The B. Iden Payne Awards Council is pleased to present the 2011-2012 B. Iden Payne Award Nominees. These artists have made outstanding theatrical contributions to the Austin community and we thank them.

Join us, Monday, October 29th, 2012, 7pm at the New Topfer Theatre at ZACH, as we recognize the recipients of the 38th Annual B. Iden Payne Awards. We also are pleased to welcome Guest speaker Council Member Laura Morrison as she shares with us the impact of the Theatre and the Arts in Austin and how we, as practitioners and supporters may continue to elevate the impact of both.

Become a subscriber of BIPAC today and receive both your 2011-2012 Nominations Ballot and one General Admission ticket to the ceremony.

Congratulations to the nominees and thank you to our supporters. Bravo!

DRAMA

Outstanding Production

• The Aliens (Hyde Park Theatre)
• Now Now Oh Now (Rude Mechanicals)
• The Orchid Flotilla (Glass Half Full Theatre)
• Riddley Walker (Trouble Puppet Theatre Company)
• Rose Rage (The Hidden Room)

Outstanding Direction

• Beth Burns (Rose Rage)
• Daria Davis (Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde)
• Connor Hopkins and Jeanine Lisa (Riddley Walker)
• Shawn Sides (Now Now Oh Now)
• Ken Webster (The Aliens)

Outstanding Lead Actor

• Jon Cook (Evan) The Aliens
• Joseph Garlock (Dragon, Loserboy) The Dragon Play
• Jude Hickey (K.J.) The Aliens
• Jonathan Itchon (Joshua) Corpus Christi
• Sam Mercer (Carmine) Housebreaking

Outstanding Lead Actress

• Kim Adams (Narrator) The Pavilion
• Babs George (Kate Keller) All My Sons
• Caroline Reck (Woman) The Orchid Flotilla
• Erin Treadway (Cleo) The Twelfth Labor
• Nikki Zook (Karen Wright) The Children’s Hour

Outstanding Featured Actor

• Travis Dean (Jakob Engstrand) Ghosts
• Joey Hood (Jasper) The Aliens
• Sam Mercer (Soranzo) ’Tis Pity She’s a Whore
• Michael Slefinger (Giuliano) Big Love
• Rommel Sulitl (Man) The Dragon Play

Outstanding Featured Actress

• Elizabeth Bigger (Magda) Housebreaking
• Stephanie Carll (Paulina) The Winter’s Tale
• Vanessa Marie (Nurse Susie Monohan) W;t
• Martina Ohlhauser (Jacqueline de Severac) Murder on the Nile
• Breanna Stogner (Tchiripacha, Edie, Eliza) The 21 Would-Be Lives of Phineas Hamm

Click to view nominations in additional categories: Play for Youth, Music Theatre, Comedy, Technical and Special Awards

Profile: Ken Webster, Hyde Park Theatre, by the B. Iden Payne Awards Council

Ken is featured artist of the month for July at the 'Artist Profile' page of the reformulated B. Iden Payne Awards Council:

JULY PROFILE:

KEN WEBSTER, ARTISTIC DIRECTOR, HYDE PARK THEATRE

Ken Webster, Hyde Park Theatre

Youthful aspirations: I wanted to be a baseball player when I was a kid, but I was a terrible  baseball player, so that wasn’t going to happen. I went to the  University of Houston, where I started out as a drama major, but then I  panicked and decided I would never be able to make a living doing  theatre, so I became a radio, television and film major.

Early career: After I graduated, I had a job offer to be a disc jockey in Baton  Rouge, but I got the itch to do theatre again, so I came to Austin, with  no job prospects. I came to Austin for a woman who I never wound up  dating. I was interested in this woman, and I thought that since I was  in the same city, we might strike up a relationship. That didn’t work  out [laughs].

Multi-talented: Some people think I’m a better actor than a director; some people might  think I’m a better director than actor. I don’t know which is true.  I’ve been acting longer than I’ve been directing. I started acting in  Austin in 1979; I started directing out of necessity in 1982. I was  producing a show and I lost my director, so I wound up directing Little Murders. Mary Louise Parker was in that cast.

Strengths: I think I have pretty good taste in scripts and pretty good taste in  actors. Even people who think I’m not the greatest director in the world  will tell you I’m pretty good at casting [laughs]. There’s a common  misperception that I cast the same people in my shows. I’ve been  directing [in Austin] now for 30 years, and I’ve cast over 200 actors,  and any time I [re]cast one of those 200 actors, people go, “Aha! You  see? He casts the same actors!” In the show I’m doing now [Tigers Be Still], there are two actors I’ve never worked with before.

