Theater News

Broadway's Bryan Cranston and All the Way Take Home Top Prizes at Boston's Elliot Norton Awards

Oscar winner and Broadway alum Olympia Dukakis accepted the the 2014 Elliot Norton Lifetime Achievement Award.

Film and stage actress Olympia Dukakis accepted the 2014 Elliot Norton Lifetime Achievement Award at the 32nd annual awards ceremony.
Film and stage actress Olympia Dukakis accepted the 2014 Elliot Norton Lifetime Achievement Award at the 32nd annual awards ceremony.
(© Bob Bond)

The 32nd annual Elliot Norton Awards ceremony took place on Monday night at the Wheelock Family Theatre in Boston. The ceremony was presented by the Boston Theater Critics Association and emceed by BTCA President Joyce Kulhawik. In addition to the presentation of awards, the evening featured live performances by the nominated musicals which included Stoneham Theatre's Thoroughly Modern Millie, Gold Dust Orphans' It's a Horrible Life, and the Wheelock Family Theatre's Hairspray.

Harvard's American Repertory Theater was among the evening's biggest winners, taking home four awards overall, including the award for Outstanding Production by a Large Resident Theater for its pre-Broadway run of Robert Schenkkan's Tony-nominated All the Way. The play's Tony-nominated star, Bryan Cranston, who led the cast at the A.R.T. before transferring to Broadway, also won in his category for Outstanding Actor. The A.R.T. earned two additional awards as well for the direction and design of its production of The Heart of Robin Hood.

The Huntington Theatre Company was also heartily recognized, taking home three awards including Outstanding Musical Production by a Large Theater for The Jungle Book, Outstanding Ensemble for The Seagull, starring Tony and Emmy nominee Kate Burton (ABC's Scandal), and Outstanding Actress to Andrea Syglowski for her performance in Venus in Fur. Select awards throughout the evening were presented in memory of longtime American Repertory Theater company member Jeremy Geidt, legendary five-time Tony Award-winning actress Julie Harris, and the Huntington Theatre Company's former Artistic Director Nicholas Martin.

Mayor Martin Walsh and former Governor Michael Dukakis were in attendance at the ceremony as well to help present the 2014 Elliot Norton Lifetime Achievement Award to Academy Award winner and theater veteran Olympia Dukakis (cousin of the former governor). SpeakEasy Stage Company's Paul Daigneault closed out the evening, accepting the 2014 Elliot Norton Prize for Sustained Excellence.

Read the complete list of winners below:

Outstanding Visiting Production:
Mies Julie, Baxter Theatre Centre; presented by ArtsEmerson

Outstanding Production by a Large Resident Theater:
All the Way, American Repertory Theater

Outstanding Production by a Midsize Theater:
Tribes, SpeakEasy Stage Company

Outstanding Production by a Small Theater:
The Flick, Company One; co-presented by Suffolk University

Outstanding Production by a Fringe Theater:
Punk Rock, Zeitgeist Stage Company

Outstanding Design, Large Theater:
The Heart of Robin Hood, American Repertory Theater
Set design by Börkur Jónsson, costumes by Emma Ryott, lighting by Björn Helgason, sound by Jonathan Deans.

Outstanding Design, Midsize, Small or Fringe Theater:
The Flick, Company One; co-presented by Suffolk University
Scenic design by Cristina Todesco, lighting by Jen Rock, costumes by Amanda Maciel Antunes, sound by Edward Young, props master Anita Shriver.

Outstanding Musical Production by a Large Theater:
The Jungle Book, Huntington Theatre Company

Outstanding Musical Production by a Midsize, Small or Fringe Company:
Hairspray, Wheelock Family Theatre

Outstanding Musical Performance by an Actor:
Francis Jue, Miss Saigon, North Shore Music Theatre

Outstanding Musical Performance by an Actress:
Aimee Doherty, On the Town (Lyric Stage Company of Boston) and Hairspray (Wheelock Family Theatre)

Outstanding New Script:
Windowmen by Steven Barkhimer, Boston Playwrights' Theatre

Outstanding Director, Large Theater:
Gisli Örn Gardarsson, The Heart of Robin Hood, American Repertory Theater

Outstanding Director, Midsize Theater:
Ilyse Robbins, Thoroughly Modern Millie, Stoneham Theatre

Outstanding Director, Small or Fringe Theater:
David J. Miller, Punk Rock and The Normal Heart, Zeitgeist Stage Company

Outstanding Actor, Large Theater: Awarded in honor of Jeremy Geidt
Bryan Cranston, All the Way, American Repertory Theater

Outstanding Actress, Large Theater: Awarded in honor of Julie Harris
Andrea Syglowski, Venus in Fur, Huntington Theatre Company

Outstanding Actor, Midsize Theater:
Jeremiah Kissel, Imagining Madoff, New Repertory Theatre

Outstanding Actress, Midsize Theater:
Erica Spyres, Tribes, SpeakEasy Stage Company

Outstanding Actor, Small or Fringe Theater:
Alex Pollock, This Is Our Youth (Gloucester Stage Company), Windowmen (Boston Playwrights' Theatre), and The Flick (Company One; co-presented by Suffolk University)

Outstanding Actress, Small or Fringe Theater:
Maureen Adduci, The Normal Heart, Zeitgeist Stage Company

Outstanding Ensemble, Large Theater: Awarded in honor of Nicholas Martin
The Seagull, Huntington Theatre Company

Outstanding Ensemble, Midsize, Small or Fringe Theater:
Hairspray, Wheelock Family Theatre