Ellen Dostal – Broadway World
“May you live in interesting times,” has taken on new meaning in 2020 amid the current world health crisis. No one could have imagined a scenario like this where theater doors would be forced to close indefinitely. And yet, they have. But you can’t dampen the heart of an artist for they will always find a way to create. That resilience is what should inspire us all as we continue to look to the future.
“There is no theater in Los Angeles.”
This line, or some variation of it, has been around for decades — sometimes spoken by real people, sometimes ascribed to fictional characters. It’s normally a snarky wisecrack, completely unrelated to the truth.
Right now, however, this line is much more accurate than usual. Like theaters in most of the rest of the world, L.A. stages — in the sense of physical spaces where actors and audiences gather — are dormant.
The Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle announced the recipients of its 51st annual awards for distinguished achievement in theatre today, Tuesday, April 28, 2020.
There were two recipients of the 2019 Production award: Witch (Geffen Playhouse) and Indecent (Center Theatre Group and Huntington Theatre Company). Awards in 17 other categories celebrated a wide range of Los Angeles theatre, with 18 different productions taking home honors. Geffen Playhouse’s Witch took home the most awards for a single production, with seven. Geffen Playhouse also received the most awards, with three of its productions winning a combined 10 trophies.
Center Theatre Group received a combined nine awards with three of its productions, including Deirdre O’Connell for Solo Performance in Dana H., Bill Sims Jr. for Musical Score for August Wilson’s Jitney and the aforementioned Indecent for Production, Ensemble, Writing and Direction.
The complete list of award recipients is as follows:
PRODUCTION
MCCULLOH REVIVAL
LEAD PERFORMANCE
FEATURED PERFORMANCE
ENSEMBLE PERFORMANCE
SOLO PERFORMANCE
WRITING
WRITING ADAPTATION
MUSICAL SCORE
MUSIC DIRECTION
CHOREOGRAPHY
DIRECTION
SET DESIGN
LIGHTING DESIGN
COSTUME DESIGN
SOUND DESIGN
CGI/PROJECTION
SPECIALTY
The following special award winners were previously announced:
The GORDON DAVIDSON Award for distinguished contribution to the Los Angeles theatrical community: Ojai Playwrights Conference.
The MARGARET HARFORD Award for sustained excellence in theatre:
The Fountain Theatre.
The POLLY WARFIELD Award for an excellent season in a small to mid-size theatre: A Noise Within.
The JOEL HIRSCHHORN Award for distinguished achievement in musical theatre: Celebration Theatre.
The TED SCHMITT Award for the world premiere of an outstanding new play:
The Mother of Henry, written by Evelina Fernández, produced by the Latino Theater Company.
The MILTON KATSELAS Award for distinguished achievement in direction:
Michael Michetti.
The KINETIC LIGHTING Award for distinguished achievement in theatrical design: Hana S. Kim, Projection and Set Designer.
The Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle was founded in 1969. It is dedicated to excellence in theatrical criticism, and to the encouragement and improvement of theatre in Greater Los Angeles. The 2019 membership consisted of:
Frances Baum Nicholson, Southern California News Group, Stage Struck Review
Katie Buenneke, Stage Raw, Theater Diges
Erin Conley, On Stage & Screen
Ellen Dostal, BroadwayWorld, Musicals in LA
Lovell Estell III, Stage Raw, ArtsInLA.com
Margaret Gray, Los Angeles Times
Hoyt Hilsman, Huffington Post
Deborah Klugman, Stage Raw
Harker Jones, BroadwayWorld, ArtsInLA.com
Jenny Lower Beckman, Stage Raw
Dany Margolies, ArtsInLA.com, Southern California News Group
Myron Meisel, Stage Raw
Terry Morgan, Stage Raw, TalkinBroadway.com
Steven Leigh Morris, Stage Raw
Melinda Schupmann, Showmag.com, ArtsInLA.com
Jonas Schwartz-Owen, Theatermania.com, BroadwayWorld, ArtsInLA.com
Don Shirley, LA Observed
Les Spindle, EDGE LA
Rob Stevens, haineshisway.com
Greetings, members of the Los Angeles theatre community! The Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle is proud to announce the nominees for theatrical excellence for the year 2019. This year, for obvious reasons, we are forgoing our annual event ceremony and will instead post the award recipients online in the upcoming weeks. Congratulations to all of the nominees!
The recipients of our annual special awards are listed following the nominees. In addition, we dedicate this year’s awards to the memory of Orson Bean, whose recent tragic passing has affected us all.
We would like to take this opportunity to relay our best hopes that you are all well and staying safe.
In the meantime, the worthy nominees for 2019 are as follows:
Production:
McCulloh Award for Revival
Lead Performance
Featured Performance
Ensemble Performance
Solo Performance
Writing
Writing, Adaptation
Musical Score
Music Direction
Choreography
Direction
Set Design
Lighting Design
Costume Design
Sound Design
CGI/Video
Specialty
One or more awards will be named in each category. Seven special award honorees are also being named.