What he looks for in actors: Sanity is a very valued commodity – who is the most sane and pleasant  and seemingly easy to work with. I look for people who are open to  trying different things and aren’t totally set in their ways.

Challenges: We tend to do smaller cast shows for economic reasons and space issues.  We don’t have the most luxurious or spacious dressing rooms. Middletown will be really challenging because I have 11 actors playing 23 roles.

Influential Figures: I met my wife, Katherine Catmull, at an audition at Hyde Park Theatre in 1984. I was having auditions for Sexual Perversity in Chicago by David Mamet. Katherine was the roommate of an actor who I wanted to  cast in the role of Danny Shapiro; and I mistakenly thought they were a  couple, because they were living together, and she read really well. I  thought it would be neat to cast these real-life lovers in the roles of  the lovers in the play. I came to find out they weren’t dating; they  were just platonic friends. My wife has been really supportive all these  years. She turned me on to Harold Pinter, which really changed my  professional career. Jim Fritzler, who was head of Big State  Productions, is probably the best director I’ve ever worked with and he  taught me a lot about directing. He had great instincts, was really  great at working with actors, and he also had excellent taste in  scripts. He was kind of a curmudgeon at times, but he such a sweet and  gentle man when he’s directing.

Coming up: Tigers Be Still by Kim Rosenstock – a wonderful comedy with some serious bits thrown in; Middletown by Will Eno in September and October; and the 20^th anniversary of Fronterafest.

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

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. . . .

Austin's B. Iden Payne Award Winners for Performance and Stagecraft, 2010-2011

Published by the B. Iden Payne Committee, October 25:

2010-2011 B. Iden Payne Award Recipients

DRAMA

Outstanding Production

• Frankenstein: The Trouble Puppet Show (Trouble Puppet Theater Company)

Outstanding Direction

• Connor Hopkins (Frankenstein: The Trouble Puppet Show)

Outstanding Lead Actor

• Justin Scalise (Hamlet) Hamlet [Scottish Rite Theatre and Black Swan Events]

Outstanding Lead Actress

• Babs George (Martha) Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?

Outstanding Featured Actor

• Travis Dean (Baylor) A Lie of the Mind

Outstanding Featured Actress

• Rebecca Robinson (Beth) A Lie of the Mind

Click to view full list at AustinLiveTheatre.com or go to the website for the B. Iden Payne Committee

Snapshot: Current Reservations for the B. Iden Payne awards at the Paramount Theatre, October 24

A reminder to members of the Austin Creative Alliance: you have until midnight on Friday, October 14 to vote on-line for the B. Iden Payne stage awards for 2010-2011. You should have received that advisory about a week ago.

Thinking about splashing out $35 to $75 to attend the B. Iden Payne awards to be staged at the State Theatre at the Paramount on Monday, October 24, at 8 p.m.?

Here's the link for ticketing for the event, now being sponsored not by the Austin Creative Alliance, but instead by the B. Iden Payne committee, spun off on September 27 as a self-supporting sponsored project of the Alliance. The Paramount's ticketing service charges a $3 service charge per order. And here's what the seat map looks like as of today, October 5:

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

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

Nominations for B. Iden Payne Austin theatre awards, 2009-2010

Published September 29:

2009-2010 nominations for B. Iden Payne theatre awards

published September 28, 2010 at
http://www.bidenpayneawards.com/2010/09/2009-2010-nominations/

YOUTH THEATRE

Outstanding Production of Youth Theatre

* Call It Courage (Zachary Scott Theatre Center Performing Arts School)
* Everything About a Day (Almost) (Zachary Scott Theatre Center Performing Arts School)
* Greeks Alive! (Pollyanna Theatre Company)
* Just Bee (Pollyanna Theatre Company)
* There’s a Boy in the Girls’ Bathroom (UT Department of Theatre and Dance)

Outstanding Director of Youth Theatre

* Brian C. Fahey (There’s a Boy in the Girls’ Bathroom) – UT Department of Theatre and Dance
* Jaclyn Loewenstein (Everything About a Day (Almost)) – Zachary Scott Theatre Center Performing Arts School
* Judy Matetzschk-Campbell (Greeks Alive!) – Pollyanna Theatre Company
* Judy Matetzschk-Campbell (Just Bee) – Pollyanna Theatre Company
* Adam Roberts (Call It Courage) – Zachary Scott Theatre Center Performing Arts School

Outstanding Performer in Youth Theatre

* Stevi Baston (Carla Davis, There’s a Boy in the Girls’ Bathroom) – UT Department of Theatre and Dance
* Jon Cook (Bradley Chalkers, There’s a Boy in the Girls’ Bathroom) – UT Department of Theatre and Dance
* Steven Fay (Mr. Kirby, You Can’t Take It With You) – VORTEX Repertory Company
* Rachel McGinnis (Queen Honey, Just Bee) – Pollyanna Theatre Company
* Gricelda Silva (the Boy, The Red Balloon) – Tongue and Groove Theatre

