B. Iden Payne Awards -- Write-In Ballot for Outstanding Musical Theatre Director, November 5, 2013

October 23, 2013

Good morning Austin theatre friends,
It has been quite a week, hasn’t it?
For our part, we have been extremely busy planning the November 5th awards ceremony. We’re very excited to be returning to Congress Avenue and Stateside for this year’s event, and we hope to see you there where we will be giving out one more award than originally planned.
Though we stand by our process and practices, we want the community to know that we have heard the discontent, both direct and indirect, over the omission of the Director of Music Theatre nomination. Our primary directive is to recognize excellence, but that directive is in service to this community. If in our service, we fall short, we want to remedy that shortcoming.
You have asked for this very directly, so we want this award to come from you directly. The 2012-2013 ballot will contain a write-in voting opportunity for this category and the award will go to the candidate with the most votes. We look forward to presenting this award along with the many others.
Sincerely,
Kelsey Kling
Executive Director
B. Iden Payne Council

Click to go to the B. Iden Payne awards website

Clarification of Position on 2013 Award Nominations – re: Direction of Music Theatre, B. Iden Payne Awards Committee

Published at the B. Iden Payne awards website and posted to AustinLiveTheatre on October 17:

As many of you are aware, or can imagine, we’ve received some negative feedback about the lack of recognition in the Direction of a Musical category for this year’s awards. A good deal of the feedback centers around the contention that this situation is virtually impossible, and must be either an oversight, or a breakdown in process on the council’s part. We, as a council, wish to assure you that we take our involvement in the community very seriously, and that we were very thorough in evaluating this season’s productions.

Our charter as a council is to support, promote and recognize excellence in Austin’s theatre community. In holding to that most basic of tenets, after a significant amount of time and effort to review and discuss the entire season, we came to the difficult conclusion that this particular category did not contain a comprehensive representation of the excellence that we are dedicated to, and are expected to recognize. While we certainly felt that there were many good examples of direction of a musical, we felt it was our duty to adhere to the level of excellence mandated by our guidelines, as represented by the balance of categories/nominees.

Of the 169 productions reviewed this season, 21 were under the banner of Music Theatre. Each production was attended on average by 5 to 6 committee members, and 13 of those productions are nominated on the 2012-2013 ballot. We feel that even with the exclusion of this category, the genre and its many creators are well represented in this year’s nominations.

To expand further, in our final meeting of the year (which lasted 14 hours), we dedicated a full hour to the discussion of this very topic. We reviewed the entire season, checked and double-checked the metrics we use to evaluate elements of a production, and we were still unable to fill this particular category. This was an agonizing decision for all involved, as we all are passionate, intelligent, dedicated theatre-makers who devote 100’s, if not 1000’s, of hours of our time viewing and reviewing the best Austin has to offer. Nobody wants to recognize excellence in theatre more than we do.

To further ensure the council’s objectivity, we have implemented a system this year that refines even more our evaluation of the elements of a production on a more granular level, utilizing our updated Artistic Guidelines, which are available for viewing on our website. This new system, if you’re wondering, would not have changed the outcome of this year’s nominations. It simply gives us more metrics as we enter our year-end meeting, putting us further down the road as we discuss and compile the final list of nominations.

Thank you again for your support of the B. Iden Payne Awards Council, and the Austin theatre community. If you still have questions, as we expect you might, please do not hesitate to contact us directly, and we will be happy to speak with you, and help clarify anything that might still be unclear. Our desire is to be as thorough and transparent as possible in serving you, the Austin theatre community.

Sincerely,

Kelsey Kling

Executive Director, B. Iden Payne Awards Council

B. Iden Payne Awards Committee Elects Andrea Smith as Executive Director

BIPAC is pleased to present our new Executive Director Andrea S. Smith as we offer well wishes and best of luck to our former E.D.!


“After nearly 7 years volunteering with the B. Iden Payne Awards Council, it is now that I make my exit in order to pursue other personal and professional opportunities. It has truly been a pleasure serving on the Council and I am extremely pleased with the direction the organization has undertaken the past few years and am excited to see the new paths forged in the upcoming years. I welcome and wish luck to all of the new members and offer best wishes and success to the council.