The LADCC special award recipients for 2019 are:
The Margaret Harford Award for sustained excellence in theatre will be awarded to The Fountain Theatre.
The Polly Warfield Award for an excellent season in a small to mid-size theatre will be awarded to A Noise Within.
The Ted Schmitt Award for the world premiere of an outstanding new play goes to The Mother of Henry, written by Evelina Fernández, produced by the Latino Theater Company.
The Kinetic Lighting Award for distinguished achievement in theatrical design goes to projection and set designer Hana S. Kim.
The Joel Hirschhorn Award for distinguished achievement in musical theatre goes to Celebration Theatre.
The Milton Katselas Award for distinguished achievement in direction goes to Michael Michetti.
The Gordon Davidson Award for distinguished contribution to the Los Angeles theatrical community will be presented to the Ojai Playwrights Conference.
Every effort has been made to ascertain proper credits for our nominees. We regret any errors or omissions. Any that come to our attention will be corrected here and (when applicable) on a recipient’s award certificate.
The Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle was founded in 1969. It is dedicated to excellence in theatrical criticism, and to the encouragement and improvement of theatre in Greater Los Angeles.
The 2019 membership consisted of:
Frances Baum Nicholson, Southern California News Group, Stage Struck Review
Katie Buenneke, Stage Raw, Theater Digest
Erin Conley, On Stage & Screen
Ellen Dostal, BroadwayWorld, Musicals in LA
Lovell Estell III, Stage Raw, ArtsInLA.com
Margaret Gray, Los Angeles Times
Hoyt Hilsman, Huffington Post
Deborah Klugman, Stage Raw
Harker Jones, BroadwayWorld, ArtsInLA.com
Jenny Lower Beckman, Stage Raw
Dany Margolies, ArtsInLA.com, Southern California News Group
Myron Meisel, Stage Raw
Terry Morgan, Stage Raw, TalkinBroadway.com
Steven Leigh Morris, Stage Raw
Melinda Schupmann, Showmag.com, ArtsInLA.com
Jonas Schwartz-Owen, Theatermania.com, BroadwayWorld, ArtsInLA.com
Don Shirley, LA Observed
Les Spindle, EDGE LA
Rob Stevens, haineshisway.com
Citations by production:
Witch (Geffen Playhouse): 7 Nominations
Argonautika (A Noise Within): 7 Nominations
The Caucasian Chalk Circle (Antaeus Theatre Company): 5 Nominations
Scraps (Matrix Theatre Company): 5 Nominations
Two Trains Running (Matrix Theatre): 5 Nominations
Indecent (Center Theatre Group / Ahmanson Theatre): 4 Nominations
Dana H. (Center Theatre Group / Kirk Douglas Theatre): 4 Nominations
The Glass Menagerie (A Noise Within): 2 Nominations
Uncle Vanya (The New American Theatre): 2 Nominations
Happy Days (Center Theatre Group / Mark Taper Forum): 2 Nominations
Salvage (Lounge Theatre): 2 Nominations
Bronco Billy – The Musical (Skylight Theatre): 2 Nominations
The Wolves (Echo Theater Company): 2 Nominations
The Mother of Henry (Latino Theater Company): 2 Nominations and the Schmitt Award
The Skin of Our Teeth (Will Geer’s Theatricum Botanicum): 2 Nominations
Key Largo (Geffen Playhouse): 2 Nominations
Lights Out: Nat “King” Cole (Geffen Playhouse): 2 Nominations
Anastasia (Pantages Theatre): 2 Nominations
Friends With Guns (The Road Theatre Company): 2 Nominations
Gem of the Ocean (A Noise Within): 1 Nomination
Frankenstein (A Noise Within): 1 Nomination
The Judas Kiss (Boston Court Pasadena): 1 Nomination
Falsettos (Center Theatre Group / Ahmanson Theatre): 1 Nomination
August Wilson’s Jitney (Center Theatre Group / Mark Taper Forum): 1 Nomination
How We’re Different From Animals (ÉLAN Ensemble): 1 Nomination
Mysterious Circumstances (Geffen Playhouse): 1 Nomination
Little Shop of Horrors (Pasadena Playhouse): 1 Nomination
Ragtime (Pasadena Playhouse): 1 Nomination
The Great Leap (Pasadena Playhouse): 1 Nomination
Poor Yella Rednecks (South Coast Repertory): 1 Nomination
Sweeney Todd (South Coast Repertory): 1 Nomination
Citations by company:
Geffen Playhouse: 12 Nominations
A Noise Within: 11 Nominations and the Warfield Award
The Matrix Theatre Company/Matrix Theatre: 10 Nominations
Antaeus Theatre Company: 5 Nominations
Center Theatre Group / Ahmanson Theatre: 5 Nominations
Center Theatre Group / Kirk Douglas Theatre: 4 Nominations
Pasadena Playhouse: 4 Nominations
Center Theatre Group / Mark Taper Forum: 3 Nominations
Latino Theater Company: 2 Nominations and the Schmitt Award
Pantages Theatre: 2 Nominations
The Road Theatre Company: 2 Nominations
Lounge Theatre: 2 Nominations
Skylight Theatre: 2 Nominations
South Coast Repertory: 2 Nominations
Will Geer’s Theatricum Botanicum: 2 Nominations
The New American Theatre: 2 Nominations
Echo Theater Company: 2 Nominations
Boston Court Pasadena: 1 Nomination
ÉLAN Ensemble: 1 Nomination
The Fountain Theatre: Harford Award
Celebration Theatre: Hirschhorn Award
Darrett Sanders
Deborah Klugman – Stage Raw
In a Rorschach test, an individual is presented with a series of abstract images and asked what they see. Their answers are used by the administering psychiatrist or psychologist to gain insight into that person’s state of mind.
