Professional Los Angeles intimate theater companies and their friends sold out Los Angeles Theatre Center to support the second-ever STAGE RAW THEATRE AWARDS. Picking up where the LA WEEKLY Awards left off, and hosted by the Independent Shakespeare Co. and Dr. Pinch and Pinchtones, the best of 99-seat theatre was celebrated in an exuberant and emotional evening that put a "Raw" spotlight on the year's best work.
For a career of promoting new plays in Los Angeles at his Skylight Theatre - not to mention his recent mediated discussions with Actors Equity Association, on behalf of the region's smaller theaters, STAGE RAW honored GARY GROSSMAN with its Career Achievement Award in one of the evening's most moving speeches and moments. Another highlight was this year's Queen of the Angels Award winner Highways' LEO GARCIA whose rousing speech and entrance were both memorable.
The award recipients for the 2015 STAGE RAW Awards are as follows:
FIGHT CHOREOGRAPHY
Edgar Landa - Hit the Wall - Los Angeles LGBT Center
VIDEO/PROJECTION DESIGN
Anthony Backman and Jim Pierce - Astro Boy and the God of Comics - Sacred Fools Theater
SOUND DESIGN
Danny Echevarria - The Temptation of St. Anthony - Four Larks
LIGHTING DESIGN
Jared A. Sayeg - Picnic - The Antaeus Theatre Company
COSTUME DESIGN
Kimberly Freed - Entropy - Theatre of NOTE
ORIGINAL MUSIC
Jake Broder - Miravel - Sacred Fools Theatre Company
QUEEN OF THE ANGELS
Leo Garcia
CHOREOGRAPHY
Angela Todaro - Jesus Christ Superstar - DOMA Theatre Co at the MET Theatre
MUSICAL DIRECTION (TIE)
Joe Lawrence - Sweeney Todd - Kelrik Productions at the El Portal Theatre
Chris Raymond - Jesus Christ Superstar - DOMA Theatre Co at the MET Theatre
SET DESIGN
Wilson Chin - Anna Christie - Odyssey Theatre Ensemble
TWO PERSON PERFORMANCE
Ed F. Martin and Michelle Azar - My Barking Dog - The Theatre @ Boston Court
LEADING FEMALE PERFORMANCE
Zoe Perry - Anna Christie - Odyssey Theatre Ensemble
SUPPORTING FEMALE PERFORMANCE
Ferrell Marshall - Enron - The Production Company at The Lex Theatre (T L Kolman and August Viverito)
SUPPORTING MALE PERFORMANCE
Robert Gossett - Watching O.J. - Ensemble Studio Theatre, Los Angeles
CAREER ACHIEVEMENT
LEADING MALE PERFORMANCE
Matthew Hancock - Hit the Wall - Los Angeles LGBT Center
MALE COMEDY PERFORMANCE
Michael Shepperd - Bootycandy - Celebration Theatre
FEMALE COMEDY PERFORMANCE
Julanne Chidi Hill - Bootycandy - Celebration Theatre
SOLO PERFORMANCE
Erica Gimpel - Sister - MPE Productions, Sahara Vision, and The Bootleg Theater
ADAPTATION
Stephen Sachs - Citizen: An American Lyric - The Fountain Theatre
PLAYWRITING
David McMillan - Watching O.J. - Ensemble Studio Theatre, Los Angeles
PRODUCTION DESIGN
Hit the Wall - Los Angeles LGBT Center
COMEDY ENSEMBLE
Bootycandy - Celebration Theatre
ENSEMBLE
Hit the Wall - Los Angeles LGBT Center
COMEDY DIRECTION
Jaime Robledo - Rio Hondo - Theatre of NOTE in association with Opiate of the Masses
DIRECTION
Ken Sawyer - Hit the Wall - Los Angeles LGBT Center
MUSICAL OF THE YEAR
Sweeney Todd - Kelrik Productions at the El Portal Theatre
REVIVAL PRODUCTION OF THE YEAR (of a 20th- or 21st-century work)
Anna Christie - Odyssey Theatre Ensemble
PRODUCTION OF THE YEAR
Hit the Wall - Los Angeles LGBT Center
Videos