MUSIC THEATRE

Outstanding Production of Music Theatre

* The Drowsy Chaperone (Zachary Scott Theatre Center)
* Murder Ballad Murder Mystery (TUTTO Theatre Company and VORTEX Repertory Company)
* Sleeping Beauty (VORTEX Repertory Company)
* Sweet Charity (Summer Stock Austin)
* The Yeomen of the Guard (Gilbert and Sullivan Society of Austin)

Outstanding Director of Music Theatre

* Bonnie Cullum (Sleeping Beauty) – VORTEX Repertory Company
* Nick Demos (The Drowsy Chaperone) – Zachary Scott Theatre Center
* Ralph MacPhail, Jr. (The Yeomen of the Guard) – Gilbert and Sullivan Society of Austin
* Ginger Morris (Sweet Charity) – Summer Stock Austin
* Dustin Wills (Murder Ballad Murder Mystery) TUTTO Theatre Company and VORTEX Repertory Company

Outstanding Lead Actor in Music Theatre

* Andrew Cannata (John 1, John 2, John & Jen) – Penfold Theatre Company
* David Gallagher (Ash, Evil Dead) – Doctuh Mistuh Productions and Salvage Vanguard Theater
* Jamie Goodwin (Stine, City of Angels) – St. Edward’s Mary Moody Northen Theatre
* Holton Johnson (Col. Fairfax, The Yeomen of the Guard) – Gilbert and Sullivan Society of Austin
* Scott Shipman (Oliver Warbucks, Annie) – Zilker Theatre Productions

Outstanding Lead Actress in Music Theatre

* Emily Bem (Miss Hannigan, Annie) – Zilker Theatre Productions
* Patricia Combs (Phoebe Meryll, The Yeomen of the Guard) – Gilbert and Sullivan Society of Austin
* Michelle Haché (Elsie Maynard, The Yeomen of the Guard) – Gilbert and Sullivan Society of Austin
* Corley Pillsbury (Cheryl, Evil Dead) – Doctuh Mistuh Productions and Salvage Vanguard Theater

Outstanding Featured Actor in Music Theatre

* Matt Connely (Jake, Evil Dead) – Doctuh Mistuh Productions and Salvage Vanguard Theater
* David Fontenot (Wilfred Shadbolt, The Yeomen of the Guard) – Gilbert and Sullivan Society of Austin
* Kirk German (Rooster, Annie) – Zilker Theatre Productions
* Jon Wayne Martin (Pancho Vargas, Lt. Munoz, City of Angels) – St. Edward’s Mary Moody Northen Theatre
* Robert Pierson (Tom, Murder Ballad Murder Mystery) – TUTTO Theatre Company and VORTEX Repertory Company

Outstanding Featured Actress in Music Theatre

* Jill Blackwood (Rona Lisa Peretti, The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee) – Zachary Scott Theatre Center
* Florinda Bryant (Stagger Lee, Murder Ballad Murder Mystery) – TUTTO Theatre Company and VORTEX Repertory Company
* Lucy Jennings (Olive Ostrovsky, The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee) – Zachary Scott Theatre Center
* Content Love Knowles (Tom’s Wife, Lincoln Lady, Murder Ballad Murder Mystery) – TUTTO Theatre Company and VORTEX Repertory Company
* Liz Newchurch (Little Red Riding Hood, Into the Woods) – City Theatre Company

COMEDIES

Outstanding Production of a Comedy

* Becky’s New Car (Zachary Scott Theatre Center)
* Body Awareness (Hyde Park Theatre)
* Bug (Capital T Theatre)
* The Cherry Orchard (Breaking String Theater)
* The Taming of the Shrew – Original Practices (Hidden Room Theatre)

Outstanding Director of a Comedy

* Beth Burns (The Taming of the Shrew – Original Practices) – Hidden Room Theatre
* Heather Huggins (Direct Object) – DA! Theatre Collective
* Derek Kolluri (Dead White Males) – Sustainable Theatre Project
* Mark Pickell (Bug) – Captial T Theatre
* Graham Schmidt (The Cherry Orchard) – Breaking String Theatre

Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy

* Ryan Crowder (Katherina, The Taming of the Shrew – Original Practices) – Hidden Room Theatre
* Judd Farris (Petrucio, The Taming of the Shrew – Original Practices) – Hidden Room Theatre
* Joey Hood (Augustine Early, The Atheist) – Hyde Park Theatre
* Robert Matney (Albert Einstein, Picasso at the Lapin Agile) – Austin Playhouse
* Matt Radford (Yermolay Lopakhin, The Cherry Orchard) – Breaking String Theatre

Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy

* Katie deBuys (Agnes White, Bug) – Capital T Theatre
* Lauren Lane (Becky Foster, Becky’s New Car) – Zachary Scott Theatre Center
* Rebecca Robinson (Maxine, Sick) – Capital T Theatre
* JoJanie Segura (Carolina, Keeping Track) – Teatro Vivo
* Nikki Zook (Clarissa Hailsham-Brown, Spider’s Web) – Different Stages

Outstanding Featured Actor in a Comedy

* Dennis Kelleher Bailey (Pettlogg, Dead White Males) – Sustainable Theatre Project
* Jude Hickey (Milkman Moe, Pandora et al., Leave It to Beverly) – DA! Theatre Collective
* Doug Lebelle (Milt Fields, Laughter on the 23rd Floor) – City Theatre Company
* Stephen Mercantel (Jared, Body Awareness) – Hyde Park Theatre
* Nigel O’Hearn (Trofimov, The Cherry Orchard) – Breaking String Theatre

Outstanding Featured Actress in a Comedy

* Suzanne Balling (Doris, Dead White Males) – Sustainable Theatre Project
* Elizabeth Bigger (Peggy, Cheryl, Mom 2, Fluffy, The Most Fabulous Story Ever Told) – City Theatre Company
* Katherine Catmull (Marty, Circle Mirror Transformation) – Hyde Park Theatre
* Liz Fisher (Varya, The Cherry Orchard) – Breaking String Theatre
* Xochitl Romero (Lauren, Circle Mirror Transformation) – Hyde Park Theatre

DRAMAS

Outstanding Production of a Drama

* Agnes of God (City Theatre Company)
* Bash: Three Plays (vestige group)
* Dionysus in 69 (Rude Mechanicals)
* Dying City (Capital T Theatre)
* The Jungle (Trouble Puppet Theater Company)

Outstanding Director of a Drama

* Andy Berkovsky (Agnes of God) – City Theatre Company
* Madge Darlington and Shawn Sides (Dionysus in 69) – Rude Mechanicals
* Jeff Hinkle (Cat on a Hot Tin Roof) – City Theatre Company
* Connor Hopkins (The Jungle) – Trouble Puppet Theater Company
* Derek Kolluri (Dying City) – Capital T Theatre

Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama

* Sean Martin (Walker, Ned, Three Days of Rain) – Penfold Theatre Company
* Josh Meyer (Stork, A Brief Narrative of an Extraordinary Birth of Rabbits) – Salvage Vanguard Theater
* Mark Scheibmeir (Peter, Craig, Dying City) – Capital T Theatre
* David Stahl (Galileo Galilei, The Life of Galileo) – St. Edward’s Mary Moody Northen Theatre
* Jacob Trussell (Peer Gynt, Peer Gynt) – St. Edward’s Mary Moody Northen Theatre

Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama

* Kristen Bennett (Ruth Younger, A Raisin in the Sun) – City Theatre Company
* Liz Fisher (Kelly, Dying City) – Capital T Theatre
* Rachel McGinnis (Maggie, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof) – City Theatre Company
* Helen Merino (Mary Stuart, Mary Stuart) – Austin Shakespeare
* Bernadette Nason (everyone, A Christmas Carol) – Austin Playhouse
* Nicole Swahn (Eurydice, Eurydice) – Different Stages

Outstanding Featured Actor in a Drama

* Aaron Alexander (Zeus, Cinyras, Ceyx, Morpheus, Spirit of the Tree, Hades, Metamorphoses) – Zachary Scott Theatre Center
* Marc Balester (Nasty Interesting Man, Lord of the Underworld, Eurydice) – Different Stages
* Duncan Coe (Button Moulder, Groom’s Father, Bugelbrain, ensemble, Peer Gynt) – St. Edward’s Mary Moody Northen Theatre
* Gabriel Luna (Lover, Machinal) – Paper Chairs
* Garry Peters (Big Daddy, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof) – City Theatre Company

Outstanding Featured Actress in a Drama

* Terri Bennett (Big Mama, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof) – City Theatre Company
* Jen Brown (woman, “Medea Redux,” Bash) – vestige group
* Smaranda Ciceu (Cassandra, The Trojan Women) – UT Department of Theatre and Dance
* Sheila Gordon (Åsa, ensemble, Peer Gynt) – St. Edward’s Mary Moody Northen Theatre
* Lindsley Howard (Jean, Early Girl) – Paladin Theatre Company
* Feliz Dia McDonald (Ariel, Sycorax) – Weird Sisters Women’s Theater Collective

