An hour before the doors of the Avalon in Hollywood opened to let in an overflow crowd for the 29th annual L.A. Weekly Theater Awards, Matt Walker — artistic director of the Troubadour Theater Company, which hosted the evening — remarked that with a day and half of rehearsal for an elaborate spectacle of dance numbers, acrobats, masks and more, “a few balls might be dropped, but we’ll try not to let them hit the ground.”
Timothy Norris
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Troy Dunn, winner for One-Act Performance, with Mad Hatter Matt Walker
Timothy Norris
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Evel Knievel: The Rock Opera
Timothy Norris
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Troubie presenters
Timothy Norris
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Eric Garcetti
Timothy Norris
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Ms. Vagina and Mr. Penis
Timothy Norris
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Sheldon Epps
Timothy Norris
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Gil Cates
Timothy Norris
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Michael Ritchie
No worries there. With open, cabaret seating, amid a sleek, entertaining evening employing motifs from the host’s production Alice in One-Hit Wonderland (among other “Troubie” productions),34 awards were given out in less than two hours. The production also included excerpts from Musical of the Year nominees Bush Is Bad, Hair and Evel Knievel, The Rock Opera. Among the reasons for the swift pace was the efficiency of having a surly stilt walker shuttle awards to the balcony, where award winners gave speeches from the rafters — speeches that were broadcast onto screens around the hall.
(Click here for the L.A. Weekly Theater Awards slide show.)
Los Angeles City Council President Eric Garcetti presented Jeff Murray with a Career Achievement Award. Murray’s wife and partner of 40 years, Nicolette Chaffey, joined him. Also on hand as presenters were the artistic directors of three of our regional theaters, the Pasadena Playhouse’s Sheldon Epps, Center Theatre Group’s Michael Ritchie and the Geffen Playhouse’s Gil Cates.
The evening was dedicated to the memories of Darius Ever Truly, the 26-year-old actor who played Bobby Seale in Odyssey Theatre’s production of The Chicago Conspiracy Trial, and who was killed on the streets of West Los Angeles after a Halloween party; actor Lonny Chapman, who founded North Hollywood’s Group Repertory Theatre; and Gar Campbell, co-founder of the Company Theatre. Campell was also actor, director and teacher at Pacific Resident Theatre for decades. The awards recipients are as follows:
PRODUCTION OF THE YEARSliding Into Hades, Koan Ensemble at the Odyssey Theatre
REVIVAL PRODUCTION OF THE YEAR (of a 20th- or 21st-century work)Why Marry?, Theater Neo at the Secret Rose Theater
MUSICAL OF THE YEARHair, MET Theatre
DIRECTIONRon Sossi, Sliding Into Hades, Koan Ensemble at the Odyssey Theatre
COMEDY DIRECTIONCharles Otte, Travesties, Open Fist Theatre Company
ONE-ACT DIRECTIONFrédérique Michel, Quartet, City Garage
MUSICAL DIRECTIONBilly Thompson, Invasion! The Musical, Flying Pig Productions at the Hudson Backstage Theatre
ENSEMBLELoyal Women, Theatre Banshee
MUSICAL ENSEMBLEBush Is Bad, Open at the Top Productions at the NoHo Arts Center
COMEDY ENSEMBLELimonade Tous les Jours, I’m a Parade Productions at 2100 Square Feet
ONE-ACT ENSEMBLEEdgar Allan Poe’s Masque of the Red Death, Zombie Joe’s Underground Theatre Group
LEADING FEMALE PERFORMANCEDeborah Puette, Tryst, Black Dahlia Theatre
LEADING MALE PERFORMANCEGabriel Olds, Tryst, Black Dahlia Theatre
SUPPORTING FEMALE PERFORMANCEValerie Dillman, Anatol, Pacific Resident Theatre
SUPPORTING MALE PERFORMANCEAdam Haas Hunter, Dark Play or Stories for Boys, Theatre @ Boston Court
TWO-PERSON SHOWTryst, Black Dahlia Theater
SOLO PERFORMANCEAnna Kahja, Palace of the End, 49th Parallel and Open at the Top Productions at the NoHo Arts Center
Michael Catlin, Palace of the End, 49th Parallel and Open at the Top Productions at the NoHo Arts Center
Kate Mines, Palace of the End, 49th Parallel and Open at the Top Productions at the NoHo Arts Center
FEMALE COMEDY PERFORMANCE Megan Boone, Limonade Tous les Jours, I’m a Parade Productions at 2100 Square Feet
MALE COMEDY PERFORMANCEBenjamin Burdick, Travesties, Open Fist Theatre Company
ONE-ACT PERFORMANCETroy Dunn, Quartet, City Garage
PLAYWRITINGAaron Henne, Sliding Into Hades, Koan Ensemble at the Odyssey Theatre
CAREER ACHIEVEMENTJeff Murray
QUEEN OF THE ANGELSTom Fitzpatrick
PRODUCTION DESIGNSliding Into Hades, Koan Ensemble at the Odyssey Theatre
ADAPTATIONChristopher Kelley, Wreck of the Unfathomable, Theatre of NOTE
LIGHTING DESIGNSteven Young, Paradise Lost: Shadows and Wings, Theatre @ Boston Court
COSTUME DESIGNAudrey Eisner, Anatol, Pacific Resident Theatre
SET DESIGNTravis Gale Lewis, Miss Julie, Fountain Theatre
SOUND DESIGNTim Labor, The Swine Show, Sacred Fools Theater Company
CHOREOGRAPHYBo Crowell, Hair, MET Theatre
FIGHT CHOREOGRAPHYJosh Gordon, Gilgamesh, Theatre @ Boston Court
ORIGINAL MUSIC Billy Thompson, Invasion! The Musical, Flying Pig Productions at the Hudson Backstage Theatre
(Click here for the L.A. Weekly Theater Awards slide show.)
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