NEWS RELEASE — 2015 OVATION AWARDS NOMINATIONS ANNOUNCED

2015 LA STAGE ALLIANCE OVATION AWARDS
NOMINEES ANNOUNCED

EBONY REPERTORY THEATRE &
CENTER THEATRE GROUP LEAD WITH 14 EACH,
WALLIS ANNENBERG CENTER FOR
THE PERFORMING ARTS FOLLOWS WITH 13,
LA MIRADA THEATRE FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS &
SACRED FOOLS THEATER COMPANY TIE WITH 10 EACH

Nominees for the 2015 LA STAGE Alliance Ovation Awards were announced on Thursday, September 24 on @ This Stage Magazine [ThisStage.la]. This year’s Ovation Awards ceremony will take place Monday, November 9 at the Ahmanson Theatre at The Music Center. The curtain will rise at 7:30pm.

Ebony Repertory Theatre and Center Theatre Group tied with 14 nominations each, followed by Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts with 13, and La Mirada Theatre for the Performing Arts and Sacred Fools Theater Company, tied with 10 each. Ebony Repertory garnered all 14 of their nominations for The Gospel at Colonus; Center Theatre Group received nominations for Chavez Ravine: An L.A. Revival (7) and Luna Gale (1) at the Kirk Douglas Theatre; Bent (3), The Price (1), and Immediate Family (1) at the Mark Taper Forum; and The Trip to Bountiful (1) at the Ahmanson Theatre. Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts received 11 nominations for their production of Deaf West Theatre’s Spring Awakening (Deaf West’s original intimate theatre production received four nominations), Love, Noël: The Letters and Songs of Noël Coward (1), and Best Season; La Mirada Theatre for the Performing Arts received nominations for Carrie The Musical (5), Billy Elliot the Musical (1), Mary Poppins (1), Jane Austin’s Pride and Prejudice, A Musical (1), Good People (1), and Best Season; and Sacred Fools received nominations for The Behavior of Broadus (9) and Astro Boy and the God of Comics (1). Along with La Mirada and the Wallis Annenberg, Best Season nominations went to Los Angeles LGBT Center, Rubicon Theatre Company, and The Theatre @ Boston Court.

Ovation Honors, which recognize outstanding achievement in areas that are not among the standard list of nomination categories, have been awarded to Mat Sweeney and Ellen Warkentine (Music Composition for a Play, The Temptation of St Antony at Four Larks), Mike Mahaffey (Fight Choreography, She Kills Monsters at Loft Ensemble), and Ted Blegen (Puppet Design, She Kills Monsters at Loft Ensemble).

For the 2014-2015 voting season, there are a grand total of 203 nominations for 73 productions presented by 45 companies. There were 297 total productions registered from 118 companies. Of those productions registered, 72 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 IS AVAILABLE AT ThisStage.la.]

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 Rules Committee. The list of nominees is determined by a tabulation of scores conducted by Green Hasson Janks. This year’s Ovation Awards eligibility period ran from September 1, 2014 through August 30, 2015.

LA STAGE Alliance is a nonprofit arts service organization dedicated to building awareness, appreciation, and support for the performing arts in Greater Los Angeles. Their programs are sponsored in part by Green Hasson Janks, Ken Werther Publicity, Sony Pictures, The Shubert Foundation, Arts:Earth Partnership, The Ralph M. Parsons Foundation, Los Angeles County Arts Commission, NBC Universal, Bloomberg Philanthropies, Dew Foundation, Baker’s Man Productions, California Arts Council, Doris Duke Charitable Foundation, The Sheri and Les Biller Family Foundation, The James Irvine Foundation, National Endowment for the Arts, and Walt Disney Parks & Resorts Creative Entertainment.

Variety is the media sponsor for this year’s Ovation Awards ceremony.

09-24-15

FOR A COMPLETE LIST OF NOMINEES, CLICK HERE

NEWS RELEASE — 2015 OVATION AWARD NOMINATIONS TO BE ANNOUNCED DIGITALLY THURS 9/24 ON @ THIS STAGE MAGAZINE (ThisStage.LA)

2015 OVATION AWARD NOMINEES
TO BE ANNOUNCED DIGITALLY
THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 24
ON @ THIS STAGE MAGAZINE (ThisStage.LA)

2015 OVATION AWARDS CEREMONY
SET FOR MONDAY, NOVEMBER 9
AT THE AHMANSON THEATRE

For the first time, the announcement of the 2015 LA STAGE Alliance Ovation Award nominees will take place digitally on Thursday, September 24 on @ This Stage Magazine (ThisStage.LA).

