Albee, Dukakis, Foa, Kron, Malina, et al. Set for 4th Annual IT Awards

The 4th Annual New York Innovative Theatre Awards (IT Awards), dedicated to celebrating Off-Off-Broadway, will take place at the Fashion Institute of Technology on September 22. The event will be hosted by Lisa Kron and feature an opening number by Blue Man Group.

Presenters are scheduled to include Edward Albee, Rob Ashford, Michael Berresse, Kirk Wood Bromley, John Bucchino, Desiree Burch, David Cote, Michael Dahlen, Olympia Dukakis, Barrett Foa, Tina Howe, Leonard Jacobs, Anna Louizos, Anne Militello, Dan Moses Schreier, and Catherine Zuber.

Living Theatre co-founder Judith Malina will receive the 2008 Artistic Achievement Award, and honorary awards will also be given to New York Theatre Experience and the Boomerang Theatre Company at the event.

Among the many nominees in competitive categories are Vampire Cowboys Theatre Company’s Fight Girl Battle World, which received nominations for outstanding production of a play, playwright Qui Nguyen, outstanding ensemble, featured actor Paco Tolson, director Robert Ross Parker, choreographer Qui Nguyen, costume designer Jessica Wegener, and sound designer Patrick Shearer. The musicals Honor, The People Vs. Mona, and The Rockae all received nominations, as did Yank!, for which Bobby Steggert was nominated as Outstanding Actor in a Lead Role.

Other nominees include Taylor Mac’s The Young Ladies Of… for both solo and performance art production; Petronia Paley for her solo On the Way to Timbuktu; director Emma Griffin for Removable Parts; composer Peter Mills for The Rockae; playwright Bekah Brunstetter for You May Go Now; and the New York Neo-Futurists for ensemble work and performance art production, Too Much Light Makes the Baby Go Blind.

For tickets or more information, visit www.nyitawards.com.