Steven Leigh Morris
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Start looking for your postapocalyptic-chic attire. The 34th annual L.A. Weekly Theater Awards, celebrating the best work on our smaller stages (as determined by a panel of the newspaper's critics) returns to the Avalon on April 8. Doors open at 6:30 p.m., show starts at 7:30 p.m.
Sketch-comedy troupe Lost Moon Radio returns to host the show. Last year, LMR took us to ancient Greece. Half an hour before the doors opened, people in tunics could be seen half a block down Vine Street.
Since then, however, Los Angeles has been decimated by … uh … it'll be revealed at the show. But it's bad. Really bad. End-of-the-world bad. But we have survived with our theater intact, and that's why we're throwing this party.
This year, for the first time, the Playwriting Award recipient gets a check for $1,000 provided by an anonymous donor.
To buy tickets, visit laweekly.com/theaterawards. (All nominees get one free ticket; production and ensemble categories max out at 10. For those tickets, call (310) 574-7208.)
The nominees are:
PRODUCTION OF THE YEAR
Death of a Salesgirl, Bootleg Theater
Dirty Filthy Love Story, Rogue Machine Theatre at Theatre/Theater
The Government Inspector, Theatre @ Boston Court and Furious Theatre Company
Hamlet, Zombie Joe's Underground
In the Red and Brown Water, Fountain Theatre
Stoneface, Sacred Fools Theatre Company
The Treatment, Theatre @ Boston Court and Theatre Movement Bazaar
Very Still and Hard to See, the Production Company at Lex Theatre
REVIVAL PRODUCTION OF THE YEAR (of a 20th- or 21st-century work)
Deathtrap, L.A. Gay & Lesbian Center's Davidson/Valenti Theatre
The New Electric Ballroom, Rogue Machine Theatre at Theatre/Theater
Turn of the Screw, the Visceral Company at Underground Theater
MUSICAL OF THE YEAR
The Color Purple, Celebration Theatre
Patty: The Revival, Highways Performance Space and Patrick Kennelly
Bad Apples, Circle X Theatre Company at Atwater Village Theatre
Silence! The Musical, Theater Mogul/Oskar Eiriksson and MagicSpace Entertainment in association with Hayworth Theater
DIRECTION
Denise Devin, Hamlet
Tina Kronis, The Treatment
Michael Matthews, Very Still & Hard to See
Matthew McCray, The City, Son of Semele Ensemble
Jaime Robledo, Hearts Like Fists, Theatre of NOTE
Jaime Robledo, Stoneface
Andrew J. Traister, The Seagull, Antaeus Company at Deaf West Theatre
Claudia Weill, The Belle of Belfast, Ensemble Studio Theatre/L.A. at Atwater Village Theatre
DIRECTION OF A MUSICAL
Christopher Gattelli, Silence! The Musical
Richard Israel, The Full Monty, Third Street Theatre
Kate Sullivan, Spring Awakening, Over the Moon Productions at Theatre of Arts/Egyptian Arena Stage
John Langs, Bad Apples
Michael Matthews, The Color Purple
COMEDY DIRECTION
Stefan Novinski, The Government Inspector
Jenelle Riley, A Kind of Love Story, Sacred Fools Theater Company
Stuart Rogers, The Sleeper, Theatre Tribe
ONE-ACT DIRECTION
Jeremy Aluma, Michael Arabian, Denise Blasor, David Bridel, Joe Desoto, Vesna Hocevar, Matthew McCray and Ron Sossi, Theatre in the Dark, Odyssey Theatre
Scott Paulin, Foote Notes, Open Fist Theatre Company
Dan Spurgeon, Turn of the Screw
MUSICAL DIRECTION
Rachael Lawrence, Spring Awakening
Gregory Nabours, The Color Purple
Nate Patten, Silence! The Musical
Beth Thornley and Rob Cairns, Bad Apples
ENSEMBLE
The Belle of Belfast
The Blue Iris, Fountain Theatre
Stoneface
Theatre in the Dark
Very Still & Hard to See
MUSICAL ENSEMBLE
Bad Apples
The Color Purple
Patty: The Revival
Silence! The Musical
Spring Awakening
COMEDY ENSEMBLE
The Government Inspector
A Kind of Love Story
The Sleeper
FEMALE MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
Kate Morgan Chadwick, Bad Apples
Christine Lakin, Silence! The Musical
Meghan McDonough, Bad Apples
Cassandra Nuss, Jekyll & Hyde, DOMA Theatre Company at MET Theatre
Alet Taylor, Justin Love, Celebration Theatre
MALE MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
James Black, Bad Apples
Davis Gaines, Silence! The Musical
LEADING FEMALE PERFORMANCE
Sarah Gise, The Belle of Belfast
