Announcing: 2010 LA Stage Alliance Ovation Awards Ceremony

2010 LA STAGE ALLIANCE OVATION AWARDS CEREMONY
SET FOR MONDAY, JANUARY 17, 2011
AT THOUSAND OAKS CIVIC ARTS PLAZA

SCHEDULED PRESENTERS INCLUDE
SHIRLEY JONES, PATRICK CASSIDY, SALLY STRUTHERS,
DORIS ROBERTS, T.R. KNIGHT, HARRY GROENER,
MIKE O’MALLEY (GLEE), ALAN MANDELL,
TESSA THOMPSON (FOR COLORED GIRLS … ),
MONICA ROSENTHAL (EVERYBODY LOVES RAYMOND), AND
ERICH BERGEN & MICHAEL INGERSOLL (JERSEY BOYS)

The LA Stage Alliance Ovation Awards Ceremony for the 2010 theatre season will take place Monday, January 17, 2011 at 7:30pm at the Thousand Oaks Civic Arts Plaza, home of the Cabrillo Music Theatre.

Along with those listed above, other presenters scheduled to participate include Carole W. Nussbaum (President and Chief Executive Officer, Cabrillo Music Theatre), Jacqui V. Irwin (City of Thousand Oaks Council Member and Mayor Pro Tem), Wren T. Brown (Executive Director, Ebony Repertory Theatre), Mary Lou Westerfield (Western Regional Director, Actors Equity Association), and Oz Scott (West Coast Board Member, Stage Directors & Choreographers Society).

David O (a 2010 nominee for Songs and Dances of Imaginary Lands) will serve as Music Director, and he will be joined by the vocal group Sonos (http://www.sonosings.com). Awards will be given in 29 competitive categories, and the recipients of the 2010 Sherwood Award and four 2010 Ovation Honors will be acknowledged.

LA Stage Alliance is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization 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 operations for members, and advocacy. LASA serves over 325 organizational members (professional, educational, and community-based producing and presenting performing arts organizations) annually in the counties of Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino, Santa Barbara and Ventura, and individual members comprised of local, regional, national, and international performing arts patrons.

The Ovation Awards are made possible by LA Stage Alliance and Cabrillo Music Theatre sponsors: Actors Equity Association, Goldstar, the Community Redevelopment Agency of the City of Los Angeles, Gelson’s The Super Market, Footlights, Production Resource Group, Ken Werther Publicity, Capture Imaging, Schwabel Studio, Bakers Man Productions, KUSC Classical 91.5 FM, the Los Angeles Times, Patron Technology, Target Resource Group, Valley Bakery, Marriott, the City of Thousand Oaks and the City of Thousand Oaks Board of Governors.

The Ovation Awards are tabulated by Green Hasson Janks LLC.

The Ovation Awards Ceremony is open to the public, and tickets may be purchased at www.lastagealliance.com, or by calling (213) 614-0556, ext. 15. Prices range from $40 to $160. The Thousand Oaks Civic Arts Plaza is located at 2100 E. Thousand Oaks Boulevard in Thousand Oaks. Results will be available after the ceremony at www.LAStageAlliance.com and www.LAStageTimes.com.

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01/12/11

Announcing: 2010 Ovation Award Nominees Announced

2010 OVATION AWARD NOMINEES ANNOUNCED

THEATRE AT BOSTON COURT LEADS WITH 17,
CENTER THEATRE GROUP RECEIVES 16,
GEFFEN PLAYHOUSE GETS 12,
MUSICAL THEATRE WEST AND REPRISE TIE WITH 10 EACH

Nominees for the 2010 LA Stage Alliance Ovation Awards were announced on the evening of Monday, October 18 at The Autry National Center for the American West in Griffith Park.  The nominations were presented by 2009 Ovation Award winners Jake Broder, Vanessa Claire Smith, Michael Paternostro, Sarah Cornell, Tasha Ames and Hugo Armstrong, along with Ebony Rep  Executive Director Wren Brown and LA Stage Alliance Executive Director Terence McFarland.

The Theatre at Boston Court garnered the most nominations (17), followed by Center Theatre Group (16), the Geffen Playhouse (12) and, in a two-way tie with 10 nominations each, Musical Theatre West and Reprise Theatre Company.  The Theatre at Boston Court productions honored with nominations are Oedipus el Rey (7), The Twentieth Century Way (5), The Good Book of Pedantry and Wonder (a co-production with Circle X Theatre Company) – 2, God Save Gertrude (2), and also Best Season. The CTG nominations are for Parade at the Mark Taper Forum (12), The Wake at the Kirk Douglas Theatre (3) and The Lieutenant of Inishmore at the Taper (1). The Geffen Playhouse productions are Equivocation (8) and Through the Night (5).

The breakdown for the two theatre companies tied for 10 nominations each is as follows. Musical Theatre West: Sweeney Todd (6), and The Marvelous Wonderettes (4).  Reprise: Carousel (7), How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying (2), as well as Best Season.

