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Minsky's Photo by Craig Schwartz

MINSKY'S

The world premiere of Charles Strouse, Susan Birkenhead and Bob Martin's new '30s musical opens to the press tonight (Friday) at the Ahmanson. Director-choregographer Casey Nicholaw took The Drowsy Chaperone from the Ahmanson to Broadway, and has much the same idea in mind for this one.

AWARDS ON EVERY CORNER

tickets for nominees' guests and for the general public to the 30th annual L.A. Weekly Theater Awards (March 30th at the El Rey) are now on sale at https://tinyurl.com/theaterawards

This link can also be accessed at https://laweekly.com/theater (look for the Awards tickets logo on the right hand side of the page)

The Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle also announced it's 40th annual awards nominees. That ceremony takes place Monday, March 16 at the El Portal Theatre. For a complete list of nominees, press the Read On tab at the bottom of this section.

Check back here on Monday, after noon, for New Reviews Minsky's at the Ahmanson; Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? at the NoHo Arts Center; Garth Wingfield's Flight at the Attic Theatre in Culver City, based on the life of Charles Lindbergh; also Lindbergh centered is William Cameron's new play, Violet Sharp, about a female suspect in the notorious Lindbergh kidnapping case; David Landsberg's new comedy, Surviving Sex, at the Falcon in Burbank; also in Burbank, Shaw's Candida at the Colony Theatre; Padua Playwrights one-act fest, The Neo Sacred Revival at Art Share downtown; and Nine Sallilen's one-woman show at The Complex, Poor, Poor Lear, about a 90-year-old Scandinavian actress performing the crazy old guy.

These latest NEW THEATER REVIEWS are embedded in this coming week's COMPREHENSIVE THEATER LISTINGS.

The 2008 special award recipients are as follows:
 
The Ted Schmitt Award for the world premiere of an outstanding new play will be awarded to EM Lewis for Song of Extinction.  The award is accompanied by an offer to publish and a $1000 check funded by Samuel French, Inc.
 
The Polly Warfield Award for an excellent season in a small to mid-size theater will be awarded to Sacred Fools Theater Company.  The award is accompanied by a $500 check, funded by the Nederlander Organization.
 
The Angstrom Award for career achievement in lighting design will be awarded to Lisa D. Katz.  The award is accompanied by a $1000 check, funded by Angstrom Lighting.
 
The Margaret Harford Award for sustained excellence in theater will be awarded to the Los Angeles Women's Shakespeare Company.
 
The Joel Hirschhorn Award for outstanding achievement in musical theatre will be awarded to Nick DeGruccio.  
 
The nominees for the 2008 Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle Awards are as follows:

Production

·     Anything, Elephant Theatre Company at the Lillian Theatre
·     As U2 Like It, Troubadour Theater Company at the Falcon Theatre
·     Charles Dickens' Oliver Twist, A Noise Within
·     Dog Sees God: Confessions of a Teenage Blockhead, Havok Theatre Company at the Hudson Backstage Theatre
·     Gem of the Ocean, Fountain Theatre
·     Long Day's Journey Into Night, Theatricum Botanicum
·     Louis & Keely Live at the Sahara, Sacred Fools Theater Company at Sacred Fools and at the Matrix Theatre
                                                                                                                                                                                     
McCulloh Award for Revival (shows written between 1920 and 1980)

·     Fata Morgana, Pacific Resident Theatre
·     Of Mice and Men, Theatre Banshee
·     The Time of Your Life, Pacific Resident Theatre

Direction

·     Jeremy Aldridge, Louis & Keely Live at the Sahara, Sacred Fools Theater Company at Sacred Fools and at the Matrix Theatre
·     Ben Bradley, Gem of the Ocean, Fountain Theatre
·     Heidi Helen Davis, Long Day's Journey Into Night, Theatricum Botanicum
·     David Fofi, Anything, Elephant Theatre Company at the Lillian Theatre
·     Ken Sawyer, Lovelace: A Rock Opera, Hayworth Theatre

Writing

·     Athol Fugard, Victory, the Fountain Theatre
·     Alex Lyras and Robert McCaskill, The Common Air, SoulArt and Elephant C.A.F.E at Theatre Asylum
·     Tim McNeil, Anything, Elephant Theatre Company at the Lillian Theatre

Writing (Adaptation)

·     Neil Bartlett, Charles Dickens' Oliver Twist, A Noise Within
·     Marilyn Campbell and Curt Columbus, Crime and Punishment, Actors Co-op
·     Sean T. Cawelti with Miles Taber and the Rogues, The Tragical Comedy or Comical Tragedy of Mr. Punch, Rogue Artists Ensemble at Bootleg Theater

Music Direction

·     Andy Einhorn and David Loud, Sweeney Todd, The Demon Barber of Fleet Street, Center Theatre Group at the Ahmanson Theatre
·     Dennis Kaye, Louis & Keely Live at the Sahara, Sacred Fools Theater Company at Sacred Fools and at the Matrix Theatre
·     Michael Paternostro, Kiss of the Spider Woman, Havok Theatre Company at Bootleg Theatre