TECHNICAL

Outstanding Set Design

* Ann Marie Gordon (Sleeping Beauty) – VORTEX Repertory Company
* Connor Hopkins (The Jungle) – Trouble Puppet Theater Company
* Lisa Laratta (Murder Ballad Murder Mystery) – TUTTO Theatre Company and VORTEX Repertory Company
* Anne McMeeking (Three Days of Rain) – Penfold Theatre Company
* Mark Pickell and Tommy Grubbs (Bug) – Capital T Theatre

Outstanding Lighting Design

* Jason Amato (The Red Balloon) – Tongue and Groove Theatre
* Jason Amato (Sleeping Beauty) – VORTEX Repertory Company
* Mark Pickell (Bug) – Capital T Theatre
* Stephen Pruitt (The Jungle) – Trouble Puppet Theater Company
* Megan M. Reilly (Murder Ballad Murder Mystery) – TUTTO Theatre Company and VORTEX Repertory Company

Outstanding Sound Design

* Craig Brock (The Drowsy Chaperone) – Zachary Scott Theatre Center
* Eliot Haynes (The Jungle) – Trouble Puppet Theater Company
* Adam Hilton (Bug) – Capital T Theatre
* Adam Hilton (The Cherry Orchard) – Breaking String Theatre
* Content Love Knowles (Eurydice) – Different Stages

Outstanding Costume Design

* Ia Enstera (Just Bee) – Pollyanna Theatre Company
* Pam Fletcher-Friday and Griffon Ramsey (Sleeping Beauty) – VORTEX Repertory Company
* Kim H. Ngo (Murder Ballad Murder Mystery) – TUTTO Theatre Company and VORTEX Repertory Company
* Susan Branch Towne (The Drowsy Chaperone) – Zachary Scott Theatre Center
* Cherie Weed (The Taming of the Shrew – Original Practices) – Hidden Room Theatre

Outstanding Music Director

* Jeffrey Jones-Ragona (The Yeomen of the Guard) – Gilbert and Sullivan Society of Austin
* Content Love Knowles (Sleeping Beauty) – VORTEX Repertory Company
* Adam Roberts (The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee) – Zachary Scott Theatre Center
* Allen Robertson (The Drowsy Chaperone) – Zachary Scott Theatre Center
* Mark Stewart and Andy Tindall (Murder Ballad Murder Mystery) – TUTTO Theatre Company and VORTEX Repertory Company

Outstanding Choreographer

* Lisa del Rosario (Leave It to Beverly) – DA! Theatre Collective
* Robin Lewis (The Drowsy Chaperone) – Zachary Scott Theatre Center
* Adam Roberts (Call It Courage) – Zachary Scott Theatre Center Performing Arts School
* Vincent Sandoval (Sweet Charity) – Summer Stock Austin
* Nicole Whiteside (Metamorphoses) – Zachary Scott Theatre Center

Outstanding Original Script

* the company (Suitors and Tutors) – La Fenice
* Connor Hopkins (The Jungle) – Trouble Puppet Theater Company
* Adam Overett (Call It Courage) – Zachary Scott Theatre Center Performing Arts School
* Louis Sachar (There’s a Boy in the Girls’ Bathroom) – UT Department of Theater and Dance
* Erica Saenz (Keeping Track) – Teatro Vivo

Outstanding Original Score

* Matt Hines (Melancholy Play) – Palindrome Theatre
* Content Love Knowles (Sleeping Beauty) – VORTEX Repertory Company
* Kevin O’Donnell (The Trojan Women) – UT Department of Theatre and Dance
* Justin Sherburn (The Jungle) – Trouble Puppet Theater Company
* Mark Stewart and Andy Tindall (Murder Ballad Murder Mystery) – TUTTO Theatre Company and VORTEX Repertory Company

SPECIAL

Outstanding Cast or Ensemble Performance

* Agnes of God (cast, City Theatre Company)
* Dionysus in 69 (cast, Rude Mechanicals)
* The Drowsy Chaperone (cast, Zachary Scott Theatre Center)
* Murder Ballad Murder Mystery (ensemble, musicians, pimps, TUTTO Theatre Company and VORTEX Repertory Company)
* Sleeping Beauty (ensemble, the Fae, VORTEX Repertory Company)

Outstanding Young Performer

* Sarah Burke (Charity Hope Valentine, Sweet Charity) – Summer Stock Austin
* Josean Rodriguez (Oscar Lidquist, Sweet Charity) – Summer Stock Austin
* Olivia Schuh (Molly, Annie) – Zilker Theatre Productions
* Matthew Stellato (Falstaff, The Merry Wives of Windsor) – Austin Shakespeare’s Young Shakespeare Program
* Alina Vega (Mother, ** performances, Call It Courage) – Zachary Scott Theatre Center Performing Arts School

