Announcing: 2012 LA Stage Alliance Ovation Awards Presented Monday, November 12

2012 LA STAGE ALLIANCE OVATION AWARDS
PRESENTED MONDAY, NOVEMBER 12
AT THE HISTORIC LOS ANGELES THEATRE IN DOWNTOWN LA

KUDOS FOR 2012 SEASON
SHARED BY 13 SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA THEATRE COMPANIES

The LA STAGE Alliance Ovation Awards, celebrating theatrical excellence and achievement during the 2012 season, were presented on Monday, November 12, at the Los Angeles Theatre in downtown Los Angeles.

Thirty-five awards were bestowed upon 13 different Southern California theatre companies. Leading the pack with 13 awards was Center Theatre Group (The Convert at the Kirk Douglas Theatre; Waiting for Godot at the Mark Taper Forum; War Horse at the Ahmanson Theatre; and Best Season), followed by Celebration Theatre with six (The Color Purple: A Musical), and Musical Theatre West with four (Forbidden Broadway: Greatest Hits, Volume 2;
Hairspray; and Man of La Mancha). The Antaeus Company (Peace In Our Time), and Theatre @ Boston Court (The Children) took home two awards each.

LA STAGE Alliance CEO Terence McFarland commented, “Tonight’s recipients reflect the diverse and rich landscape of greater Los Angeles theatre. The Ovation Awards are a celebration of excellence, and one way that LA STAGE Alliance shines a light on the fantastic work of our LA theatre artists. Theatres across the country should take note that these are the best of the best, and hire an Ovation Award-winning LA theatre artist today!”

For a complete list of winners, visit www.LASTAGEOvations.com.

Additionally, Sarah Lyding, Executive Director of the Biller Family Foundation, presented the Biller BEST (Building Excellence in Small Theatre) Awards, including checks totaling $100,000, to the following LA theatre companies: About Productions, The Antaeus Company, CASA 0101, Circle X Theatre Company, Ensemble Studio Theatre-LA, Independent Shakespeare Company, A Noise Within, and The Theatre @ Boston Court. Laura Penn,
Executive Director of SDC (Stage Directors and Choreographers Society), presented the 2012 Zelda Fichandler Award, for transforming the landscape of regional theatre through unique and creative work, to Cornerstone Theatre Company founder and current Artistic Director at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, Bill Rauch. Center Theatre Group presented the 2012 Sherwood Award, for innovative and adventurous artists, to Los Angeles-based playwright and director John Sinner. This award is endowed by the Sherwood family, and is accompanied by $10,000 to further Sinner’s artistic work. LA STAGE Alliance was also presented with a Commendation from the office of California Assembly Speaker John Perez, for the commitment and unwavering
compassion that LA STAGE has dedicated to the performing arts in the City of Los Angeles.

Hosted by Jane Kaczmarek and Culture Clash co-founder Herbert Siguenza, this year’s presenters included many local performers, city officials, union reps, artistic and executive directors, stage managers and publicists, and included (in alphabetical order) Patrick J. Adams, Lindsay Allbaugh, LJ Benet, Seamus Dever, Elizabeth Doran, Kristy Edmunds, Davis Gaines, Glenne Headly, Nikki Hyde, Leslie Ito, Brian Kite, Christine Lakin, Michele Lee, Dawnn Lewis,
Monique L’Heureaux, Sarah Lyding, Lesli Margherita, Gates McFadden, Jessica Wethington McLean, Laura Penn, Assembly Speaker John Perez, Bill Rauch, Allison Rawlings, Mark Roberts, Kirsten Vangsness, Ken Werther, Vanessa Williams, and Charlayne Woodard.

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 Angell Foundation, Arts Council for Long Beach, The Biller Family Foundation, California ArtsCouncil, California Community Foundation, City of Los Angeles Department of Cultural Affairs,City of Pasadena Cultural Affairs Division, City of Santa Monica Cultural Affairs Division, Doris Duke Charitable Foundation, ELS, Goldstar, James Irvine Foundation, Andrew Mellon Foundation, Los Angeles County Supervisors through the LA County Arts Commission, MusiCares/Grammy Foundation, National Endowment for the Arts, Ralph M. Parsons Foundation, The Shubert Foundation, Sky Events & Productions, Sony Pictures Entertainment, and Green Hasson Janks.

