Theater News

Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle Announces 2013 Award Nominations

Top nominees include Jitney, Silence! The Musical, and Waiting for Godot

Christine Lakin as Clarice Starling in <i>Silence! The Musical</i>
Christine Lakin as Clarice Starling in Silence! The Musical
© Michael Lamont

The LADCC (Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle) has announced its choices for the 44th annual awards that will take place on March 18 at the Los Angeles Theater Center. French Stewart (3rd Rock from the Sun) is scheduled to host.

In addition to special awards, the categories range from general production, to acting and design. The nominees range from Los Angeles premieres of New York hits like Silence! The Musical and Book of Mormon, to new productions of Cyrano and Heartbreak House.

Jitney (South Coast Repertory’s production at The Pasadena Playhouse), Silence! The Musical (Hayworth Theatre), and Waiting for Godot (Center Theatre Group at Mark Taper Forum) lead the nominations with five nominations each. Close behind, garnering four nominations each, are Bad Apples (Circle X Theatre at Atwater Village Theatre), Cyrano (The Fountain Theatre and Deaf West Theatre), and The Treatment (The Theatre @ Boston Court in Collaboration with Theatre Movement.)

Other notable nominees include Tony Award winner Christopher Gatelli for Silence!, Tony Award winner Bill T. Jones for Fela!, Tony Award nominee David Ives for New Jerusalem, The Interrogation of Baruch de Spinoza at Talmud Torah Congregation, Amsterdam, July 27, 1656, and John Hurt for Krapp’s Last Tape.

The 2012 LADCC special award recipients are:

The Ted Schmitt Award for the world premiere of an outstanding new play will be presented to Evelina Fernández for A Mexican Trilogy, whose world premiere took place at the awards venue, the Los Angeles Theatre Center

The Margaret Harford Award for sustained excellence in theater will be presented to Celebration Theatre.
The Polly Warfield Award for an excellent season in a small to mid-size theatre will be presented to The Fountain Theatre.

The Bob Z Award for sustained achievement in set design will be presented to Stephen Gifford.

The Joel Hirschhorn Award for outstanding achievement in musical theatre will be presented to David O.

The Milton Katselas Award for career or special achievement in direction will be presented to Elina de Santos.

The individual nominees for the 2012 Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle Awards for theatrical excellence are as follows:

Production
Bad Apples, Tim Wright and Jennifer A. Skinner, Circle X Theatre at Atwater Village Theatre
Cyrano, The Fountain Theatre and Deaf West Theatre at The Fountain Theatre
Jitney, South Coast Repertory’s production at The Pasadena Playhouse
Justin Love, David Elzer, Peter Schneider, and Justin Rush Productions, LLC, in association with Celebration Theatre at Celebration Theatre
Silence! The Musical, Theater Mogul/Oskar Eiriksson and MagicSpace Entertainment at The Hayworth Theatre
The Book of Mormon, Anne Garefino and Scott Rudin, Pantages Theatre
The Grönholm Method, Baby Tiger Productions, Daniel Wallace and Trish Whitehurst in association with Falcon Theatre at Falcon Theatre
War Horse, Center Theatre Group, Bob Boyett, National Theatre of Great Britain, Ostar Productions and Ken Gentry at Ahmanson Theatre

McCulloh Award for Revival (of shows between 1920 and 1980)
Heartbreak House, Theatricum Botanicum
Waiting for Godot, Center Theatre Group at Mark Taper Forum
West Side Story, Chance Theater

