Announcing: 2013 LA Stage Alliance Ovation Award Nominees

2013 LA STAGE ALLIANCE OVATION AWARD NOMINEES ANNOUNCED:
CENTER THEATRE GROUP LEADS WITH 29,
LA MIRADA THEATRE FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS FOLLOWS WITH 24,
3-D THEATRICALS GETS 15,
ROGUE MACHINE EARNS 12;
CHANCE THEATER GETS 11

Nominees for the 2013 LA STAGE Alliance Ovation Awards were announced on the evening of Monday, September 16 at Barnsdall Gallery Theatre in Los Angeles, which is owned and operated by the City of Los Angeles Department of Cultural Affairs Community Service Division. The nominations were revealed by past Ovation Award recipients Susanne Blakeslee, Shirley Jo Finney, Ryan Johnson, Michael Matthews, Gregory Nabours, Janet Roston, and John Sloan, along with LA STAGE Alliance Chief Executive Officer Terence McFarland.

Center Theatre Group received the most nominations (29), followed by La Mirada Theatre for the Performing Arts (24), 3-D Theatricals (15), Rogue Machine (12), and Chance Theater (11). Center Theatre Group garnered nominations for The Nether at the Kirk Douglas Theatre (9), Joe Turner’s Come and Gone at the Mark Taper Forum (8), The Royale (7) at KDT, The Second City’s A Christmas Carol: Twist Your Dickens! at KDT (2), Anything Goes (1) and The Scottsboro Boys (1), both at the Ahmanson Theatre, and for Best Season. La Mirada’s nominations are for Next to Normal (8), Seven Brides for Seven Brothers (7), Spring Awakening (7), Jekyll & Hyde (1), and Best Season. Nods to 3-D Theatricals are for Parade (12), and Shrek the Musical (3). Rogue Machine’s nominations are spread between four productions — Dying City (5), One Night In Miami (4), A Bright New Boise (1), Dirty Filthy Love Story (1), and the company is also nominated for Best Season. Chance Theatre received 11 nominations for its production of Triassic Parq.

Ovation Honors, which recognize outstanding achievement in areas that are not among the standard list of nomination categories have been awarded to Michael Redfield (Composition for a Play, Walking the Tightrope at 24th Street Theatre), Ken Merckx (Fight Choreography, Cymbeline at A Noise Within), Derek Lux and Christian Anderson (Puppet Design, Shrek the Musical, 3-D Theatricals), and Jeffrey Elias Teeter (Video Design, On the Spectrum at the Fountain Theatre).

For the 2012-2013 voting season, there are a grand total of 198 nominations for 66 productions, presented by 40 companies. There were 342 total productions registered from 148 companies. Of those productions registered, 99 were Ovation Recommended, identified during their runs as scoring in the top quarter of all productions in the Overall Production categories. [A COMPLETE LIST OF NOMINEES CAN BE FOUND AT www.LAStageTimes.com or www.OvationAwards.com]

Founded in 1989, the LA STAGE Alliance Ovation Awards are the only peer-judged theatre awards in Los Angeles. Voters are Los Angeles theatre professionals who are chosen each year, through an application process, by the Ovation Awards Rules Committee. The list of nominees is determined by a tabulation of scores conducted by Green Hasson Janks. This year’s Ovation Award eligibility period ran from August 27, 2012 through August 25, 2013.

LA STAGE Alliance is dedicated to building awareness, appreciation and support for the performing arts in Greater Los Angeles through community building, collaborative marketing/audience development, professional development to strengthen the sector, and advocacy. Providing access to the performing arts for patrons and access to information and resources for organizations has been the mission of the Alliance for over 35 years. The Alliance connects artists and arts administrators from over 500 groups annually in a six county region with opportunities to engage, inspire, educate and entertain over four million households that engage with the arts in our community. The Alliance engenders a stronger and more connected creative Los Angeles.