Said Brian Kite, Chair of the LA STAGE Alliance Board of Governors, “I’ll be online and ready for the nominee announcement along with everyone else. We’ll all find out together.” He continued, “This year’s ceremony will be thrilling, right in the heart of downtown Los Angeles at the beautiful Ahmanson Theatre. I’m looking forward to celebrating the incredible work of our community on November 9.” Variety is the media partner for the 2015 event.

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 Rules Committee. The list of nominees is determined by a tabulation of scores conducted by Green Hasson Janks.

More information about this year’s digital nominee announcement is forthcoming. Tickets to the 2015 Ovation Awards Ceremony will go on sale September 24 at OvationAwards.com.

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08-20-15

NEWS RELEASE — LA STAGE ALLIANCE CEO TERENCE McFARLAND DEPARTS APRIL 30

LA STAGE ALLIANCE CEO TERENCE McFARLAND
DEPARTS FOR LEADERSHIP POSITION
AT VALLEY PERFORMING ARTS CENTER
CALIFORNIA STATE UNIVERSITY NORTHRIDGE

LA STAGE ALLIANCE BOARD LOOKS TO NEW LEADERSHIP
TO CONTINUE THE WORK OF THE 40-YEAR-OLD
ARTS SERVICE ORGANIZATION

LA STAGE Alliance Chief Executive Officer Terence McFarland will be stepping down effective April 30 after an 11-year tenure at the not-for-profit arts service organization, it was announced today by the LASA Board of Directors. On June 1, McFarland becomes Associate Executive Director at Valley Performing Arts Center, California State University, Northridge. He will join Executive Director Thor Steingraber in leading VPAC with multiple and varied responsibilities which include business development, institutional fundraising, box office, finance, community and campus engagement, and a variety of programming initiatives.

“Our thanks to Terence for his decade plus of service to our organization and to our community,” said Board Chair and La Mirada Theatre Producing Artistic Director Brian Kite. “He is an incredible leader and has guided us through many challenges and successes. I’m pleased that Terence is staying within the Southern California arts community and look forward to continued work with him as a colleague, artist, and friend.”

“What a thrilling time I’ve had leading this organization for the last eleven-and-a-half years,” said McFarland. “I want to thank the members of the board, the remarkable artists, administrators and leaders of our membership, and the tremendous staff I’ve had the extraordinarily good fortune to work with and learn from during my time at LASA. It has been an honor and a pleasure to serve this robust and dynamic community.” He continued, “I’m proud of the many partnerships we’ve developed during my years at LA STAGE Alliance and the nimbleness with which the staff and I have been able to address the shifting needs of the community with the resources at hand. My tenure has been dedicated to raising the floor for the entire community while focusing on building capacity for the ‘accidental arts administrators’ who lead so many of our cultural organizations. I’m most proud of our success at strengthening and diversifying our contributed income in service to the community and I thank the long list of funders who have enabled our programs to serve Los Angeles. What a joy to know that I depart having recently secured the single largest donation in LASA’s history — the gift from Bill Bordy — a gift that secures five years of operational support for the arts journalism program.” McFarland concluded, “I look forward to seeing the resilient LA STAGE Alliance organization adapt and thrive under new leadership.”

The LA STAGE Alliance Board has engaged Karen Constine, an arts/culture management consultant, to serve as the Consulting Interim Director. Constine provides strategic counsel and management consulting to entertainment and economic development nonprofits, government agencies and corporate clients, and has served in leadership capacities including Interim General Manager of the Los Angeles Department of Cultural Affairs. Constine and the board will also draw upon the extensive resources of the LASA staff among others to help carry out the mission and programming of LA STAGE Alliance during the transition. Board Chair Brian Kite also announced a search committee will be formed immediately to identify the next Executive Director.

Since 1975, LA STAGE Alliance has empowered artists and engaged audiences through a series of programs, events, and advocacy efforts. All of its initiatives aim to serve and strengthen the sector — both at an individual and community level — providing resources that facilitate audience engagement, collaborative marketing, community building, and professional development. Among its accomplishments, LA STAGE Alliance produces the annual Ovation Awards, organizes LA STAGE Day to train and support arts administrators, offers convenient and clear access and pricing for rehearsal space, rents set and costume pieces to member and non-member companies and partners with technology firms such as Patron Technology and TRG for ticketing and database solutions for all member organizations. The major funders of LA STAGE Alliance include The Shari and Les Biller Family Foundation, Bill Bordy, California Arts Council, California Community Foundation, Doris Duke Charitable Foundation, The James Irvine Foundation, DEW Foundation, National Endowment for the Arts, The Ralph M. Parsons Foundation, The Shubert Foundation, The Los Angeles Department of Cultural Affairs, The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors through the Los Angeles County Arts Commission, Walt Disney Company, NBC/Universal, and RSF Social Finance.

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04-20-15