Choreography

·     Andy Blankenbuehler, 9 to 5: The Musical, Center Theatre Group at the Ahmanson Theatre
·     Christine Lakin, As U2 Like It, Troubadour Theater Company at the Falcon Theatre
·     Lee Martino, Kiss of the Spider Woman, Havok Theatre Company at Bootleg Theatre
·     Lee Martino, All Shook Up, Musical Theatre West at the Carpenter Center
                                                                                                                                                                       
Musical Score

·     Michael Friedman, Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson, Center Theatre Group at the Kirk Douglas Theatre
·     Dolly Parton, 9 to 5: The Musical, Center Theatre Group at the Ahmanson Theatre
·     Anna Waronker and Charlotte Caffey, additional lyrics by Jeffery Leonard Bowman, Lovelace: A Rock Opera, Hayworth Theatre

Lead Performance

·     Chad Borden, Kiss of the Spider Woman, Havok Theatre Company at Bootleg Theatre
·     Sean Branney, Of Mice and Men, Theatre Banshee
·     Jake Broder, Louis & Keely Live at the Sahara, Sacred Fools Theater Company at Sacred Fools and at the Matrix Theatre
·     Joe Egender, He Asked for It, Theatre of NOTE
·     Ellen Geer, Long Day's Journey Into Night, Theatricum Botanicum
·     John Glover, Secrets of the Trade, the Black Dahlia Theatre
·     Louis Jacobs, Anything, Elephant Theatre Company at the Lillian Theatre
·     Judy Kaye, Sweeney Todd, The Demon Barber of Fleet Street, Center Theatre Group at the Ahmanson Theatre
·     Katrina Lenk, Lovelace: A Rock Opera, Hayworth Theatre
·     Libby West, Frankie and Johnny in the Clair de Lune, International City Theatre

Featured Performance

·     JD Cullum, Don Juan, A Noise Within
·     Beth Kennedy, As U2 Like It, Troubadour Theater Company at the Falcon Theatre
·     Sharon Lawrence, Orson's Shadow, Pasadena Playhouse
·     Irene Roseen, Fata Morgana, Pacific Resident Theatre
·     Joseph Ruskin, The Last Seder, Ensemble Studio Theatre–LA and the Greenway Arts Alliance at the Greenway Court Theatre
·     Jimmy Swan, Lovelace: A Rock Opera, Hayworth Theatre
·     Adolphus Ward, Gem of the Ocean, Fountain Theatre

Ensemble Performance

·     Assassins, West Coast Ensemble at The El Centro Theatre
·     Dog Sees God: Confessions of a Teenage Blockhead, Havok Theatre Company at the Hudson Backstage Theatre
·     Gem of the Ocean, Fountain Theatre
·     The Kentucky Cycle Part II, California Repertory Company at The Armory
·     Stupid Kids, Celebration Theatre

Set Design

·     Danny Cistone, On An Average Day, VS. Theatre Company at the Elephant Theatre Lab
·     Joel Daavid, The Tragical Comedy or Comical Tragedy of Mr. Punch, Rogue Artists Ensemble at Bootleg Theater
·     Laura Fine Hawkes, Snake in the Grass, Salem K Theatre Company at The Matrix Theatre
                                                                                                                                                   
Lighting Design

·     Christian Epps, Gem of the Ocean, Fountain Theatre
·     Derrick McDaniel, On An Average Day, VS. Theatre Company at the Elephant Theatre Lab
·     Steven Young, Kiss of the Spider Woman, Havok Theatre Company at the Bootleg Theatre
·     Steven Young, Thrill Me: The Leopold & Loeb Story, Havok Theatre Company at the Hudson Backstage Theatre

Costume Design

·     Audrey Eisner, Fata Morgana, Pacific Resident Theatre
·     Sharon McGunigle, Alice in One-Hit Wonderland 2: Through the Looking Glass, Troubadour Theater Company at the Falcon Theatre
·     Nailia Aladdin Sanders, Gem of the Ocean, Fountain Theatre
·     Shigeru Yaji, An Italian Straw Hat: A Vaudeville, South Coast Repertory

Sound Design

·     David B. Marling, Gem of the Ocean, Fountain Theatre
·     Ken Rich, The Common Air, SoulArt and Elephant C.A.F.E at Theatre Asylum
·     Eric Snodgrass, Snake in the Grass, Salem K Theatre Company at The Matrix Theatre
Solo Performance

·     Alex Lyras, The Common Air, SoulArt and Elephant C.A.F.E at Theatre Asylum
·     Nilaja Sun, No Child…, Center Theatre Group at the Kirk Douglas Theatre
CGI/Video

·     Marc Rosenthal, Gem of the Ocean, Fountain Theatre
·     Brian White, The Tragical Comedy or Comical Tragedy of Mr. Punch, Rogue Artists Ensemble at Bootleg Theater
Puppet and Mask Design

·     Joyce Hutter and Patrick Rubio, The Tragical Comedy or Comical Tragedy of Mr. Punch, Rogue Artists Ensemble at Bootleg Theater

Fight Choreography

·     Ned Mochel, On An Average Day, VS. Theatre Company at the Elephant Theatre Lab
 

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