I also want to give my heartfelt gratitude to all of the artists working in this wonderful city of ours. Those efforts are for what we come together as a community to celebrate who, what, and why we are. Thank you so much for everything.”

—Julianna E. Wright



“I am very happy and excited for Julie as she continues to pursue her personal and professional goals. I am equally excited to have the opportunity to serve as Executive Director of the Council. After almost a decade of service, I’m pleased to have the opportunity to guide the next incarnation of the council while continuing to strengthen and explore various relationships and collaborations with and for the community. It’s going to be a great year!”

—Andrea S. Smith

B. Iden Payne Awards - Spin-off and Annual Membership Fee

Published by Julie Wright at the website of the B. Iden Payne Committee, which administers annual awards for theatre artistry in central Austin:

Visit our “Become a Subscriber” page and show your support for The B. Iden Payne Awards Council today!

Your one- time, tax-deductible donation of just $20* allows for a 12 month membership that includes:

• A BIPAC Voting Ballot containing the council’s nomination list of the most outstanding theatrical work of the current season
• A monthly newsletter containing information including current eligible productions, class/workshop opportunities, audition posts, job opportunities, community notes, and monthly artist profiles
• One General Admission Ticket to the 2011-2012 B. Iden Payne Awards Council Award Ceremony

Your financial support to BIPAC also allows for the continued production of the B. Iden Payne Awards Ceremony. Currently in its 38^th year, the awards have become a welcomed tradition that allows the members and patrons of Austin’s Theatrical Community to gather together and recognize the time, energy, effort, and outstanding work of those that continue to grow and strengthen the community.
Become a subscribing member and become part of an Austin tradition. Join today.
Thank you for your support!

*Introductory Price expires September 1, 2012

ALT Correction (the best kind): SIX Austin Area Artist Listed as Falstaff Award Nominees by PlayShakespeare.com

In addition to the five Austin area artists mentioned in ALT's report of the 2011 Falstaff awards and nominations released this week by www.PlayShakespeare.com, Christopher Fordinal of Texas State University is recognized for the music done for Texas State University's production of As You Like It in April of last year. ALT commented in its review:

Director Chuck Ney chose to situate this production in the present day. That interpretation opens opportunities, particularly musical ones. Among exiled Duke Senior's men are a number of nimble-fingered strolling guitarists. Wry Jacques, the philosopher of the exiled band, is a sinewy aged African American [Eugene Lee] who elicits a rhythmic blues riff from the Duke's acoustic guitarist for his "ducdame" satire of "Under the greenwood tree." The celebration of the deer hunt in IV, 2 is a haunting a capella rendition in the twilight of "What shall he have that kill'd the deer," much in the style of Seattle's Fleet Foxes. Members of the wandering band do "a lover and his lass" with guitar and improvised percussion like street busking music, and Sean McGibbon performs break dancing with the energy and assurance of competition-level gymnastics. The final celebratory dance is a memorable cross between a contra dance and a hoedown.

Congratulations to Christopher Fordinal and to director Chuck Ney. ALT apologizes for overlooking him in the first scrutiny of the list.

Austin Artists Nominated for 2011 Falstaff Awards, PlayShakespeare.com

The website www.PlayShakespeare.com has released the nominations and winners for its 2011 Falstaff awards honoring achevements in the production of Shakespeare and Shakespeare scholarship. Five Austin area artists are among those nominated, three of them for their work on Austin Shakespeare's Hamlet with Helen Merino.

PlayShakespeare.com writes,

Sweeping the awards with 8 wins and 1 nomination this year was the highly acclaimed Sleep No More, a collaboration with Punchdrunk and Emursive. An entire New York City building was transformed into an theatrical experience of Macbeth like no other. With over 100 rooms, sold out audiences donned eerie masks and experienced a highly choreographed performance close up, even interacting with the actors themselves. A Hitchcockian flair to sets, music, and lighting earned Felix Barrett and Maxine Doyle awards for Best Director, Best Set Design and Best Lighting Design. Top honors for Best Principal Performance (Male and Female) went to Nicholas Bruder and Sophie Bortolussi.