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11-12-12

Announcing: Jane Kaczmarek and Herbert Siguenza Set To Host 2012 LA Stage Alliance Ovation Awards

JANE KACZMAREK AND HERBERT SIGUENZA
SET TO HOST LA STAGE ALLIANCE
2012 OVATION AWARDS CEREMONY
AT HISTORIC LOS ANGELES THEATRE IN DOWNTOWN LA
MONDAY, NOVEMBER 12, AT 7:30PM

Television and stage star Jane Kaczmarek and Culture Clash co-founder/actor/writer Herbert Siguenza will host the 2012 LA STAGE Alliance Ovation Awards Ceremony on Monday, November 12, at the historic Los Angeles Theatre in downtown LA. The curtain will rise at 7:30pm.

Jane Kaczmarek is well known for her work on stage, and on television. She starred for seven seasons on Fox TV’s Malcolm in the Middle, earning seven consecutive Emmy Award nominations along the way. Other television work includes Raising the Bar, The Middle, Whitney, Wilfred, Felicity, Equal Justice, Paper Chase: The Second Year, Party of Five, Frasier, The Practice, St. Elsewhere, and Hill Street Blues. On stage, Kaczmarek most recently starred in David Lindsay-Abaire’s Good People at The Geffen Playhouse, for which she is an Ovation Award nominee this year. She starred in Dinner With Friends and Raised in Captivity at South Coast Rep, and won an Ovation Award for her performance in Kindertransport at the Tiffany Theater in West Hollywood. Kaczmarek has appeared on Broadway, as well as in plays at the Manhattan Theatre Club, The Public Theater, Second Stage, Long Wharf, and the Berkshire and Williamstown Theatre Festivals, among others.

Herbert Siguenza is a founding member of Culture Clash, the most produced Latino Theatre Company in the United States. Founded in San Francisco in 1984 by Richard Montoya, Ric Salinas, and Siguenza, Culture Clash has stormed the stages of America’s top regional theatres, including, the Mark Taper Forum, The Kennedy Center, Arena Stage, Alley Theatre, Berkeley Rep, Yale Rep, and Syracuse Stage, along with countless colleges and universities. Siguenza has co-written and/or performed in American Night, Palestine New Mexico, Peace, Water and Power, Chavez Ravine, Zorro in Hell!, Radio Mambo, A Bowl of Beings, The Mission, and others.

This year’s presenters will include many local performers, city officials, union reps, artistic and executive directors, stage managers and publicists. Scheduled to participate (in alphabetical order) are Patrick J. Adams, LJ Benet, Seamus Dever, Elizabeth Doran, Kristy Edmunds, Robert Foxworth, Davis Gaines, Glenne Headly, Nikki Hyde, Leslie Ito, Young Ji, Christine Lakin, Dawnn Lewis, Sarah Lyding, Lesli Margherita, Gates McFadden, Laura Penn, Assembly Speaker John Perez, Bill Rauch, Allison Rawlings, Mark Roberts, Kirsten Vangsness, Ken Werther, and Charlayne Woodard.

Producers Kappy Kilburn and Malcolm Darrell will lead this year’s production team, with technical direction by Joe Hamlin. The production design is by Rachel Myers, lighting design is by Jared Sayeg, and sound design is by Cricket S. Myers. Musical direction will once again be by the Ovation Award-winning David O, and the voices of the Ovations are Bernadette Sullivan and Robert Yacko. Adeena Bell serves as production stage manager, and the Ovation statues will be presented by students from the MFA and BFA graduating programs at Cal State University, Long Beach.

Voters are Los Angeles theatre professionals who are chosen each season, through an application process, by the Ovation Awards Review Committee. The list of nominees is determined by a tabulation of scores conducted by the entertainment accounting firm Green Hasson Janks. This year’s Ovation Award eligibility period ran from September 1, 2011 through August 28, 2012.

LA STAGE Alliance programs are sponsored, in part, by Actors Equity, The Angell Foundation, Arts Council for Long Beach, The Biller Family Foundation, California ArtsCouncil, California Community Foundation, City of Los Angeles Department of Cultural Affairs,City of Pasadena Cultural Affairs Division, City of Santa Monica Cultural Affairs Division, Doris Duke Charitable Foundation, ELS, Goldstar, James Irvine Foundation, Andrew Mellon Foundation, Los Angeles County Supervisors through the LA County Arts Commission, MusiCares/Grammy Foundation, National Endowment for the Arts, Ralph M. Parsons Foundation, The Shubert Foundation, Sky Events & Productions, and Sony Pictures Entertainment.

