'Big River' Flows With 11 Ovation Award Nominations

By DON SHIRLEY

Sept. 30, 2002 12 AM PT

TIMES STAFF WRITER

Deaf West Theatre’s innovative “Big River” collected the most Ovation Award nominations, announced Sunday.

The sign-language-enriched musical took 11 nominations, the most for any single show. A modified version of the production will be produced by the Mark Taper Forum, opening Nov. 14.

Four shows tied for second place in the nominations tally, with eight apiece: Taper productions of “Flower Drum Song” and “Into the Woods,” Colony Theatre’s “Side Show” and Road Theatre’s “Napoli Milionaria.”

Among producing companies, Center Theatre Group was in front with 28 nominations, followed by the Colony with 15.

This year’s round of nominations marks the debut of three categories: touring productions, solo performance and musical direction. The world premiere category was divided into separate awards for plays and musicals.

For the first time, three awards will be presented in each category with more than 50 entrants. The awards will presented at the Orpheum Theatre, Nov. 24 at 5 p.m.

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The nominees:

Play, larger theaters: “Crossings, Journeys of Catholic Immigrants,” Cornerstone Theater; “Red,” East West Players; “The House of Bernarda Alba,” Mark Taper Forum; “The Laramie Project,” Colony Theatre; “The Moliere Comedies,” Mark Taper Forum

Play, smaller theaters: “After the Fall,” Fountain Theatre; “Clyt at Home,” Theatre of NOTE; “Death of a Salesman,” Interact Theatre; “Napoli Milionaria,” Road Theatre; “The Exonerated,” Actors’ Gang

Musical, larger theaters: “A Class Act,” Pasadena Playhouse; “Crazy for You,” Civic Light Opera of South Bay Cities; “Flower Drum Song,” Mark Taper Forum; “Into the Woods,” Ahmanson Theatre; “Side Show,” Colony Theatre

Musical, smaller theaters: “Big River,” Deaf West Theatre; “Laura Comstock’s Bag-Punching Dog,” Circle X Theatre; “Pinafore!,” Celebration Theatre; “Spoon River Anthology,” Theatre West; “Steel: John Henry and the Shaker,” Oasis Theatre Company

World premiere play: Alison Carey, Peter Howard, Shishir Kurup, Page Leong, Armando Molina, Evangeline Ordaz, Bernardo Solano, Bernard White, “Crossings, Journeys of Catholic Immigrants”; Jessica Blank and Erik Jensen, “The Exonerated”; Matt Pelfrey, “Terminus Americana”; Dakin Matthews, translation of “The Proof of the Promise”; Sam Bobrick and Julie Stein, “Lenny’s Back”

World premiere musical: Paula Mitchell-Manning and John Lathan, “Flirting With Morty”; Jillian Armenante and Alice Dodd, “Laura Comstock’s Bag-Punching Dog”; Leon Martell and Penka Kouneva, “Steel: John Henry and the Shaker”; Max Baxley and Geo Hartley, “Twisted”; Rose Leiman Goldemberg, “Picon Pie”

Touring production: “Aida,” “Copenhagen,” “The Full Monty,” “The Tale of the Allergist’s Wife”

Director, play: Ayana Cahrr, “How Kintu Became a Man”; Dan Bonnell, “And Still the Dogs”; Deborah LaVine, “Napoli Milionaria”; Jessica Blank and Erik Jensen, “The Exonerated”; Karen Kalensky, “Traveling Lady”; Nick DeGruccio, “The Laramie Project”; Stephen Sachs, “After the Fall”

Director, musical: Alan Coats, “Crazy for You”; Jeff Calhoun, “Big River”; Larry Sousa, “Swing!”; Nick DeGruccio, “Side Show”; Robert Longbottom, “Flower Drum Song”

Lead actor, play: Brian Bedford, “The Moliere Comedies”; Daniel Davis, “Talking Heads (1)”; George Murdock, “The Price”; Joe Mellis, “Coyote on a Fence”; Mike Genovese, “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?”; Morlan Higgins, “After the Fall”; Sam Anderson, “Napoli Milionaria”

Lead actress, play: Fay Cato, “Tonseisha”; Jeanne Sakata, “Red”; Kathleen Chalfant, “Talking Heads (2)”; Livia Trevino, “Coyote on a Fence”; Shareen Mitchell, “Tennessee in the Summer”; Suanne Spoke, “Napoli Milionaria”; Tracy Middendorf, “After the Fall”

Lead actor, musical: Bill O’Brien, “Big River”; David Engel, “Crazy for You”; Kevin Earley, “Side Show”; James Black, “Big River”; Michael A. Shepperd, “Steel: John Henry and the Shaker”; Nic Arnzen, “Moscow”; R. Christofer Sands, “Pinafore!”