LA STAGE Alliance programs are sponsored in part by Actors Equity, The Biller Family Foundation, California Arts Council, California Community Foundation, City of Los Angeles Department of Cultural Affairs, DatabaseWorks, the DEW Foundation, Doris Duke Charitable Foundation, Goldstar, James Irvine Foundation, Andrew Mellon Foundation, Bakers Man Productions, Ken Werther Publicity, Live Event Pros, Los Angeles County Supervisors through the LA County Arts Commission, National Endowment for the Arts, Ralph M. Parsons Foundation, SDC, The Shubert Foundation, and Sony Pictures Entertainment.

This year’s Ovation Awards ceremony will take place on Sunday, November 3 at 7pm at the historic San Gabriel Mission Playhouse, located at 320 S. Mission Drive in San Gabriel. For more information, visit www.OvationAwards.com

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09-16-2013

Announcing: Benefit Reading of ‘The Last Look Back’ by Stephen Serpas, Directed By Gates McFadden, Oct 4 & 5 Only

Ensemble Studio Theatre/LA
Presents the World Premiere of
THE LAST LOOK BACK
By Stephen Serpas
Starring Brent Spiner,
Sadie Alexandru, Tracey A. Leigh, Ramón de Ocampo
Directed by Gates McFadden

Two Performances Only, October 4 & 5
Set to Benefit EST/LA

Ensemble Studio Theatre/LA has announced two performances only of The Last Look Back, a world premiere play by Stephen Serpas directed by Gates McFadden, and starring Brent Spiner, Sadie Alexandru, Tracey A. Leigh, and Ramón de Ocampo, on Friday, October 4 and Saturday, October 5 at 8pm. Proceeds will go to support EST/LA, the artistic home for new works from the best established and emerging playwrights in Los Angeles.

It is May 14, 1998. A pretty young intern embroiled in a presidential sex scandal meets with a legendary entertainer on the last day of his life – and so begins a lesson she could learn from no one else. The Last Look Back is a surreal pairing of kindred spirits and a hallucinatory comic ride about mortality, redemption, and the end of the twentieth century.

Brent Spiner is perhaps best known for his portrayal of the android DATA on the television series Star Trek: The Next Generation. He also appeared in four Star Trek films including Nemesis, for which he also co-authored the story. Spiner’s other film credits include The Aviator, Out to Sea, Master of Disguise, Dude, Where’s My Car, and Independence Day. TV credits include HBO’s Introducing Dorothy Dandridge, Threshold, Geppetto, Frasier, Cheers, Mad About You, Law and Order: CI, Friends, The Simpsons, Leverage and Warehouse13. Broadway: A History of the American Film, Big River, The Three Musketeers, Sunday in the Park with George, Life x 3, and most recently as John Adams in 1776, for which he received a Drama Desk Award nomination.

Sadie Alexandru is perhaps most recognizable as Sadie the sassy secretary on Mad Men. Other credits include Kittens In A Cage, Broken Horses, Femme Fatales, Sinbad: The Fifth Voyage, Starting From Scratch, and Neighbros. Alexandru was recently seen in Love Sucks at the Coast Playhouse and is featured in 26 national commercials.

Tracey A. Leigh is an Obie Award-winning actor and has appeared onstage at South Coast Rep in Death of A Salesman, In the Next Room (or The Vibrator Play) and Safe in Hell. Other theatre credits include Elmina’s Kitchen, The Many Mistresses of Martin Luther King at EST/LA, Tale of 2 Cities: An American Joyride in Multiple Tracks, The Vagina Monologues, and regional appearances at The Old Globe, La Jolla Playhouse, Arena Stage, A Contemporary Theatre and Intiman Theatre, among others.

Ramón de Ocampo is an Obie Award-winning actor whose theatre credits include Neva, Mrs. Warren’s Profession, Macbeth, The Malcontent, King Lear, Pera Palas The Girl Most Likely To, Sick, Dogeaters, and Much Ado About Nothing, among many others. On film, de Ocampo has appeared in Happy Ending, xXx: State of the Union, Hamlet, and others. His television credits include Medium, Killer Instinct, Sons of Anarchy, NCIS, NCIS: LA, Gang Related, Castle, Bones, CSI, Grey’s Anatomy, and a recurring role on The West Wing.