Austin area artists appearing on the list:

Best Principal Performance, Male: Philip Kreyche as Othello for his No'Az Productions

Best Scenic Design: Marketa Fantova for As You Like It, Texas State University (now at Alfred University, New York)

Best Lighting Design: Jason Amato, Hamlet, Austin Shakespeare (click to view dress rehearsal images by Kimberley Mead)

Best Cosume Design: Pam Fletcher Friday, Hamlet, Austin Shakespeare

Best Choreography or Fight Direction: Toby Minor, Hamlet, Austin Shakespeare (click to view Austin Shakespeare video including brief excerpts of the final duel)

AustinLiveTheatre.com also nominated Pam Martin and Dawn Allee for their costuming of Henry V by the Baron's Men, providing a link to the company's promotional video for the production. PlayShakespeare.com editors compared it with Kimberley Mead's portfolio of 53 images for Austin Shakespeare's Hamlet and decided to favor the work by Pam Fletcher Friday.

Click to view the announcement and link to the full list of nominees and awards at PlayShakespeare.com . . . .

Connie McMillan Honored with Actors Equity Lucy Jordan Humanitarian Award, February 11

Following up a notice on the Austin Playhouse Facebook wall:

The Lucy Jordan Award

Connie McMillan Named AEA's 2012 Lucy Jordan Humanitarian Award Recipient

Actors' Equity Association (Equity) presented Austin resident Connie McMillan the 2012 Lucy Jordan Humanitarian Award at Equity’s Austin/San Antonio Annual Membership meeting on Saturday, February 11, 2012

Ms. McMillan, who was nominated for the award by actors, producers, patrons and critics alike, has been an integral part of the theater community in Austin for more than 40 years. She is an avid theater-goer, and can be found in theaters, attending theater festivals and theater conferences. Nominators describe her as “the ultimate Theater Person.”

“Loving theatre the way I do, I was so grateful to be able to contribute to the profession behind the scenes and I never wanted any recognition since the production IS the reward,” said Ms. McMillan. “But this honor is most welcome since it comes from other professionals who understand fully what it takes to make the magic happen.”

Born in Lubbock, her love of the arts was established early by parents who encouraged her to participate in and make the arts an important part of her life. After earning her Bachelor of Arts and Master of Arts in English Literature from Texas Tech University, Ms. McMillan moved to Austin to attend graduate school at the University of Texas where she earned her Ph.D. in English Literature. She worked as the Box Office Manager for the University of Texas Performing Arts Center for 23 years. Since 2000, she has combined her love of theater and education through part-time work for the University Interscholastic League, which hosts the One-Act Play Contest for high schools in the state of Texas, the largest play festival of its kind. She has also served on the nominating committee for the B. Iden Payne Awards, which recognizes excellence in Austin theater. In addition, she audio-described live performances of theater and opera for patrons who are blind or have limited vision.

The Lucy Jordan Humanitarian Award is the only recognition given by Equity’s Western Regional Board. It was established by the Stage Managers Committee in 1992 to honor and commemorate the unflagging spirit of former Western Region Business Field Rep Lucy Jordan, who passed away that same year.

Scott Kanoff of UT Theatre and Speech Voted Teaching Award from Texas Exes

From UT Theatre and Dance, December 26:

Scott Kanoff Recognized with 2012 Texas Exes Teaching Award

Scott Kanoff, Department of Theatre and Dance lecturer of directing, has been named a recipient of the Texas Exes Teaching Award. The student-nominated and student-selected awards were first given by the Texas Exes in 1982. The annual awards promote quality teaching at The University of Texas at Austin by publicly recognizing professors who have had a positive influence on the educational experience of university students.

