L.A. DRAMA CRITICS PICK WINNERS
It was another one of those evenings. Formal. Rowdy. Joyful. Inconsistent. Cliquish. Fair. Unfair. Sweet. Sour. Odd.
It’s something you can bank on with awards, and the 17th annual Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle Awards presentation, which took place Monday evening in the Blossom Room of the renovated Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel, had its assortment of highlights, embarrassments, enthusiasms and plain entertainment.
The big winners were “Berlin to Broadway With Kurt Weill†and “Blue Window,†each of which received four awards, followed by “Inadmissible Evidence,†“Foxfire†and “Cats†with three apiece.
“The Gospel at Colonus,†which had an extended run at the James A. Doolittle Theatre, received two awards--and that was the end of it.
The remaining 11 awards were singles, often creating consternation by the seeming inconsistency in the draw. Major theaters walked off with 19 awards, Waiver with 11.
Bill Bushnell, producing artistic director of the new Los Angeles Theatre Center, received a special award “for his focus on the multicultural diversity of theatre†and the realization of his “bold dream with the creation of . . . the Miracle on Spring Street.â€
Mako, artistic director of East West Players for the past 20 years, was the evening’s Margaret Harford award recipient (“for releasing Asian-American actors from the limitations of stereotyped roles and enabling Asian-American playwrights to provide them more challenging opportunitesâ€).
The evening’s highlight, however, was the appearance at the podium of the circle’s “honored guest,†director Jose Quintero (“The Iceman Comethâ€), who was honored by all present with a spontaneous standing ovation and presented with a proclamation from Mayor Tom Bradley.
Quintero’s own address that came late in the lengthy evening also became its best moment. Acknowledging that, for him, returning to Los Angeles, where he went to school and saw his first play at the old Biltmore Theatre, was indeed coming home, Quintero said: “It was here that my commitment to the theater--the strongest commitment in my life--began to crystallize and took me on a journey that was way beyond my expectations.†He was wildly acclaimed.
Award-giving was interrupted briefly by a musical revue spoofing Los Angeles theater and gamely undertaken by troupers Carole Cook, Amanda McBroom, George Ball and Gary Imhoff.
Yet the perplexities that accompany all awards wouldn’t go away. How, for instance, could “My One and Only†receive an award for outstanding production and the thrice-nominated Tommy Tune--direction, choreography and performance--be ignored by the vote?
How could the exuberant Rue McClanahan’s central performance--pun intended--in Donald Driver’s “In the Sweet Bye and Bye†be passed over? Or Harold Pinter’s unexpectedly humorous Deeley in his own “Old Times�
Blame it on percentages.
In terms of producing/booking institutional theaters, the lineup showed only slightly more balance.
The Center Theatre Group/Mark Taper, responsible for programming at the Taper and the Doolittle, netted five awards (the two for “Gospel at Colonus,†one each for “The Garden of Earthly Delights,†“Undiscovered Country†and “Traveler in the Darkâ€).
Yet, despite multiple nominations, both the Center Theatre Group Ahmanson and the Los Angeles Theatre Center came away with slim pickings. The former won only with “Foxfire†(though on three counts), the latter only with “Nanawatai†(a single award for sound).
On the positive side, there was the cutup humor of presenter Dody Goodman; the ringing presence of Madge Sinclair who introduced special award-winner Bushnell as a “visionary†and a man “blessed with the ability to apply steady pressureâ€; two-time winner Ray Stricklyn’s cryptic, “The last time (I won) I thanked all the people who got out of my life to make this possible . . . “ And so on.
For all of circle President Lee Melville’s early assurances that there were to be no winners, only recipients (“because every nominee is a winnerâ€), entire productions felt the crunch of going home empty-handed--to say nothing of the curious result attending Jack Elton and John Boswell. Both were nominated for the musical direction of “Berlin to Broadway.†One won, the other didn’t. (Don’t ask; it would take volumes to explain.)
But any evening with Quintero at its apex can’t be all bad.
A complete list of award recipients follows:
Production: “Berlin to Broadway With Kurt Weill†(produced by Anna Giagni and Macheath Productions at the Zephyr Theater); “Blue Window†(produced by Martin Benson and David Emmes at South Coast Repertory); “My One and Only†(produced by Barry and Fran Weissler in association with the One and Only Joint Venture and Pace Theatrical Group at the Ahmanson Theatre).
Direction: Paul Hough (“Berlin to Broadway With Kurt Weillâ€); Norman Rene (“Blue Windowâ€); Kristoffer Siegel-Tabori (“Inadmissible Evidence,†Actors for Themselves at the Matrix).
Playwriting: Craig Lucas (“Blue Windowâ€).
Concept: Lee Breuer and Bob Telson (“The Gospel at Colonus,†James A. Doolittle Theatre).
Musical Score: Bob Telson (“The Gospel at Colonusâ€).
Performance in a Leading Role: Hume Cronyn (“Foxfire,†Ahmanson Theatre); Ian McShane (“Inadmissible Evidenceâ€); Dick Shawn (“The 2nd Greatest Entertainer in the Whole Wide World,†L.A. Stage Co. West); Ray Stricklyn (“Confessions of a Nightingale,†Beverly Hills Playhouse); Jessica Tandy (“Foxfireâ€).
Performance in a Featured Role: John Anderson (“In the Sweet Bye and Bye,†Back Alley Theatre); Bruce Davison (“The Normal Heart,†Las Palmas Theatre).
Ensemble Performance: Tabi Cooper, Robert Fieldsteel, Tom Fisher, Chris Pass (“Andrea’s Got Two Boyfriends,†Burbage Theatre); Bill Bowerstock, Michele Callahan, Karon Kearney, Robert Neches, Sarah Tattersall, Michael Vodde (“Berlin to Broadway With Kurt Weillâ€); Jane Galloway, Tuck Milligan, Chris Mulkey, Brad O’Hare, Lisa Pellikan, Maureen Silliman, Barbara Tarbuck (“Blue Windowâ€).
Scenic Design: A. Clark Duncan (“Inadmissible Evidenceâ€); Ming Cho Lee (“Traveler in the Dark,†Mark Taper Forum); John Napier (“Cats,†Shubert Theatre).
Lighting Design: Ken Billington (“Foxfireâ€); David Hersey (“Catsâ€).
Costume Design: Sam Kirkpatrick (“Undiscovered Country,†Mark Taper Forum); John Napier (“Catsâ€).
Sound Design: Jon Gottlieb (“Nanawatai,†Los Angeles Theatre Center).
Musical Direction: Jack Elton (“Berlin to Broadway With Kurt Weillâ€).
Choreography: Martha Clarke (“The Garden of Earthly Delights,†James A. Doolittle Theatre).
Fight Staging: John Robert Beardsley and David Boushey (“Romeo and Juliet,†Skylight Theatre).
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