Diarra Kilpatrick, In the Red and Brown Water
Kirsten Kollender, The Merchant of Venice, Theatre Banshee
Lisa Pelikan, The New Electric Ballroom
Mandy June Turpin, The Closeness of the Horizon, CoffeeHouse Productions at Odyssey Theatre
LEADING MALE PERFORMANCE
Joshua Bitton, Dirty Filthy Love Story
Matthew Elkins, A Bright New Boise, Rogue Machine Theatre at Theatre/Theater
Rafael Goldstein, Hamlet
Burt Grinstead, Deathtrap
Joel Johnstone, Finding the Burnett Heart, Theatre 48, Jennifer Schwartz, and TKS Productions at Elephant Stages
West Liang, Their Eyes Saw Rain, Company of Angels at Alexandria Hotel
Barry Lynch, The Merchant of Venice
French Stewart, Stoneface
SUPPORTING FEMALE PERFORMANCE
Grace Eboigbe, Hearts Like Fists
Maya Erskine, Hamlet
Jennifer Flack, Potential Space, Theatre of NOTE
Jacqueline Schultz, The Blue Iris
Jonica Patella, Hamlet
Joanna Strapp, The Seagull
SUPPORTING MALE PERFORMANCE
William Bower, The Learned Ladies, Actors Co-op
Tim Cummings, The New Electric Ballroom
Gregory Niebel, Their Eyes Saw Rain
Erik Odom, A Bright New Boise
Trevor Peterson, A Bright New Boise
Patrick Rieger, The Water's Edge, Road Theatre Company at Lankershim Arts Center
Jacob Sidney, The Treatment
Mark Skeens, The Treatment
TWO-PERSON PERFORMANCE
Death of a Salesgirl, Patricia Scanlon and Paul Dillon
Rome at the End of the Line, Julieta Ortiz and Norma Angélica, 24th Street Theatre
Turn of the Screw, Amelia Gotham and Nich Kauffman
SOLO PERFORMANCE
Donnie Smith, House, Rogue Machine Theatre at Theatre/Theater
Ilia Volok, Diary of a Madman, Coeurage Theatre Company and A Perfect World Productions at Actors Circle Theatre
FEMALE COMEDY PERFORMANCE
Shannon Holt, The Government Inspector
Mandy Levin, The Sleeper
Erin Matthews, A Kind of Love Story
Corie Vickers, The Sleeper
Carrie Wiita, A Kind of Love Story
MALE COMEDY PERFORMANCE
Pete Gardner, The Sleeper
Adam Haas Hunter, The Government Inspector
Michael Lanahan, A Kind of Love Story
Benjamin Mathes, The Sleeper
PLAYWRITING
Jenelle Riley, A Kind of Love Story
Vanessa Claire Stewart, Stoneface
Adam Szymkowicz, Hearts Like Fists
Kirsten Vangsness, Potential Space
Steve Yockey, Very Still & Hard to See
CAREER ACHIEVEMENT
Ron Sossi
QUEEN OF THE ANGELS
Olga Garay-English
PRODUCTION DESIGN
The City
Death of a Salesgirl
Stoneface
The Treatment
ADAPTATION
Richard Alger, The Treatment
Oded Gross, The Government Inspector
Tarell Alvin McCraney, In the Red and Brown Water
LIGHTING DESIGN
François-Pierre Couture, Death of a Salesgirl
Christopher Kuhl, The Treatment
Jeremy Pivnick, Bad Apples
Jeremy Pivnick, The City
Jeremy Pivnick, Stoneface
Tim Swiss, Very Still & Hard to See
COSTUME DESIGN
Vicki Conrad, The Learned Ladies
Tina Haatainen-Jones, The Government Inspector
Pilar Macchione, Patty: The Revival
Ellen McCartney, The Treatment
Jessica Olson, Stoneface
Naila Aladdin Sanders, In the Red and Brown Water
SET DESIGN
Nick Benacerraf, The City
François-Pierre Couture, Bad Apples
François-Pierre Couture, Death of a Salesgirl
Joel Daavid, Deathtrap
Zachary B. Guiler, Earthbound, Skypilot Theatre at T.U. Studios
David Mauer and Hazel Kuang, Dirty Filthy Love Story
Jeff Webster, The Treatment
SOUND DESIGN
Peter Bayne, In the Red and Brown Water
Peter Bayne, The Blue Iris
Cricket S. Myers, Bad Apples
Cricket S. Myers, Very Still & Hard to See
John Zalewski, The City
John Zalewski, Death of a Salesgirl
John Zalewski, The Treatment
Mark McClain Wilson, Hearts Like Fists
CHOREOGRAPHY
Cassandra Daurden, Bad Apples
Tina Kronis, The Treatment
Marina Magalhães, Patty: The Revival
Natasha Norman, Stoneface
Janet Roston, The Color Purple
VIDEO/PROJECTION DESIGN
Corwin Evans, A Bright New Boise
Adam Flemming/Dan Lund, Death of a Salesgirl
Ben Rock and Anthony Backman, Stoneface
Jason H. Thompson, Justin Love
ORIGINAL MUSIC
Jonathan Snipes, Kristin “Kevin Blechdom” Erickson, and Daveed Diggs, Patty: The Revival
Beth Thornley and Rob Cairns, Bad Apples
SPECIAL COMMENDATIONS
Peter Bayne, composer, In the Red and Brown Water
Andrew Amani, fight choreography, Hearts Like Fists
See past recipients:
See also:
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