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: 2009 Ovation Award Winners

LA STAGE ALLIANCE OVATION AWARDS PRESENTED
MONDAY, JANUARY 11, 2010
AT REDONDO BEACH PERFORMING ARTS CENTER

KUDOS FOR 2008-09 SEASON
SHARED BY 17 SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA THEATRE COMPANIES

The LA Stage Alliance Ovation Awards, celebrating theatrical excellence and achievement during the 2008-2009 season, were presented on Monday, January 11, 2010 at the Redondo Beach Performing Arts Center.

Twenty-nine awards were bestowed upon seventeen different Southern California theatre companies.  Center Theatre Group (Lydia at the Mark Taper Forum and The Little Dog Laughed at the Kirk Douglas Theatre) led with four, followed by the Troubadour Theatre Company (Alice in One Hit Wonderland and As U2 Like It) and the Louis & Keely producing team (Louis & Keely, Live at the Sahara) with three each.  NoHo Arts Center Ensemble (Dracula), Musical Theatre West (The Producers), Havok Theatre Company (Kiss of the Spider Woman), Ebony Repertory Theatre (Two Trains Running) and Chalk Repertory Theatre (Family Planning) tied with two awards each.

Several other companies and productions with multiple nominations, including The Chance Theatre, Rubicon Theatre Company, Road Theatre Company, Renal Support Network , Pasadena Playhouse, Open Fist Theatre Company, Fountain Theatre, East West Players and A Noise Within, went home without statuettes.

The Troubadour Theatre Company was honored with the newest Ovation Award for Best Season.

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1-12-10

Announcing: 2009 Ovation Award Nominees

2009 OVATION AWARD NOMINEES ANNOUNCED
CENTER THEATRE GROUP LEADS WITH 25,
GEFFEN PLAYHOUSE RECEIVES 14,
TROUBADOUR THEATRE COMPANY GETS 12
EL PORTAL THEATRE GARNERS 10

Nominees for the 2009 L.A. Stage Alliance Ovation Awards were announced on the evening of Monday, October 19 at A Noise Within in Glendale.  The nominations were presented by 2008 Ovation Award winners Barry Lynch, Jennifer Paz, Randy Rogel and Robert J. Townsend, along with LA Stage Alliance Executive Director Terence McFarland.

Center Theatre Group garnered the most nominations, followed by the Geffen Playhouse, the Troubadour Theatre Company and the El Portal Theatre.  The CTG productions honored with nominations are “9 to 5: The Musical”  (7), “The Little Dog Laughed” (6), “Minsky’s” (5), “Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo” (4), “Lydia” (2), and “The School of Night” (1).  The Geffen productions are “Louis & Keely, Live at the Sahara” (5), “Farragut North” (3), “Beethoven As I Knew Him” (2), “Time Stands Still” (2), and “By the Waters of Babylon” (1).

The nominated Troubadour Theatre Company productions are “Alice in One Hit Wonderland 2: Through the Looking Glass” (6) and “As U2 Like It” (5).  The El Portal Theatre’s production of “Smokey Joe’s Café” received 10 nominations.

A new category has been added for the 2009 voting year: Best Season.  The award recognizes theatre companies who have produced shows of consistently high quality throughout the voting season (September 1 – August 31).  Any company who registered at least three productions for Ovation Awards consideration during the season is eligible.  As with most other Ovation categories, there will be five nominations and one recipient.  For this first Best Season Award, the nominees are:  the Chance Theater, the Fountain Theatre, the Geffen Playhouse, the Rubicon Theatre Company, and the Troubadour Theatre Company.

Founded in 1989, the L.A. Stage Alliance Ovation Awards are the only peer-judged theatre awards in Los Angeles.  For the 2008-2009 voting season, there are a grand total of 186 nominations for 66 productions presented by 48 companies. [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.

It was also announced that the awards ceremony, which has traditionally been held in November each year, will now happen in January, kicking off the Los Angeles awards season.  The 2009 Ovation Awards ceremony will take place on Monday, January 11, 2010 at the Redondo Beach Performing Arts Center, home of the Civic Light Opera of South Bay Cities. The curtain will go up at 7:30pm. More info on this to follow soon.

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10-19-09