LA Weekly

Who’d have guessed that in the summer of ‘43, Gordon Davidson offed an inept stage manager named Dick Watson who had come out West to make it big in small theater? Davidson confessed, and was led away in ‘cuffs by 28th Annual LA Weekly Theater Awards hosts Culture Clash, but not before presenting the night’s final award – Production of the Year. A boisterous crowd of about 700 packed Hollywood’s Avalon nightclub for the event that was part theater awards ceremony and part murder mystery/farce. Rockin’ Mexican/Irish eight-piece band, OLLIN, provided the music, while the L.A. Lindy Hoppers did the jitterbugging. Perhaps because of the pre-show drinks, it was a tough crowd, albeit diligently well heeled in ‘40s-themed attire. (Even that decade probably never saw such an opulent display of fedoras, suspenders and stoles running down Vine Street as the crowd lined up to get in.)

Introducing Queen of the Angels Michael Kearns, Luis Alfaro angrily chided the distracted crowd to “listen,” when he spoke of the ‘80s AIDS plagues. Playwright Suzan-Lori Parks, eloquently introduced by Michael Ritchie, gave a poetical acceptance speech about the relationship between theater and community for her Career Achievement Award. City Council President Eric Garcetti (“a close friend of Dick Watson”) presented two awards and served up a parody speech, as though written in 1943, about the “glorious” future (of smog and gridlock) that awaits L.A. Other suspects/presenters included artistic directors of the Geffen and Pasadena playhouses, Gil Cates and Sheldon Epps, respectively, as well as the L.A. Weekly’s food critic, Jonathan Gold, the O.C. Weekly ’s “Ask a Mexican” columnist, Gustavo Arellano, and City Garage’s artistic director Frederique Michel. The evening ran longer than in the past, clocking in at just under two and a half hours. A post-show dance party was still going past midnight. The recipients are as follows:


PRODUCTION OF THE YEAR
*Marat/Sade, The Blue House at Sacred Fools Theater

REVIVAL PRODUCTION OF THE YEAR (of a 20th- or 21st-century work)
*Inside the Creole Mafia, Luna Ray Films and the Evidence Room

MUSICAL OF THE YEAR
*The Beastly Bombing, The Secret Order of Revolutionary Operettists at the Steve Allen Theater

DIRECTION
*Claude Purdy, Jitney, Stagewalkers Productions at the Lillian Theater

COMEDY DIRECTION
*Jeff Griffith, Dirk, Road Theatre Company

ONE-ACT DIRECTION
*R.S. Bailey, Shuffle, Shuffle, Step, Theatre/Theater

MUSICAL DIRECTION
*Christy Crowl, Hotel C’est L’Amour, Blank Theatre Company at the Second Stage Theatre

ENSEMBLE
*The Nibroc Trilogy: Gulf View Drive, Actors Co-op

MUSICAL ENSEMBLE
*Urinetown, Interact Theatre Company at the Matrix Theatre

COMEDY ENSEMBLE
*Dirk, Road Theatre Company

ONE-ACT ENSEMBLE
*The Bomba Trilogy: Darkness, Theatre of NOTE

LEADING FEMALE PERFORMANCE
*Maria O’Brien, The Cherry Orchard, Evidence Room

LEADING MALE PERFORMANCE
*Dan Mailley, La Bête, Sacred Fools Theater

MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
*Linda Kerns, Into the Woods, Actors Co-op

SUPPORTING MALE PERFORMANCE
*Adolphus Ward, Joe Turner’s Come and Gone, Fountain Theatre

SUPPORTING FEMALE PERFORMANCE
*Bonnie Bailey Reed, The Nibroc Trilogy, Actors Co-op

SOLO PERFORMANCE
*Lusia Strus, It Ain’t No Fairy Tale, Elephant Asylum Theatre

ONE-ACT PERFORMANCE
*Billy Hayes, Shuffle, Shuffle, Step: Rough for Theatre One, Theatre/Theater

PLAY WRITING
*Yussef El Guindi, Back of the Throat, Furious Theatre Company

CAREER ACHIEVEMENT
*Suzan-Lori Parks

QUEEN OF THE ANGELS
*Michael Kearns

PRODUCTION DESIGN
*Three by Mee, City Garage

ADAPTATION
*James Goss and Arvind Ethan David, Dirk, Road Theatre Company

LIGHTING DESIGN
*John Eckert, Iphigenia (A Rave Fable), Son of Semele Ensemble at the Studio Space

COSTUME DESIGN
*Katie Wilson, Machiavelli, UC Irvine Field Station at the Hayworth Theater

SET DESIGN
*Robert Prior, Lobster Alice, Blank Theatre Company

SOUND DESIGN
*Robbin Broad, Eurydice, Circle X Theatre Co. at [Inside] the Ford

CHOREOGRAPHY
*Tracy Powell, Urinetown, Interact Theatre Company at the Matrix Theatre

FIGHT CHOREOGRAPHY
*Ameenah Kaplan, Everyman for Himself, Silverback Productions and Oasis Theater Company at the Unknown Theater

SPECIAL RECOGNITION
*Deborah Bird, puppets, Iphigenia (A Rave Fable), Son of Semele Ensemble at the Studio Space
*Hallie Dufresne, masks, Iphigenia (A Rave Fable), Son of Semele Ensemble at the Studio Space
*Michael Marius Pessah, Matthew McCray and Barbara Kallir, multimedia projections, Iphigenia (A Rave Fable), Son of Semele Ensemble at the Studio Space
*Anaitté Vaccaro, scenography, Dirk, Road Theatre Company

ORIGINAL MUSIC
*Alex Wong, Everyman for Himself, Silverback Productions and Oasis Theater Company at the Unknown Theater

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