Workshop)

(Smaller Theater): Reginald Andre Jackson - The Mountaintop (ArtsWest)

Excellence in Performance as a Lead Actor in a Musical (Male)

Joshua Carter - Little Shop of Horrors (The 5th Avenue Theatre/ACT Theatre co-production)

Excellence in Performance as a Lead Actor in a Play (Female)

(Larger Theater): Tracy Michelle Hughes - Pretty Fire (Taproot Theatre)

(Smaller Theater): Teri Lazzara - A Small Fire (Sound Theatre Company)

Excellence in Performance as a Lead Actor in a Musical (Female)

Jessica Skerritt - Little Shop of Horrors (The 5th Avenue Theatre/ACT Theatre co-production)

Excellence in Performance as a Supporting Actor in a Play (Male) - any non-lead

(Larger Theater): Timothy McCuen Piggee - Angels in America (Intiman Theatre)

(Smaller Theater): Ray Tagavilla - A Small Fire (Sound Theatre Company)

Excellence in Performance of a Supporting Actor in a Musical (Male) - any non-lead

Dane Stokinger - Monty Python's Spamalot (The 5th Avenue Theatre)

Excellence in Performance as a Supporting Actor in a Play (Female) - any non-lead

(Larger Theater): Betsy Schwartz - Tails of Wasps (New Century Theatre Company)

(Smaller Theater): Evelyn DeHais - Chaos Theory (Annex Theatre)

Excellence in Performance as a Supporting Actor in a Musical (Female) - any non-lead

Taryn Darr - A Chorus Line (The 5th Avenue Theatre)

Excellence in Performance as an Ensemble

(Larger Theater): Tails of Wasps (New Century Theatre Company: Sylvie Davidson, Brenda Joyner, Hannah Mootz, Betsy Schwartz, Paul Morgan Stetler)

(Smaller Theater): Gidion's Knot (Seattle Public Theater: Heather Hawkins, Rebecca Olson)

Excellence in Set Design

(Larger Theater): Carey Wong - The Boy at the Edge of Everything (Seattle Childrens' Theatre)

(Smaller Theater): Robin Macartney - Girl You Know It's True (The Stay Up Late Show/Theatre Off Jackson co-production)

Excellence in Costume Design

(Larger Theater): Christine Meyers - Twelfth Night (Seattle Shakespeare Company)

(Smaller Theater): Cami Funk - Balconies (Annex Theatre)

Excellence in Lighting Design

(Larger Theater): Andrew D. Smith - The Boy at the Edge of Everything (Seattle Childrens' Theatre)

(Smaller Theater): Marnie Cummings - Returning to Albert Joseph (Satori Group)

Excellence in Sound Design

(Larger Theater): Brendan Patrick Hogan - The Invisible Hand (ACT Theatre)

(Smaller Theater): Josh Blaisdel - The Lisbon Traviata (Theatre22)

Excellence in Musical Direction

RJ Tancioco - In the Heights (Village Theatre)

Excellence in Choreography or Movement

Daniel Cruz - In the Heights (Village Theatre)

Excellence in Local Playwriting

Stephanie Timm - Tails of Wasps (New Century Theatre Company)

Excellence in Local Composing

Mark Siano and Opal Peachey - Seattle Vice (Marxiano Productions)

About Seattle Theater Writers: Founded in 2011 by Miryam Gordon and comprised of local writers and reviewers, Seattle Theater Writers is a group dedicated to raising public awareness of theater practitioners and the work produced by professional theater organizations. Seattle Theater Writers' hope is that awareness can encourage attendance and enjoyment of our rich cultural offerings. Born from this mission are the annual Gypsy Rose Lee Awards, recognizing excellence in Seattle theater across 32 categories.

The participants in this year's award process were Jose Amador (www.seattlestar.net), Candace Brown (goodlifenw.blogspot.com), Miryam Gordon (Seattle Gay News and miryamstheatermusings.blogspot.com), David-Edward Hughes (www.talkinbroadway.com/regional/seattle), Rosemary Jones (www.examiner.com/theater-in-seattle/rosemary-jones), Alice Kaderlan (blog.seattlepi.com/feetfirst), Dusty Somers (blogcritics.org/author/Dusty-Somers), and Michael Strangeways (www.seattlegayscene.com/).

For more information, go to www.facebook.com/SeattleTheaterWriters. The Notes section shows the evolution of the awards.

To post a comment, you must register and login.