Lead actress, musical: Christa Jackson, “Always ... Patsy Cline”; Julie Dixon Jackson/Misty Cotton, “Side Show”; Lea Salonga, “Flower Drum Song”; Sally Struthers, “Always ... Patsy Cline”; Stephanie Block, “Crazy for You”

Featured actor, play: Al Mancini, “Time of Your Life”; William Mesnik, “Love’s Labour’s Lost”; Cooper Thornton, “After the Fall”; Joe Spano, “The Devil’s Disciple”; Neil Vipond, “Richard III”

Featured actress, play: Carol Kane, “He Hunts”; Cathy Lind Hayes, “He Hunts”; Lily Nicksay, “The Wild Duck”; Louise Davis, “Tennessee in the Summer”; Mary Lou Rosato, “King Lear”

Featured actor, musical: Christopher Sieber, “Into the Woods”; David Jennings, “Side Show”; Gregg Edelman, “Into the Woods”; Rod Keller, “You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown”; Troy Kotsur, “Big River”

Featured actress, musical: Beth Malone, “You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown”; Donna Bullock, “A Class Act”; Jodi Long, “Flower Drum Song”; Laura Benanti, “Into the Woods”; Sandra Allen, “Flower Drum Song”

Solo performance: Ann Randolph, “Squeeze Box”; Arlene Malinowski, “Or Forever Hold Your Peace”; Gigi Bermingham, “Non-Vital Organs”; Jackie Maruschak, “Last Stop Neverland”; Saundra Quarterman, “Shak’n, Part One”

Ensemble performance: casts of “How Kintu Became a Man,” “Jacques Brel Is Alive and Well and Living in Paris,” “Swing!,” “The Exonerated,” “The Laramie Project,” “The Last Season”

Choreographer: Alan Coats, “Crazy for You”; Ameenah Kaplan, “Steel: John Henry and the Shaker”; Dana Solimando, “Swing!”; Jeff Calhoun, “Big River”; Robert Longbottom, “Flower Drum Song”

Musical direction: Darryl Archibald, “Swing!”; David O, “Steel: John Henry and the Shaker”; Steven Landau, “Big River”; Steven Smith, “Crazy for You”; Tom Griffin, “Side Show”

Set design, larger theaters: Bradley Kaye, “The Laramie Project”; Christopher Barreca, “King Lear”; Don Llewellyn, “Master Harold ... and the Boys”; Douglas Schmidt, “Into the Woods”; Gary Wissman, “King o’ the Moon”; John Lee Beatty, “My Old Lady”; Rachel Hauck, “The House of Bernarda Alba”

Set design, smaller theaters: Bill Eigenbrodt and Meghan Rogers, “Flight”; Desma Murphy, “Napoli Milionaria”; Joel Stoffer, “Coyote on a Fence”; John H. Binkley, “Street Stories”; Ray Klausen, “Big River”; Robert Bingham, “Little Shop of Horrors”; Robert Bingham, “Fools”

Lighting design, larger theaters: Brian MacDevitt, “Into the Woods”; Christopher Akerlind, “King Lear”; Geoff Korf, “Crossings, Journey of Catholic Immigrants”; Steven Young, “The Laramie Project”; Tad Shannon, “Do Jump!”

Lighting design, smaller theaters: Doc Ballard, “The Last Season”; Ellen Monocroussos, “The Exonerated”; Jerry Browning, “Steel: John Henry and the Shaker”; John J. Grant, “Exmagare”; Michael Gilliam, “Big River”; Robert Fromer, “Street Stories”; Robert L. Smith, “Napoli Milionaria”

Costume design, larger theaters: A. Jeffrey Schoenberg, “Side Show”; Ellen McCartney, “King Lear”; Gregg Barnes, “Flower Drum Song”; Jane Greenwood, “The Moliere Comedies”; Joyce Kim Lee, “The House of Bernarda Alba”; Susan Hilferty, “Into the Woods”

Costume design, smaller theaters: David Zyla, “Big River”; Marci Hill, “Napoli Milionaria”; Paul Spadone, “Laura Comstock’s Bag-Punching Dog”; Shon LeBlanc, “Little Shop of Horrors”; Shon LeBlanc, “After the Fall”

Sound design, larger theaters: Dan Moses Schreier, “Into the Woods”; Drew Dalzell, “Side Show”; Jon Gottlieb and Leon Rothenberg, “King Lear”; Jon Gottlieb and Philip G. Allen, “Flower Drum Song”; Mark Bennett, “The House of Bernarda Alba”

Sound design, smaller theaters: Bill O’Brien, “Big River”; Bob Blackburn, “Street Stories”; Dave Marling, “Napoli Milionaria”; David Robbins, “Mephisto”; Jef Bek, “The Tragedy of Macbeth”; Penka Kouneva, “Steel: John Henry and the Shaker”

James A. Doolittle Award for leadership in theater: Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors

Career Achievement: Carole Cook and Tom Troupe