Special Certificate for Puppetry: Trouble Puppet Theater Company, The Jungle

Special Certificate for Translation: Graham Schmidt, The Cherry Orchard – Breaking String Theatre

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

* Austin Secrets (The Hideout Theatre)
* ColdTowne (ColdTowne Theater)
* Confidence Men: Improvised Mamet (The Institution Theater)
* Dusk: Improvised Tween Erotica (Gnap! Theater Projects)
* The Frank Mills (ColdTowne Theater)

Austin Theatre Awards: B. Iden Payne Committee Has New Website, Invites Applications

The Greater Austin Creative Alliance (GACA) has established a website for the B. Iden Payne Awards, the competitive nominating and selection process for stage productions for the September - August annual season. Members of the Creative Alliance vote in September on a nomination list established by the committee, and results are celebrated in October.

Committee members are volunteers, GACA members from various branches of the arts. The Committee invites applications for vacancies that may occur at the opening of the stage season. Click on the image to go to the new website for further information.

A note: for their production of The Fantasticks, UT alumni Harvey Schmidt and Tom Jones reportedly were thinking of B. Iden Payne with their affectionate portray of Henry the old stage actor, an itinerant comic figure valiantly stiff in the joints and occasionally bewildered in his Shakespearian memories. UT celebrates the 50th anniversary of the play's first Off Broadway staging in October of this year.

Click for a biography of Ben Iden Payne and a history of the awards.

Arts Reporting: Full List of 2008-2009 B. Iden Payne Awards for Austin Theatre

The official list, from GACA's "Now Playing Austin" blog, October 19:

2008-2009 B. Iden Payne Awards

MUSIC THEATER

Outstanding Production of Music Theater
Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (Summer Stock Austin)

Outstanding Director of Music Theater
Michael McKelvey (Sweeney Todd)

Outstanding Lead Actor in Music Theater
Andrew Cannata (Sid Sorokin, The Pajama Game)

Outstanding Lead Actress in Music Theater
Kathleen Fletcher (Mrs. Lovett, Sweeney Todd)

Outstanding Featured Actor in Music Theater
Aaron Moten (Judge Turpin, Sweeney Todd)

Outstanding Featured Actress in Music Theater
Julia Duffy (Gladys, The Pajama Game)

COMEDIES

Outstanding Production of a Comedy
Black Snow (TUTTO Theatre Company)

Outstanding Director of a Comedy
Mark Pickell (Killer Joe)

Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy
Martin Burke (Bastian, House of Several Stories)

Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy
Lauren Lane (Sue, House of Several Stories)

Outstanding Featured Actor in a Comedy
Travis Dean (mugged shopper, “Windchimes and Varicose Cream,” I ♥ Walmart)

Outstanding Featured Actress in a Comedy
Suzanne Balling (Maryamma, Miss Witherspoon)

Read more at AustinLiveTheatre.com . . . .

Arts Reporting: Austin's B. Iden Payne Theatre Awards, October 18

B. Iden Payne awards
as reported in real time by @travisbedard via Twitter



THEATRE FOR YOUTH
Actor in a Play for Youth Nathan Jenkins
Actress in a Play for Youth Karen Jambon
Youth Performer Angela Loftus

COMEDY
Director Mark Pickell for Killer Joe
Production Black Snow
Leading Actress Lauren Lane
Leading Actor Martin Burke
Featured Actor Travis Dean
Fetures Actress Suzanne Bolling

DRAMA
Production Ophelia
Drama Dustin Wills
Leading Actress Xochitl Romero
Leading Actor Andrew Varenhorst in Touch
Featured Actor Wray Crawford
Featured Actress Miriam rubin

MUSICAL
Production Sweeney Todd
Director Michael McKelvey
Leading Actress Kathleen Fletcher
Leading Actor Andrew Cannatta
Featured Actor Aaron Motin
Featured Actress Julia Duffy

TECH
Light Design Megan Reilly
Sound Design Roy Taylor
Fight Choreography Travis Dean for Killer Joe
Costume Design Pam Fletcher Friday

OUTSTANDING . . .
Theatrical Event Casket of Passing Fancy
Improv Ensemble Parallelogramophonograph
Ensemble The Maids in Mister Z
Cast Performance NxNW I Love You, You're Perfect, Now CHange
Original Score Aaron Brown

ACOT Announces B. Iden Payne Nominations, 2008-2009, September 17

The B. Iden Payne nominating committee of the Austin Circle of Theatres has just made public the nominations for ACOT's B. Iden Payne awards. ACOT members will be invited to download the list, vote and return votes for tabulation.