The 2012 Ovation Awards ceremony will take place on Monday, November 12, at the historic Los Angeles Theatre, 615 South Broadway, in downtown Los Angeles. The curtain goes up at 7:30pm. For information, to become a volunteer or a sponsor, and to purchase tickets, visit www.LASTAGEOvations.com.

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10-31-12

Announcing: LA Stage Alliance Announced 2012 Ovation Award Nominee Revisions

LA STAGE ALLIANCE ANNOUNCES

2012 OVATION AWARD NOMINEE REVISIONS

On Tuesday, September 11, 2012, the Ovation Award nominees and Ovation Honors recipients were announced for the 2011/2012 season. LA STAGE Alliance deeply regrets that after the nominees were announced, it was discovered that a few of the nominees were ineligible, per the Ovation Awards Rules. The integrity of the Ovation Awards are of the utmost importance to LA STAGE Alliance, the Ovation Rules Committee, and the Ovation Awards tabulators (Green Hasson Janks). Immediate action has been taken to rectify the situation. The following information outlines the ineligible nominees, and announces additional nominees for the 2011/2012 season.

First, nominee for COSTUME DESIGN, LARGE THEATRE Alvin Colt (Forbidden Broadway: Greatest Hits, Part Two at Musical Theatre West), who passed away in 2008, created the costumes for a previous production a number of years ago. As a result, those costumes are not eligible for Ovation Awards consideration. Respecting Mr. Colt’s excellent work, he will remain a nominee in this category, but will no longer be eligible to receive the award at this year’s ceremony on November 12.

Official Rule Language: All Ovation Award categories (except for Presented Production) shall be recognized to be for ‘original’ work only. For the purposes of this rule, ‘original’ means that the creative choices made by the director/designer/etc must have been made for the purposes of this particular production.

Second, the production of American Night: The Ballad of Juan Jose should have been considered a Presented Production, because it had been previously produced with almost the same production team at Oregon Shakespeare Festival in 2010. As a result of this clarification, the individual nominees for American Night will, in recognition of their excellent work, remain nominees in their category, but will no longer be eligible to receive awards at this year’s ceremony. These nominees are: ESosa (COSTUME DESIGN, LARGE THEATRE), David Weiner (LIGHTING DESIGN, LARGE THEATRE), and Darron West (SOUND DESIGN, LARGE THEATRE).

Official Rule Language: PRESENTED PRODUCTION – This category includes any registered production that was previously produced at any point in time prior to the current season, in Los Angeles or in any other geographic area. For purposes of the Ovation Awards, the “same production” is defined as a combination of script (regardless of revisions) and any TWO of the following elements:

• Venue
• Any producer or producing organization
• Director
• Any Lead or Featured Actor or Actress
• Any Designer, Choreographer or Musical Director

Productions which are considered in the Presented Production category are not eligible in individual artist categories (Actor, Director, etc). The Presented Production award is presented to the producers of the production.

In addition, OVATION HONORS IN VIDEO DESIGN recipient Shawn Sagady will no longer receive the Ovation Honors in that category, but will receive a Certificate of Achievement from the Ovation Awards, will be invited to the Ovation Awards events and be treated as a nominee.

LA STAGE Alliance and the Ovation Awards wish to specifically acknowledge the excellent work of Mr. Colt, ESosa, Mr. Weiner, Mr. West and Mr. Sagady. Although their work on these productions is not eligible to win an Ovation Award, their status as nominees reflects the high quality of their work, which deserves to be lauded by the Los Angeles theater community.

Due to the adjustments outlined here, additional nominees and Honors recipients are now added to the nominee list, and recognized officially by the Ovation Awards:

Additional Nominees for
COSTUME DESIGN, LARGE THEATRE

Kim DeShazo
Southern Comforts
Falcon Theatre

Christopher Acebo
Waiting for Godot
Center Theatre Group: Mark Taper Forum

Additional Nominee for
LIGHTING DESIGN, LARGE THEATRE

Brian Gale
A Wrinkle in Time
MainStreet Theatre Company

Additional Nominee for
SOUND DESIGN, LARGE THEATRE

Jon Gottlieb
Radiance: The Passion of Marie Curie
Geffen Playhouse

And Ovation Honors for Video Design now go to:
Brian Gale
Waiting for Godot
Center Theatre Group: Mark Taper Forum

A complete, revised nominee list, and a revised numerical breakdown of nominees, can be found at LASTAGEOvations.com.

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10-03-12