Lead Performance
Pascale Armand, The Convert, Center Theatre Group at Kirk Douglas Theatre
Linda Gehringer, How to Write a New Book for the Bible, South Coast Repertory
Rafael Goldstein, Hamlet, Zombie Joe’s Underground Theatre
Troy Kotsur, Cyrano, The Fountain Theatre and Deaf West Theatre at The Fountain Theatre
Christine Lakin, Silence! The Musical, Theater Mogul/Oskar Eiriksson and MagicSpace Entertainment at The Hayworth Theatre
Alan Mandell, Waiting for Godot, Center Theatre Group at Mark Taper Forum
Marco Naggar, New Jerusalem, The Interrogation of Baruch de Spinoza at Talmud Torah Congregation, Amsterdam, July 27, 1656, West Coast Jewish Theatre at Pico Playhouse
JoBeth Williams, The Fall to Earth, The Odyssey Theatre Ensemble at Odyssey Theatre

Featured Performance
Larry Bates, Jitney, South Coast Repertory’s production at The Pasadena Playhouse
William Dennis Hunt, Heartbreak House, Theatricum Botanicum
Lesli Margherita, Man of La Mancha, Musical Theatre West at The Carpenter Performing Arts Center
Michael A. Newcomer, The Bungler, A Noise Within
Jonica Patella, Hamlet, Zombie Joe’s Underground Theater
Charlie Robinson, Jitney, South Coast Repertory’s production at The Pasadena Playhouse
Ellis E.Williams, Jitney, South Coast Repertory’s production at The Pasadena Playhouse

Ensemble Performance
42nd Street, Musical Theatre West at The Carpenter Performing Arts Center
In the Red and Brown Water, The Fountain Theatre
The Color Purple, Celebration Theatre
The New Electric Ballroom, Rogue Machine at Theatre/Theater
The Savannah Disputation, The Colony Theatre
The Treatment, The Theatre @ Boston Court in Collaboration with Theatre Movement Bazaar at The Theatre @ Boston Court
Waiting for Godot, Center Theatre Group at Mark Taper Forum

Solo Performance
Mona Golabek, The Pianist of Willesden Lane, The Geffen Playhouse and Hershey Felder at The Audrey Skirball Kenis Theater at Geffen Playhouse
John Hurt, Krapp’s Last Tape, Center Theatre Group, Gate Theatre Dublin’s production at Kirk Douglas Theatre
Leslie Jordan, Fruit Fly, Celebration Theatre in association with Reaction Productions at Celebration Theatre
Writing
Bill Cain, How to Write a New Book for the Bible, South Coast Repertory
Danai Gurira, The Convert, Center Theatre Group in association with McCarter Theatre Center and Goodman Theatre at Kirk Douglas Theatre
Michael Hollinger, Ghost-Writer, International City Theatre at Long Beach Performing Arts Center
David Ives, New Jerusalem, The Interrogation of Baruch de Spinoza at Talmud Torah Congregation, Amsterdam, July 27, 1656, West Coast Jewish Theatre at Pico Playhouse
Jim Leonard, Bad Apples, Circle X Theatre at Atwater Village Theatre

Writing (Adaptation)
Stephen Sachs, Cyrano, The Fountain Theatre and Deaf West Theatre at The Fountain Theatre
Troubadour Theater Company, Two Gentlemen of Chicago, Troubadour Theater Company at Falcon Theatre

Musical Score
Ryan Johnson, Stoneface, The Rise and Fall and Rise of Buster Keaton, Sacred Fools Theater Company at Sacred Fools Theater.
Jon Kaplan & Al Kaplan, Silence! The Musical, Theater Mogul/Oskar Eiriksson and MagicSpace Entertainment at The Hayworth Theatre
Robert Lopez, Matt Stone, and Trey Parker, The Book of Mormon, Anne Garefino and Scott Rudin at Pantages Theatre
Lori Scarlett (music and lyrics) and David Manning (music), Justin Love, David Elzer, Peter Schneider, and Justin Rush Productions, LLC, in association with Celebration Theatre at Celebration Theatre
Beth Thornley and Rob Cairns, Bad Apples, Circle X Theatre at Atwater Village Theatre