A director, dramaturg and producer with a special interest in new work, Kanoff has taught at the university since 2003. His courses include graduate and undergraduate directing, advanced acting, acting Shakespeare, and a popular audition workshop. From 2000-2005, Kanoff served as producing artistic director of Austin’s State Theater Company, where he staged a range of classic and contemporary plays. Kanoff also spent nine seasons as resident director and head of new play development at The Cleveland Play House, where he collaborated on the genesis of more than 50 new works by American playwrights including Wendy Kesselman, Seth Greenland, John Henry Redwood, Joan Ackermann, Wendy MacLeod and Randal Myler.

Kanoff will be formally presented the Texas Exes Teaching Award on Tuesday, February 21, 2012 at the Etter-Harbin Alumni Center. Past Department of Theatre and Dance recipients include Joan Lazarus, Suzan Zeder and Lucien Douglas.

Click to go t Scott Kanoff's page at the website of UT Fine Arts

Upcoming: Vortex Repertory's Fire and Brimstone Awards Party, January 6

Found on-line:

VORTEX’s Annual Fire and Brimstone Awards

Friday, January 6, 2012

8:30 pm until 12:00am at the Vortex, 2703 Manor Rd. (click for map)

Join VORTEX friends and family to celebrate VORTEX’s Annual Fire and Brimstone Awards, honoring our recent 23th season. For many years, VORTEX Producing Artistic Director, Bonnie Cullum, has given dozens of Fire Awards to honor artists and technicians for their achievements and Brimstone Awards to roast notable gaffs about which we can finally laugh. We are thrilled to welcome The Late Joys to play for our party!

In celebration of VORTEX’s 23 years of theatre in the Austin community, we gather together to remember a notable artistic year, our 23th Season, 2010-11: Vampyress, GAYlicious! Planet of The Mermaids, The Elementals: AIR, Footnotes for People Who Don’t Speak Spanish, Ecosexology, For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide When The Rainbow Is Enuf, LEAR, and Summer Youth Theater’s The Physicists, as well as the fabulous new addition of The Butterfly Bar.

Admission to the party is FREE. Donations are welcome. Come celebrate Friday, January 6th, 8:30pm to midnight with a fabulous spread in The Butterfly Bar. Cash bar.

Robert Faires on the Disputaciousness of Austin's B. Iden Payne Awards

From today's edition of the weekly

All Over Creation

Award Fever

Whenever you feel like throwing a pillow over the Payne Awards, consider this

by Robert Faires

[ . . . .] You'll find [. . .] fume and froth anywhere awards are handed out – the Oscars, the Grammys, the Daytime Emmys – and in any judged competition where "one day you're in; the next day you're out." [. . . .] [B]y virtue of their longevity, the Paynes have the greater claim on a local tradition of disputatiousness.

So why even have these arts awards if they're so divisive and infuriating? It's not as if every profession recognizes its work this way. Plumbers aren't honored for the year's best installation of a kitchen-sink disposal, nor are waiters for outstanding recitation of the daily specials. If they don't require awards, why do artists? Well, awards have become valuable to us in building community, bad attitudes notwithstanding. In our fractured, cocooning culture, the handing out of these awards is one of those increasingly rare public rituals that can still draw us out of our separate corners of the community – like homecoming dances and Independence Day parades – and into a shared space, to gather us together in acknowledgment of our common bonds. Even with all the carping, the Payne Awards reaffirm the shared commitment of people making theatre in Austin.

Read the full text of Robert Faires' meditation at the Austin Chronicle. . . .

Arts Reporting: UT Gives Steven Dietz Creative Research Award

From the University of Texas:

UT Gives Steven Dietz Creative Research Award

(www.utexas.edu) October 26, 2011

Department of Theatre and Dance Distinguished Professor of Playwriting Steven Dietz received the Creative Research Award last week at the Robert W. Hamilton Book Awards, an annual event honoring the scholarship of faculty members. [ . . .]

“The award is an acknowledgement of the extraordinary professional accomplishments of Steven Dietz,” said Brant Pope, chair of the Department of Theatre and Dance. “Our students, faculty and audience at The University of Texas at Austin are the great beneficiaries of the amazing talents of this playwright, director and teacher.”