Playwright Stephen Serpas’ most recent work includes Watering Hole, his web series Before We Go To Sleep, and Nestling. West Coast stage credits include Xenogenesis and Smoke The Baby, presented in EST/LA’s 2011 WinterFest. Serpas is a member of the Playwrights Union of Los Angeles and a member of Safehouse Writer’s Group in Brentwood.

Director Gates McFadden is also Artistic Director of EST/LA. Plays produced under her tenure include Julie Hebert’s Tree, Nicholas Kazan’s Mlle. God, Tom Jacobson’s House of the Rising Son, Crack Whore Galore and House of Gold. Her acting credits include six years and four films portraying Dr. Beverly Crusher in Star Trek: The Next Generation, Taking Care of Business, and The Hunt for Red October. McFadden’s numerous acting credits include Cloud Nine, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, How to Say Goodbye, Emerald City, The Homecoming, To Gillian On Her 37th Birthday, Viva Detroit, and EST/LA’s The Shore. On TV: Marker, Mad About You, and numerous guest roles. A well-known teacher of the techniques of Jacques Lecoq, her faculty positions have included AADA, Brandeis, Harvard, NYU, Tisch School of Arts, The Stella Academy in Hamburg, and University of Pittsburgh.

These special performances of The Last Look Back are on Friday, October 4 and Saturday, October 5 at 8pm. Tickets are $150, $250, and $500 (VIP Package—priority seating, pre-show cocktail reception, souvenir program signed by cast, post-show party and photo opportunities with the cast, photo booth opportunity with 1/8th Gates, gift bags, and more). Tickets are on sale now and may be purchased online at www.EnsembleStudioTheatreLA.org or www.brownpapertickets.com/event/454219. The Atwater Village Theatre is located at 3269 Casitas Avenue, in Los Angeles.

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09-13-13

Announcing: 2013 Ovation Award Nominees Will Be Announced Monday 9/16 at 7pm

2013 OVATION AWARD NOMINEES
TO BE ANNOUNCED MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 16
AT THE BARNSDALL GALLERY THEATRE

AWARDS CEREMONY SET FOR SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 3
AT THE HISTORIC SAN GABRIEL MISSION PLAYHOUSE

The announcement of the 2013 LA STAGE Alliance Ovation Award nominees has been set for Monday, September 16 at 7pm. The event will be hosted by the Barnsdall Gallery Theatre, located at 4800 Hollywood Boulevard in Los Angeles, 90027. Free onsite parking is available. The Barnsdall Gallery Theatre (BGT) is owned and operated by the City of Los Angeles, Department of Cultural Affairs Community Arts Division.

This year’s Ovation Awards ceremony will take place on Sunday, November 3 at 7:30pm at the historic San Gabriel Mission Playhouse, located at 320 S. Mission Drive in San Gabriel.

On September 16, various 2012 Ovation Award recipients will announce the names of this year’s nominees. Scheduled to participate are Michael Matthews (Director of a Musical for The Color Purple at Celebration Theatre), Antaeus Company member John Sloan (representing Peace In Our Time, winner of Best Play, Intimate Theatre), Ryan Johnson (Composition for a Play, Stoneface: The Rise and Fall and Rise of Buster Keaton at Sacred Fools), Zainab Jah (Featured Actress in a Play for The Convert at CTG’s Kirk Douglas Theatre), and Janet Roston (Choreography, The Color Purple). These winners from last year will be joined by Terence McFarland, Chief Executive Officer of LA STAGE Alliance.

The LA STAGE Alliance Ovation Awards are the only peer-judged theatre awards in Los Angeles. Voters are Los Angeles theatre professionals who are chosen each year, through an application process, by the Ovation Awards Rules Committee. The list of nominees is determined by a tabulation of scores conducted by Green Hasson Janks.

The nominee announcement event is free and open to the public. A light reception will be included, and RSVP is required at www.OvationAwards.com. Information on how to attend the Awards Ceremony on November 3 will be available at www.OvationAwards.com in late September.

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09-09-13