The awards and pre-show reception will once again be at the Rollins Studio Theatre in the Long Center:
Sunday, October 18th. The Pre Show reception begins at 5:30pm and the show at 7pm.

Dave Buckman of The Frank Mills and show coordinator for the Austin Improv Collective will direct the show itself.

ACoT’s special "Outstanding Contribution to Austin Theater" Award recipient will be Shannon Sedwick. And
Robert Faires will do the presenting honors.

2008-2009 B. Iden Payne nominations (partial list)

COMEDIES

Outstanding Production of a Comedy
As You Like It (Scottish Rite Theater)
Black Snow (TUTTO Theatre Company)
Cyrano de Bergerac (SEU Mary Moody Northen Theatre)
House of Several Stories (Imagine That Productions)
Killer Joe (Capital T Theatre)

Outstanding Director of a Comedy
A. John Boulanger (House of Several Stories)
Beth Burns (As You Like It)
Mark Pickell (Killer Joe)
Michelle S. Polgar (Cyrano de Bergerac)
Dustin Wills (Black Snow)

Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy
Martin Burke (Bastian, House of Several Stories)
Scott Daigle (Orlando, As You Like It)
Tyler Jones (Simon Bliss, Hay Fever)
David M. Long (Cyrano de Bergerac, Cyrano de Bergerac)
Gabriel Luna (Sergei Leontievich Maxudov, Black Snow)

Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy
Lauren Lane (Sue, House of Several Stories)
Lorella Loftus (Susan, Good Things)
Meredith McCall (Rissa, House of Several Stories)
Bernadette Nason (Kate, Sylvia)
Jennifer Underwood (Miss Witherspoon, Miss Witherspoon)

Outstanding Featured Actor in a Comedy
Travis Dean (mugged shopper, “Windchimes and Varicose Cream,” I ♥ Walmart)
Matt Radford (Clive, Martin, Cloud 9)
Justin Scalise (Adam, Silvius, As You Like It)
Justin Scalise (William Slate, Kill Will)
Mason Stewart (corporate executive, “Rebranding Meeting,” I ♥ Walmart)

Outstanding Featured Actress in a Comedy
Suzanne Balling (Maryamma, Miss Witherspoon)
Sarah Burkhalter (Edward, Lin, Cloud 9)
Smaranda Ciceu (Ivan Vasilievich, Black Snow)
Jennifer Coy (Twink Futrelle, Christmas Belles)
Jenny Gravenstein (Virginia Madden, Age of Arousal)

DRAMAS

Outstanding Production of a Drama
Fences (City Theatre Company)
Glengarry Glen Ross (City Theatre Company)
The Grapes of Wrath (Zachary Scott Theatre Center)
Ophelia (TUTTO Theatre Company)
Orestes (Cambiare Productions)

Outstanding Director of a Drama
Andy Berkovsky and Charles P. Stites (Glengarry Glen Ross)
Susie Gidseg (Touch)
Will Hollis Snider (Orestes)
Dave Steakley (The Grapes of Wrath)
Dustin Wills (Ophelia)

Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama
Marc Balester (Bernard 1, Bernard 2, Michael, A Number)
David Christopher (Tom Joad, The Grapes of Wrath)
Gabriel Luna (Orestes, Orestes)
Nigel O’Hearn (Edmund Tyrone, Long Day’s Journey Into Night)
Tom Truss (Prince Lev Nikolaevich Myshkin, The Idiot)
Andrew Varenhorst (Kyle Kalke, Touch)

Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama
Janelle Buchanan (Ma Joad, The Grapes of Wrath)
Shannon Grounds (Tish, The Long Now)
Rachel McGinnis (Heidi Holland, The Heidi Chronicles)
Adriene Mishler (Iphigenia, Iphigenia)
Xochitl Romero (Una, Blackbird)

Outstanding Featured Actor in a Drama
Wray Crawford (Shelley Levene, Glengarry Glen Ross)
Sean Martin (Porter, Seyton, Macbeth)
McArthur Moore (Gabriel, Fences)
Justin Scalise (Mercutio, Romeo and Juliet)
Gabriel Smith (Peter, The Heidi Chronicles)

Outstanding Featured Actress in a Drama
Michele Goodson-Burnett (Shana, “Brownies,” Muses III)
Jan Phillips (Nancy, Third)
Anne Putnam (Felicity, The Shadow Box)
Miriam Rubin (Agnes, The Shadow Box)
La Tasha Stephens (Voice of the People, Orestes)

Full list available at ACOT blog or at AustinLiveTheatre.com . . . .