“Steven Dietz has tremendous scope as a playwright, achieving the same humane economy of language and action whether writing serious drama, children’s theater, historical adaptations, comedy, or criticism of contemporary theater and theater education,” added College of Fine Arts Dean Douglas Dempster. “He is one of the leading playwrights of our day and exactly what we strive for in a first-class research university that values the arts.”

The Creative Research Award caps off a banner year for Dietz. He is the third recipient of the nationally-coveted Ingram New Works Fellowship from the Tennessee Repertory Theatre and recently premiered a new play in Minneapolis, A Year Without Summer, commissioned by the famed Tyrone Guthrie Theater.

Read full text at site for UT Theatre and Dance . . . .

Arts Reporting: San Antonio's 2011 Globe Awards

Found on-line:

San Antonio's ATAC Globe Awards:

And the winners are…

Classic Theatre and Overtime Theatre

text below by Deborah Martin, Arts Beat, San Antonio Express-News, posted on www.mysanantonio.com, October 23

Classic Theatre was the big winner at Sunday’s Globe Awards of the Alamo Theatre Arts Council, scoring more than 10 trophies, including four that went home with co-founder Allan S. Ross.

The Overtime Theater’s slate of original work did well, too, raking in honors that included several for “Dr. S Battles the Sex-Crazed Reefer Zombies: The Movie: The Musical” and “Broken Record.”

In addition to the awards presented by Alamo Theatre Arts Council, the audience at the Charline McCombs Empire Theatre was invited to vote on a People’s Choice Award. This was the second year for the award, which went to the Woodlawn Theatre’s “Miss Saigon.”

Jasmina Wellinghoff Award for Special Contribution to the Theater went to Susan Breidenbach for 26 years of volunteering behind the scenes. She has worked as a stage manager, run light and sound and as a dresser (or, as presenter Anna Gangai put it, “the best dresser I have ever had.”

Breidenbach, resplendent in blue, joked that “this seems to be the only event that gets me out of my tech black and into a skirt and hose.”

In her gracious acceptance speech, she thanked her parents, influential teachers and the tech crews she has worked with.

“I am honored to be a part of this family of passionate lovers of live theater,” she said.

The other principal Globe Awards went to:

Comedy production: “The Lion in Winter,” Classic Theatre

Drama production: “Buried Child,” Classic Theatre

Musical production: “Mame,” San Pedro Playhouse; “Godspell,” San Antonio College

Lead actor, comedy: Allan S. Ross, “The Lion in Winter”

Lead actor, drama: Andrew Thornton, “Hedda Gabler,” Classic Theatre; Jeff Dorman, “Extremities,” Sheldon Vexler Theatre; Jon Smith, “A Streetcar Named Desire,” Rose Theatre Company

Lead actor, musical: Byrd Bonner, “Miss Saigon,” Woodlawn Theatre

Lead actress, comedy: Terri Pena Ross, “The Lion in Winter;” Allie Perez, “Unnecessary Farce,” Sheldon Vexler Theatre

Lead actress, drama: Evie Armstrong, “A Streetcar Named Desire;” Christie Beckham, “Broken Record,” Overtime Theater; Susanna Morrow, “Pride’s Crossing,” Trinity University

Lead actress, musical: Anna Gangai, “Mame;” Kim Bianco, “The Light in the Piazza,” San Pedro Playhouse; Yesenia McNett, “Always…Patsy Cline,” Cameo Theatre and Circle Arts Theatre

Click to view full list published at www.mysanantonio.com . . . .