Open Fist Theater Company’s current production is titled Rorschach Fest. Presented as three separate programs, it’s a series of short plays by John O’Keefe, Harold Pinter, Daniel MacIvor and Caryl Churchill — four playwrights widely recognized for the distinctive style and/or content of their work.
Read more…
Now running through April 5
Jeff Lorch
Erin Conley – On Stage & Screen
It all begins with a note on a car and a case of mistaken identity. Found, a musical based on the books and magazines of the same name by Davy Rothbart, opened this past weekend in its west coast premiere at IAMA Theatre Company in Los Angeles.
Read more…
Katie Buenneke – Stage Raw
If you’ve ever wondered if a talented musical theater composer could take literally anything and turn it into music, Found, now playing at the Los Angeles Theatre Center, is proof that that’s possible. Composer Eli Bolin, who wrote a number of winning songs for the Netflix special John Mulaney and the Sack Lunch Bunch, works with book writers Hunter Bell and Lee Overtree to take the notes that people misplace and turn them into a musical.
Read more…
Now running through March 23
Julieta Cervantes
Jonas Schwartz – Broadway World
After two successful runs in Los Angeles in 2012 and 2014 at the Pantages, that smut-mouthed, but endearing musical comedy The Book Of Mormon has squatted downtown at the Ahmanson, and third time around, it has lost none of its luster, or its smut.
Read more…
Now running through March 29
Larry Sandez
Rob Stevens – Haines His Way
A middle-aged couple wake up one morning naked in bed. The woman gently removes his hand from her breast, dons a handy silk robe and is off to the kitchen to make coffee. The man soon follows.
Read more…
Now running through March 15
Barry Weiss
Lovell Estell III — Stage Raw
Hamlet The Rock Musical has had a few iterations since it debuted in 1973 with the title Kronberg 1582. It was commissioned by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, where it was part of a larger radio program. In 1976, it ran on Broadway for seven shows as Rockabye Hamlet, and played here at the Odyssey Theatre in 1981 for 18 months as Somethin’ Rockin’ in Denmark.
Read more…
Now running through February 23
Jenny Graham
Terry Morgan - Stage Raw
Poverty and homelessness and what to do about them are hardly new matters of concern. King Lear berates his newly-found conscience thus: “Poor naked wretches…how shall your houseless heads and unfed sides…defend you from seasons such as these? O, I have ta’en too little care of this!”
Read more…
Margaret Gray – LA Times
The plot and themes of Frank Capra’s film “Meet John Doe,” released in 1941, feel startlingly pertinent to America in 2020. A craven plutocrat buys a city’s newspaper, lays off its seasoned journalists and repurposes it as propaganda for his political campaign — and the public eats it up.
Read more…
Now running through April 5
Jeff Lorch
Deborah Klugman – Stage Raw
Born around 1673, Julie D’Aubigny was an extraordinary women who defied the gender expectations of her time to live entirely on her own terms. D’Aubigny’s unconventional life is the basis for Revenge Song, a play by Qui Nguyen, familiar to local audiences for his compelling award-winning play Vietgone and its sequel Poor Yella Rednecks, both based on the immigrant experience of his Vietnamese parents.
Read more…
Now running through March 8
Deborah Klugman – Stage Raw
The fatal shooting of black teenager Michael Brown by white police officer Darren Wilson in 2014 cast a harsh spotlight on the community of Ferguson, Missouri. Brown’s killing (six bullets in the front) provoked riots and unrest, stirring righteous rage within a black community long subject to abuse and intimidation from an all-white police force (supported in turn by an all-white city council).
Read more…
Now running through February 23