Theater News

2002 Lucille Lortel Award Winners Announced

A scene from Metamorphoses(Photo: Joan Marcus)
A scene from Metamorphoses
(Photo: Joan Marcus)

The League of Off-Broadway Theatres and Producers ushered in the theater awards season today with the announcement of the 2002 Lucille Lortel Award winners. Given for outstanding achievement Off-Broadway, this year’s honors will be bestowed on May 6th at 7pm at the Lucille Lortel Theatre, 121 Christopher Street. The 17th annual ceremony, which will benefit The Actors’ Fund of America, will be hosted by Tim Robbins and Susan Sarandon (set to appear opposite each other in The Guys at the Flea Theatre in early May) and will be followed by a reception at the Bryant Park Grill. Tickets are still available; phone 212-221-7300, ext. 133, for information.

We may see some of these names pop up again on the forthcoming list of Tony Award nominees: Three of the season’s most acclaimed shows–Metamorphoses, Urinetown, and Elaine Stritch at Liberty–transferred to Broadway shortly after premiering Off-Broadway, making them eligible for both Lortels and Tonys.

Following is the complete list of 2002 Lortel nominees and recipients. The winners are listed first in each category and marked by asterisks.

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Outstanding Play of 2002
*Metamorphoses by Mary Zimmerman

The Carpetbagger’s Children by Horton Foote

The Dazzle by Richard Greenberg
Homebody/Kabul by Tony Kushner

The Shape of Things by Neil LaBute

Outstanding Musical of 2002
*Urinetown, music and lyrics by Mark Hollmann, book and lyrics by Greg Kotis
Dragapella! by The Kinsey Sicks with original music and lyrics by Ben Schatz
The Last 5 Years by Jason Robert Brown

tick, tick… BOOM! with book, music and lyrics by Jonathan Larson

Outstanding Revival of 2002
*Cymbeline by William Shakespeare
Crimes of the Heart by Beth Henley
Hobson’s Choice by Harold Brighouse
Pirates of Penzance by W.S. Gilbert & Arthur Sullivan, adapted by Michael Scheman and
Steven Gross

Outstanding Director of 2002
*Mary Zimmerman (Metamorphoses)
John Rando (Urinetown)
Bartlett Sher (Cymbeline)
Mark Wing-Davey (36 Views)

Outstanding Choreographer of 2002
*John Carrafa (Urinetown)
Tony Parise (Pirates of Penzance)
Tony Stevens (The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (Abridged))

Outstanding Actor of 2002
*Reg Rogers (The Dazzle)
Norbert Leo Butz (The Last 5 Years)
Hunter Foster (Urinetown)
Peter Frechette (The Dazzle)
Jeffrey Wright (Topdog/Underdog)

Outstanding Actress of 2002
*Linda Emond (Homebody/Kabul)
Ruby Dee (Saint Lucy’s Eyes)
Martha Plimpton (Hobson’s Choice)
Phylicia Rashad (Blue)

Elaine Stritch (Elaine Stritch At Liberty)

Outstanding Featured Actor of 2002
*Keith Nobbs (Four)
David Aaron Baker (Hobson’s Choice)
Andrew Weems (Cymbeline)
Frederick Weller (The Shape of Things)
Isiah Whitlock, Jr. (Four)

Outstanding Featured Actress of 2002
*Kathleen Widdoes (Franny’s Way)
Spencer Kayden (Urinetown)
Gretchen Mol (The Shape of Things)
Amy Sedaris (Wonder of The World)
Robin Weigert (Madame Melville)

Outstanding Scenic Design of 2002
*Douglas Stein (36 Views)
David Gallo (Wonder of the World)
Allen Moyer (The Dazzle)
Daniel Ostling (Metamorphoses)
Scott Pask (Urinetown)

Outstanding Costume Design of 2002
*Elizabeth Caitlin Ward (Cymbeline)
Jonathan Bixby and Gregory Gale (Urinetown)
Mara Blumenfeld (Metamorphoses)
Susan Hilferty and Linda Ross (Franny’s Way)
Bob Miller and Steven Howard (Dragapella!)

Outstanding Lighting Design of 2002
*TJ Gerckens (Metamorphoses)
Traci Klainer (Four)
Brian MacDevitt (Urinetown)
David Weiner (36 Views)

Outstanding Sound Design of 2002
*Scott Lehrer (Franny’s Way)
Brett Jarvis and David A. Gilman (Brutal Imagination)
Andre Pluess and Ben Sussman (Metamorphoses)
Dan Moses Schreier (Homebody/Kabul)

Outstanding Body of Work of 2002
*Second Stage Theatre

Unique Theatrical Experience of 2002
*Elaine Stritch At Liberty

Outstanding Lifetime Achievement, 2002
*Edward Albee

The 2002 Edith Oliver Award for Sustained Excellence
*Ruby Dee

2002 Inductee Playwrights Sidewalk
*Romulus Linney