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: 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

Announcing: The Blank Theatre Presents ‘Peter Pan: The Boy Who Hated Mothers’ – Opening April 27

THE BLANK THEATRE PRESENTS
PETER PAN: THE BOY WHO HATED MOTHERS
BY MICHAEL LLUBERES
BASED ON PETER AND WENDY BY JM BARRIE
DIRECTED BY 2012 OVATION AWARD-WINNER MICHAEL MATTHEWS

WEST COAST PREMIERE
AT THE BLANK’S 2nd STAGE THEATRE
OPENS APRIL 27
EXTENDED THROUGH JUNE 16
NOW EXTENDED THROUGH JUNE 30
EXTENDED THROUGH SUNDAY, JULY 28
FINAL EXTENSION THROUGH AUGUST 18

The Blank Theatre (Daniel Henning, Founding Artistic Director; Noah Wyle, Artistic Producer) has announced that casting is complete and rehearsals are underway for Peter Pan: The Boy Who Hated Mothers by Michael Lluberes, directed by 2012 Ovation Award-winner Michael Matthews. Previews begin April 20, and opening is Saturday, April 27 at 8pm. The engagement will run through June 2 is extended through June 16 June 30 July 28 August 18.

This radically fresh retelling of the JM Barrie classic explores the original ideas and inspirations behind the iconic fantasy of Peter Pan. Peter Pan: The Boy Who Hated Mothers is a dark new retelling of the story of the boy who wouldn’t grow up. This is ‘Peter Pan’ as you have never seen it before, but how it was always meant to be told. “This dark, disturbing, yet magical adaptation based on JM Barrie’s original ideas behind Peter Pan is one of the most thrilling scripts I have read in years,” said The Blank Artistic Director Henning. “Michael Lluberes’ adaptation and Michael Matthews’ visionary direction are a perfect match. I am excited for our audiences to experience Peter Pan as they have never experienced it before.”

Playwright Michael Lluberes’ other plays include The Boy in the Bathroom and The Geranium on the Windowsill Just Died. He has directed productions of Twelfth Night, Nighttime Traffic, and 1,000 Cats. Lluberes is also an actor, having appeared in the National Tour of Dirty Dancing, and Off Broadway in American Dreams: Lost and Found, Pudd’nhead Wilson, The Taming of the Shrew, As You Like It, and Heaven Knows. He is the recipient of The American Harmony Prize, an NEA New Artist Initiative Award, and Hambidge and Virginia Center for the Creative Arts Fellowships. He is a graduate of The North Carolina School of the Arts, a member of The Acting Company, Lincoln Center Theater Directors Lab and The Dramatists Guild. www.MichaelLluberes.com.

Michael Matthews directed the 2012 intimate theatre premiere of The Color Purple, The Musical, which won six Ovation Awards, including Best Director of a Musical. Also in 2012, his production of What’s Wrong With Angry? was Ovation Award-nominated, including Best Director of a Play. Matthews is the winner of two 2011 NAACP Image Awards for his direction of The Women of Brewster Place and Take Me Out, both at Celebration Theatre. He has directed The Blank’s productions of The Santaland Diaries, The Jazz Age and The Temperamentals. His most recent production, Wolves by Steve Yockey, is now running at Celebration Theatre. www.MichaelMatthewsDirector.com.

The cast of Peter Pan: The Boy Who Hated Mothers will feature (in alphabetical order) Liza Burns, Benjamin Campbell, Jackson Evans, David Hemphill, Trisha LaFache, Amy Lawhorn, and Daniel Shawn Miller. Set design is by Mary Hamrick, lighting design is by Zack Lapinski and Tim Swiss, costume design is by Kellsy MacKilligan, and sound design is by Rebecca Kessin. The stage manager is Rebecca Eisenberg; Sarah Bauer and Stephen Moffatt serve as producers.

Preview performances of Peter Pan: The Boy Who Hated Mothers begin on Saturday, April 20 at 8pm, and continue Sunday, April 21 at 2pm, and Tuesday through Friday, April 23 — 26, at 8pm. Opening is set for Saturday, April 27 at 8pm. The regular performance schedule will continue on Thursday, Friday and Saturday at 8pm, and Sunday at 2pm, through June 2 now through June 16 June 30 July 28 August 18. All seats are $30, and may be purchased online at www.TheBlank.com, or via phone by calling (323) 661-9827.

The Blank’s 2nd Stage Theatre is located at 6500 Santa Monica Boulevard (at Wilcox), in Hollywood.

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03-13-13

^{Cast of Peter Pan: The Boy Who Hated Mothers at The Blank Theatre, with director Michael Matthews. PHOTO BY MATT GRABER.
L to R (front): David Hemphill, Amy Lawhorn, Trisha LaFache, Liza Burns, Daniel Shawn Miller, Michael Matthews.
L to R (back): Jackson Evans, Benjamin Campbell.}