Austin's B. Iden Payne Nominations for Stage Performance, 2010 - 2011

Announced last night, September 26:

Nominations to be considered by members of the Austin Creative Alliance:

Click to view full list

DRAMA

Outstanding Production

• Frankenstein: The Trouble Puppet Show (Trouble Puppet Theater Company)
• Hedda Gabler (Palindrome Theatre)
• A Lie of the Mind (Capital T Theatre)
• Paradise Key (a chick and a dude productions)
• Topdog/Underdog (City Theatre Company)

Outstanding Direction

• Connor Hopkins (Frankenstein: The Trouble Puppet Show)
• Lisa Jordan (Topdog/Underdog)
• Melissa Livingston (Paradise Key)
• Christina J. Moore (Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?)
• Don Toner (The Trip to Bountiful)

Outstanding Lead Actor

• Collin Bjork (Equality 7-2521) Anthem
• Tom Green (Dr. Halb) Paradise Key
• Joey Hood (Jerry) The Zoo Story
• Ev Lunning, Jr. (George) Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?
• Justin Scalise (Hamlet) Hamlet [Scottish Rite Theatre and Black Swan Events]

Outstanding Lead Actress

• Mary Agen Cox (Carrie Watts) The Trip to Bountiful
• Dawn Erin (Ann Martin) Defiant
• Babs George (Martha) Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?
• Meredith McCall (Linda Waterman) Fiction
• Rebecca Robinson (Hannah Jelkes) The Night of the Iguana

Outstanding Featured Actor

• Aaron D. Alexander (Papi) Fight
• Travis Dean (Baylor) A Lie of the Mind
• Micah Goodding (Aaron McKinney, Stephen Belber) The Laramie Project: Ten Years Later
• Daniel Sawtelle (Slim) Of Mice and Men
• Jacob Trussell (DJ Snowstorm) Flying

Outstanding Featured Actress

• Shannon Grounds (Fool) Lear
• Sadé Jones (Lady in Green) for colored girls who have considered suicide / when the rainbow is enuf
• Julia Lorenz-Olsen (Ophelia) Hamlet [Scottish Rite Theatre and Black Swan Events]
• Rebecca Robinson (Beth) A Lie of the Mind
• Gricelda Silva (Bushy Tail) Flying

Click to view full list at AustinLiveTheatre.com

Arts Reporting: Charlotte Canning Awarded UT Regents' Outstanding Teaching Award

Found at the website of the College of Fine Arts, University of Texas at Austin:

Professor Charlotte Canning,

Regents' Outstanding Teaching Award Recipient

Performance as Public Practice Area Head, Professor Charlotte Canning is among the 72 recipients from throughout The University of Texas System who have been presented the Board of Regents' Outstanding Teaching Awards.

The awards, which range from $15,000 to $30,000 depending on level of experience, are believed to be among the highest in the country for rewarding outstanding undergraduate faculty performance and innovation.

Candidates for the teaching awards were nominated at the campus level then evaluated on several criteria, including student and peer evaluations, teaching portfolio and student learning outcomes.

Dr. Canning received her doctorate from the University of Washington. She serves as head of the Performance as Public Practice Program at The University of Texas at Austin, where she began her career in 1993. She teaches theatre and performance history and historiography, as well as feminist performance theory.

Read more at the website of the UT College of Fine Arts . . . .

IMHO: Austin Live Theatre Applause Awards, 2010 - 2011

AUSTIN LIVE THEATRE “APPLAUSE” FOR THE 2010 - 2011 SEASON

from a survey of the 104 productions reviewed since May 1, 2010

In a non-competitive examination of the 2010 - 2011 season so far, ALTcom offers enthusiastic renewed applause to favorite productions, performances and artists listed in the continuation here (click 'Read more' to view all mentions).

ALT reviews appeared over the course of a year but in fact covered only nine months of theatre activity in the greater Austin area. I was away for most of July and August, missing among other events the summer musical season, and I was also out of Austin for most of December.

I've spent a lot of time assembling this collection -- entering happily into the same sort of time trap that catches you when you sit down to go through those boxes of old photos and letters that got stuck in the back of the closet. These really are no more than expressions of my humble opinion, informed by the productions I was fortunate enough to see and probably disinformed by lapses of memory and attention. I see now that the choice after the summer to spend less time in the audience has had an effect. I stayed away from some productions I certainly would have enjoyed and appreciated. This past year I spent less time on the periphery, missing the opportunity to nose into very interesting theatrical developments away from the downtown core.