Music Direction
Michael Borth, 42nd Street, Musical Theatre West at The Carpenter Performing Arts Center
Eric Heinly, A Christmas Westside Story, Troubadour Theater Company at Falcon Theatre
Gregory Nabours, The Color Purple, Celebration Theatre
Stephen Oremus, The Book of Mormon, Anne Garefino and Scott Rudin at Pantages Theatre

Choreography
Christopher Gattelli, Silence! The Musical, Theater Mogul/Oskar Eiriksson and MagicSpace Entertainment at The Hayworth Theatre
Bill T. Jones, Fela!, Center Theatre Group, Shawn “Jay-Z” Carter, Will & Jada Pinkett Smith, Ruth & Stephen Hendel, Fela Broadway LLC in association with The National Theatre of Great Britain at Ahmanson Theatre
Tina Kronis, The Treatment, The Theatre @ Boston Court in Collaboration with Theatre Movement Bazaar at The Theatre @ Boston Court
Janet Roston, The Color Purple, Celebration Theatre

Direction
Michael Arabian, Waiting for Godot, Center Theatre Group at Mark Taper Forum
Shirley Jo Finney, In the Red and Brown Water, The Fountain Theatre
Christopher Gattelli, Silence! The Musical, Theater Mogul/Oskar Eiriksson and MagicSpace Entertainment at The Hayworth Theatre
Simon Levy, Cyrano, The Fountain Theatre and Deaf West Theatre at The Fountain Theatre
Kent Nicholson, How to Write a New Book for the Bible, South Coast Repertory
Ron OJ Parson, Jitney, South Coast Repertory’s production at The Pasadena Playhouse
Elissa Weinzimmer, Tape, Identity Productions at ArtWorks Theatre and Theatre Asylum

Set Design

Edward E. Haynes Jr., Fraternity, Ebony Repertory Theatre at Nate Holden Performing Arts Center
John Iacovelli, Waiting for Godot, Center Theatre Group at Mark Taper Forum
David Mauer and Hazel Kuang, Dirty Filthy Love Story, Rogue Machine at Theatre/ Theater
Desma Murphy, The Water’s Edge, The Road Theatre Company at Historic Lankershim Arts Center

Lighting Design
Lap Chi Chu, The Convert, Center Theatre Group at Kirk Douglas Theatre
Paule Constable (original) and Karen Spahn (additional and adaptation), War Horse, Center Theatre Group, Bob Boyett, National Theatre of Great Britain, Ostar Productions and Ken Gentry at Ahmanson Theatre
Jeremy Pivnick, Bad Apples, Circle X Theatre at Atwater Village Theatre
Dan Weingarten, No Good Deed, Furious Theatre Company at [Inside] the Ford

Costume Design
Angela Balogh Calin, Cymbeline, A Noise Within
Ellen McCartney, The Treatment, The Theatre @ Boston Court in Collaboration with Theatre Movement Bazaar at The Theatre @ Boston Court
Val Miller, Heartbreak House, Theatricum Botanicum
Leah Piehl, Intimate Apparel, The Pasadena Playhouse

Sound Design
Ben Williams, Gatz, Elevator Repair Service at REDCAT
John Zalewski, Macbeth, The Antaeus Company at Deaf West Theatre
John Zalewski, The Treatment, The Theatre @ Boston Court in Collaboration with Theatre Movement Bazaar at The Theatre @ Boston Court

CGI/Video
Anthony Beckman and Ben Rock, Stoneface, The Rise and Fall and Rise of Buster Keaton, Sacred Fools Theater Company at Sacred Fools Theater
Tei Blow, In Paris, Baryshnikov Arts Center, Dmitry Krymov Laboratory, The AG Foundation in association with the Korjaamo Culture Factory at The Broad Stage
Greg Sowizdrzal, The Pianist of Willesden Lane, The Geffen Playhouse and Hershey Felder at The Audrey Skirball Kenis Theater at Geffen Playhouse
Jason H. Thompson, No Good Deed, Furious Theatre Company at [Inside] the Ford

For more information click here.