2007-2008 B. Iden Payne award winners, Austin Circle of Theatres

Awards made Sunday, October 26, published at ACOT website:

B. IDEN PAYNE WINNERS 2007-2008

Plays for Youth

Outstanding Production of a Play for Youth
'The Red Balloon’ (Tongue and Groove Theatre)

Outstanding Director of a Play for Youth
Andrea S. Smith ("Wiley and the Hairy Man")

Outstanding Actor in a Play for Youth
Mark Stewart (the Boy, ‘The Red Balloon’)

Outstanding Actress in a Play for Yout
Kristin Bennett (Mammy, ‘Wiley and the Hairy Man’)

Music Theatre

Outstanding Production of Music Theatre
'Troades: The Legend of the Women of Troy’ (VORTEX Repertory Company)

Outstanding Director of Music Theatre
Bonnie Cullum (‘Troades’)

Outstanding Lead Actor in Music Theatre
Cedric Neal (Sportin’ Life, ‘Porgy and Bess’)

Outstanding Lead Actress in Music Theatre
Marva Hicks (Bess, ‘Porgy and Bess’)

Outstanding Featured Actor in Music Theatre
James La Rosa (Abraham, ‘Altar Boyz’))

Outstanding Featured Actress in Music Theater
Janis Stinson (Maria, ‘Porgy and Bess’)

Comedies

Outstanding Production of a Comedy
'Dog Sees God: Confessions of a Teenage Blockhead’ (Hyde Park Theatre)

Outstanding Director of a Comedy
Ken Webster (‘Dog Sees God’)

Outstanding Lead Actor in of a Comedy
Matthew Radford (‘Benedick,’ ‘Much Ado About Nothing’)

Outstanding Lead Actress in of a Comedy
Katherine Catmull (Winnie, ‘Happy Days’)

Outstanding Featured Actor in of a Comedy
Ben Wolfe (Michael, ‘Featuring Loretta’)

Outstanding Featured Actress in of a Comedy
Bernadette Nason (Madame Arcati, ‘Blithe Spirit’)

Dramas
Outstanding Production of a Drama
"Doubt’ (Zachary Scott Theatre Center)

Outstanding Director of a Drama
Shawn Sides (‘The Method Gun’)

Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama
David Stahl (‘Henry Drummond,’ ‘Inherit the Wind’)

Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama
Kathleen Fletcher (Catherine Holly, ‘Suddenly Last Summer’)

Outstanding Featured Actor in a Drama
Tyler Jones (Happy, ‘Death of a Salesman’)

Outstanding Featured Actress in a Drama
Rachel McGinnis (Zubaida Ula et al., ‘The Laramie Project’)

Cast

Outstanding Cast Performance
'The Beauty Queen of Leenan’e (Renaissance Austin Theatre and VORTEX Repertory Company)

Outstanding Ensemble Performance
Content Love Knowles, Betsy McCann, Kira Parra, Emerald Mystiek, Ashley Edwards, Leigh Shaw and Elizabeth Rast (Chorus, ‘Troades’)

Youth Performer
Outstanding Youth Performance
David Bologna (Mickey, ‘Golly Gee Whiz!’)

Technical Achievement Awards

Outstanding Set Design
Arthur Adair (‘The Red Balloon’)

Outstanding Lighting Design :
Jason Amato (‘Troades’)

Outstanding Sound Design:
Jeffrey Alan Jones (‘Death and the King’s Horseman’)

Outstanding Costume Design:
Derek Whitener (‘Porgy and Bess’)

Outstanding Music Director:
Justin Sherburn (‘The Red Balloon’)

Outstanding Choreographer
Robin Lewis (‘Porgy and Bess’)

Outstanding Original Script:
Zell Miller, III (‘Radio Silence’)

Outstanding Original Score:
Justin Sherburn (‘The Red Balloon’)

SPECIAL AWARDS

Austin Circle of Theaters Speical Recognition Award for Outstanding Contribution to the Theatre and Performing Arts:
Jason Amato

ACoT's Rudy Kloptic Award for Outstanding Improvistional Theatre
Given in 2008 to Austin's "Improvisational Dream Team" ( the best reps of improvisational theatre, both on stage and in the community.)
Dave Buckman, Asaf Ronen, Tami Nelson, Chris Trew, Michael, Jastroch, Shana Merlin, Roy Janik, and Justin York

B. Iden Payne Committee's Standing Ovation Certificate:
Outstanding Achievement in Animation to Leah Sharpe for ‘The Red Balloon’

Robert Faires' account of the evening, published in the Austin Chronicle of October 30