I've linked the listings to ALT reviews where available, and I've tried to make sure all mentions and credits are correct. If you see any omissions, please let me know at michaelmeigs@austinlivetheatre.com.

Please click here to share again some of my favorites in Austin live theatre from the last twelve months.

Austin's B. Iden Payne Awards, 2009-2010 season

Thanks to the B. Iden Payne Committee, here's a full list of the awards for Austin's stages for 2009-2010:

YOUTH THEATER

Outstanding Production of Youth Theater

There’s a Boy in the Girls’ Bathroom (UT Department of Theatre and Dance)

Outstanding Director of Youth Theater

Judy Matetzschk-Campbell (Just Bee)

Outstanding Performer in Youth Theater

Gricelda Silva (the Boy, The Red Balloon)

MUSIC THEATER

Outstanding Production of Music Theater

The Drowsy Chaperone (Zachary Scott Theatre Center)

Outstanding Director of Music Theater

Nick Demos (The Drowsy Chaperone)

Outstanding Lead Actor in Music Theater

Andrew Cannata (John 1, John 2, John & Jen)

Outstanding Lead Actress in Music Theater

Michelle Haché (Elsie Maynard, The Yeomen of the Guard)

Outstanding Featured Actor in Music Theater

Robert Pierson (Tom, Murder Ballad Murder Mystery)

Outstanding Featured Actress in Music Theater

Content Love Knowles (Tom’s Wife, Lincoln Lady, Murder Ballad Murder Mystery)

COMEDIES

Outstanding Production of a Comedy

The Taming of the Shrew – Original Practices (Hidden Room Theatre)

Outstanding Director of a Comedy

Beth Burns (The Taming of the Shrew – Original Practices)

Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy

Ryan Crowder (Katherina, The Taming of the Shrew – Original Practices)

Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy

Katie deBuys (Agnes White, Bug)

Outstanding Featured Actor in a Comedy

Jude Hickey (Milkman Moe, Pandora et al., Leave It to Beverly)

Outstanding Featured Actress in a Comedy

Xochitl Romero (Lauren, Circle Mirror Transformation)

DRAMAS

Outstanding Production of a Drama

Dionysus in 69 (Rude Mechanicals)

Outstanding Director of a Drama

Connor Hopkins (The Jungle)

Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama

Jacob Trussell (Peer Gynt, Peer Gynt)

Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama

Helen Merino (Mary Stuart, Mary Stuart)

Outstanding Featured Actor in a Drama

Garry Peters (Big Daddy, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof)

Outstanding Featured Actress in a Drama

Feliz Dia McDonald (Ariel, Sycorax)

TECHNICAL

Outstanding Set Design

Ann Marie Gordon (Sleeping Beauty)

Outstanding Lighting Design

Megan M. Reilly (Murder Ballad Murder Mystery)

Outstanding Sound Design

Eliot Haynes (The Jungle)

Outstanding Costume Design

Susan Branch Towne (The Drowsy Chaperone)

Outstanding Music Director

Allen Robertson (The Drowsy Chaperone)

Outstanding Choreographer

Robin Lewis (The Drowsy Chaperone)

Outstanding Original Script

Connor Hopkins (The Jungle)

Outstanding Original Score

Content Love Knowles (Sleeping Beauty)

SPECIAL

Outstanding Cast or Ensemble Performance

The Drowsy Chaperone (cast, Zachary Scott Theatre Center)

Outstanding Young Performer

Matthew Stellato (Falstaff, The Merry Wives of Windsor)

Special Certificate for Puppetry

Trouble Puppet Theater Company, The Jungle

Special Certificate for Translation

Graham Schmidt, The Cherry Orchard

Rudy Kloptik Award for Outstanding Work in Improvisational Theater
(nominated by members of the Austin Improv Collective)

Confidence Men: Improvised Mamet (The Institution Theater)

People’s Choice Award
(chosen by attendees at the awards ceremony)

A Little Night Music, Georgetown Palace Theatre, Georgetown