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Announcing: 2009 Ovation Award Nominees

2009 OVATION AWARD NOMINEES ANNOUNCED
CENTER THEATRE GROUP LEADS WITH 25,
GEFFEN PLAYHOUSE RECEIVES 14,
TROUBADOUR THEATRE COMPANY GETS 12
EL PORTAL THEATRE GARNERS 10

Nominees for the 2009 L.A. Stage Alliance Ovation Awards were announced on the evening of Monday, October 19 at A Noise Within in Glendale.  The nominations were presented by 2008 Ovation Award winners Barry Lynch, Jennifer Paz, Randy Rogel and Robert J. Townsend, along with LA Stage Alliance Executive Director Terence McFarland.

Center Theatre Group garnered the most nominations, followed by the Geffen Playhouse, the Troubadour Theatre Company and the El Portal Theatre.  The CTG productions honored with nominations are “9 to 5: The Musical”  (7), “The Little Dog Laughed” (6), “Minsky’s” (5), “Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo” (4), “Lydia” (2), and “The School of Night” (1).  The Geffen productions are “Louis & Keely, Live at the Sahara” (5), “Farragut North” (3), “Beethoven As I Knew Him” (2), “Time Stands Still” (2), and “By the Waters of Babylon” (1).

The nominated Troubadour Theatre Company productions are “Alice in One Hit Wonderland 2: Through the Looking Glass” (6) and “As U2 Like It” (5).  The El Portal Theatre’s production of “Smokey Joe’s Café” received 10 nominations.

A new category has been added for the 2009 voting year: Best Season.  The award recognizes theatre companies who have produced shows of consistently high quality throughout the voting season (September 1 – August 31).  Any company who registered at least three productions for Ovation Awards consideration during the season is eligible.  As with most other Ovation categories, there will be five nominations and one recipient.  For this first Best Season Award, the nominees are:  the Chance Theater, the Fountain Theatre, the Geffen Playhouse, the Rubicon Theatre Company, and the Troubadour Theatre Company.

Founded in 1989, the L.A. Stage Alliance Ovation Awards are the only peer-judged theatre awards in Los Angeles.  For the 2008-2009 voting season, there are a grand total of 186 nominations for 66 productions presented by 48 companies. [PLEASE SEE COMPLETE LIST OF NOMINATIONS FOLLOWING THIS RELEASE.]

Voters are L.A. theatre professionals who are chosen each season by the Ovation Awards Review Committee (through an application process). The list of nominees is determined by a tabulation of scores conducted by the entertainment accounting firm Green, Hasson & Janks, LLP.

It was also announced that the awards ceremony, which has traditionally been held in November each year, will now happen in January, kicking off the Los Angeles awards season.  The 2009 Ovation Awards ceremony will take place on Monday, January 11, 2010 at the Redondo Beach Performing Arts Center, home of the Civic Light Opera of South Bay Cities. The curtain will go up at 7:30pm. More info on this to follow soon.

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10-19-09

Announcing: A Very Dark Place

WORLD PREMIERE OF
A VERY DARK PLACE
SET FOR THE HAYWORTH THEATRE

SIX YOUNG ACTORS PERFORM NEW HORROR/COMEDY
OPENING ON HALLOWEEN NIGHT FOR FOUR WEEKS ONLY

“Poltergeist” meets “The Rocky Horror Picture Show” with a dash of “Full House” in “A Very Dark Place,” a world premiere horror/comedy guaranteed to make you scream with laughter one moment and scream with fear the next.  Are you afraid of the dark?  This is your chance to find out.  “A Very Dark Place” opens at the Hayworth Theatre on Saturday, October 31 and runs through November 22 only.  Performances will be on Saturday and Sunday nights at 8:00.

Written by Brandon Alter (winner of the California Young Playwrights Competition), “A Very Dark Place” tells the tale of up and coming soap-star Rebecca Ellen, who, when she moves into her dream home in the Hollywood Hills, unknowingly casts herself in a scary movie that will test everything she’s got.  Kept awake nights by the sounds in her attic, she contacts her brother, an amateur ghost hunter who uses science to coax the supernatural.  He brings with him his partner, a gifted and sexy medium, and together they take matters into their own hands. They discover that these ghosts are no strangers, and in order to take back her house, Rebecca Ellen must confront not only her past but be brave enough to face her future.  Sexy, scary, laugh out loud funny and full of surprises, this is one play everyone is dying to see.  “A Very Dark Place” contains some profanity and adult themes.  Parental discretion is advised.

The cast will feature (in alphabetical order) playwright Alter, Lindsay Atwood, Megan Rose Greene, David Lopez, Katie Novack, and Chris Smith.  Noah Silverstein, who is associate artistic director of the Hayworth Theatre, will direct and design the production.  Alexandria Klipstein serves as producer and Dan Rib is stage manager.

Opening night is set for Saturday, October 31 at 8:00. The regular performance schedule is Saturday and Sunday at 8pm through November 22.THE MEDIA IS INVITED TO ATTEND OPENING NIGHT ON SATURDAY 10/31, AND IS ALSO WELCOME AT ANY OTHER PERFORMANCE. All seats are $15, and tickets may be purchased online at www.plays411.com/darkplace or by phone at (323) 960-7822.   For more information, visit www.averydarkplace.com.

The Hayworth Theatre (home of “Lovelace, A Rock Opera”) is located at 2511 Wilshire Boulevard, between Rampart and Alvarado, near downtown Los Angeles.  Street parking is available, and valet lots are located next door.

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10/15/09