For the first time, the category “Ovation Honors” has been added to recognize outstanding  achievement in areas that are not among  the standard list of  nomination categories.  This year, Ovation Honors have been awarded to The Who’s Tommy (Chance Theatre) for Video Design, The Gogol Project (Bootleg Theater) for Music Composition for a Play, Project Wonderland (Bootleg Theater) for Puppet Design, and Oedipus el Rey (Theatre at Boston Court) for Fight Choreography.

Founded in 1989, the LA Stage Alliance Ovation Awards are the only peer-judged theatre awards in Los Angeles. For the 2009-2010 voting season, there are a grand total of 191 nominations for 63 productions presented by 43 companies.  There were 396 total productions registered from 166 companies.  Of those registered, 93 were Ovation Recommended, identified during their run as scoring in the top 20% of all productions in the Overall Production categories. [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.

LA Stage Alliance is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization 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 operations for members, and advocacy.  LASA serves over 325 organizational members (professional, educational, and community-based producing and presenting performing arts organizations) annually in the counties of Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino, Santa Barbara and Ventura, and individual members comprised of local, regional, national, and international performing arts patrons.

The 2010 Ovation Awards ceremony will take place on Monday, January 17, 2011 at the Thousand Oaks Civic Arts Plaza (Bank of America Performing Arts Center), home of Cabrillo Music Theatre. The curtain will go up at 7:30pm. For more information, visit www.LAStageAlliance.com/ovations.asp.

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10-18-10

Announcing: LA Stage Blog is now LA Stage Times

LA STAGE BLOG IS NOW LA STAGE TIMES
LA STAGE ALLIANCE ONLINE ARTS JOURNALISM PUBLICATION
BEGINS ITS THIRD YEAR WITH
A NEW NAME, NEW STAFF AND A NEW LOOK

LA Stage Alliance has announced the launch of LA STAGE Times, LASA’s new website for Southern California performing arts coverage, featuring an exclusive interview with Gordon Davidson by Steve Julian, new columns by veteran LA Times and Variety critics Don Shirley and Julio Martinez, new managing editor Deborah Behrens, plus an exciting new interactive design that incorporates social marketing elements, weekly e-mail blasts, expanded production listings and the O! “Ovation recommended” show promotion.

LA STAGE Times replaces LA STAGE Blog as the online incarnation of the former LA STAGE print magazine with a new URL: www.lastagetimes.com. The new design by DISTINC brings the editorial site in alignment with the LA STAGE Alliance and LA STAGE Tix website re-designs which were launched September 1.

Terence McFarland, Executive Director of LA Stage Alliance, said, “With the increasing ability of the internet to give voice to theatre fans, we embrace LA Stage’s legacy as a professional forum for news and features with the new name for our site.  We strive to give coverage to those left behind by the cutbacks of our local mainstream media. We will continue to include personal point of view ‘blogs’ on the site, but the bulk of what we cover can be classified as news and features. Stay tuned for more interactive functionality on the site as we embrace the interactive nature of the web.”

Don Shirley’s LA STAGE WATCH, a column of arts commentary and theatre critiques, which debuted last year as a twice-monthly feature, now appears weekly.  LA STAGE INSIDER  is a new breaking news, gossip and theatre history column by former Variety critic and current KPFK “Arts in Review” host Julio Martinez.  KPCC’s Morning Edition host Steve Julian is now also a regular contributor.

A senior LA STAGE writer since 2001 whose work for the print edition garnered a 2009 Maggie Award, Deborah Behrens was named managing editor in July with responsibilities for marketing, branding and editorial strategy. Lee Melville will continue to oversee editorial content under his new title of Editor-in-Chief.  Neal Spinler, LASA’s new Programs Coordinator, handles multimedia, visual elements, post scheduling and the social media outreach for the site.

Starting this week, LA STAGE Times will send out a weekly e-blast to opt-in subscribers and LASA members who wish to receive a short recap of the week’s featured stories.  LA STAGE Times covers the Southern California performing arts scene including theatre, opera and dance. Story pitches and news releases should be directed to pitches@lastagealliance.com.

LA Stage Alliance is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization 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 operations for members, and advocacy.  LASA serves over 325 organizational members (professional, educational, and community-based producing and presenting performing arts organizations) annually in the counties of Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino, Santa Barbara and Ventura, and individual members comprised of local, regional, national, and international performing arts patrons.

LA Stage Alliance and its programs are supported by:  The Los Angeles Department of Cultural Affairs, The California Arts Council, The Shubert Foundation, The Doris Duke Charitable Foundation, Sony Pictures Entertainment, The Sheri and Les Biller Family Foundation, The National Endowment for the Arts, The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, Green Hasson & Janks LLP, The James Irvine Foundation, KUSC, The Los Angeles County Arts Commission, Los Angeles Times, Patron Technology, Target Resource Group (TRG), The California Community Foundation, and the Southern California Dance Futures Fund through the Center for Cultural Innovation.

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10-12-10