2015 LA Stage Alliance Ovation Awards Winners

The 2015 LA STAGE Alliance Ovation Awards, celebrating theatrical excellence and achievement during the past 12 months, were presented on Monday, Nov. 9 at the Ahmanson Theatre at The Music Center.

Cast of The Gospel At Colonus

Thirty-five awards were bestowed upon 18 different Southern California theatre companies. The most honored companies of the year were The Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts/Deaf West Theatre/Cody Lassen (Spring Awakening); Center Theatre Group (Chavez Ravine: An L.A. Revival, The Price, Luna Gale); Circle X Theatre Company (Trevor); Ebony Repertory Company (The Gospel at Colonus); Sacred Fools Theater Company (The Behavior of Broadus, a co-production with Burglars of Hamm and Center Theatre Group); Four Larks (The Temptation of St Antony); and Loft Ensemble (She Kills Monsters).

Other companies honored were 3-D Theatricals, Actors Co-op, Cabrillo Music Theatre, Coeurage Theatre Company, Los Angeles Performance Practice, The Pasadena Playhouse, Rogue Machine, Unbound Productions, and VS. Theatre Company. The Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts received the Best Season Award (Enter Laughing, Love, Noël: The Letters and Songs of Noël Coward, Spring Awakening). 

LA STAGE Alliance Board Chair Brian Kite said, “What a night! It is always a thrill to gather the Los Angeles theatre community together to honor excellence. The work on our stages this year was invigorating, riveting, thought provoking, and daring. Congratulations to all the artists that keep LA theatre among the best in the world. Bravo!”

Sarah Lyding, Senior Program Officer for The Sheri and Les Biller Family Foundation, presented  the  BEST  Awards,  including  checks  totaling  $105,000  to the following LA theatre companies: Casa 0101 (also won in 2012), Center Theatre Group, East West Players (also won  in 2013 and 2014), The Pasadena Playhouse, and Watts Village Theater Company. 

Additionally, Center Theatre Group presented the 2015 Sherwood Award for innovative and adventurous artists to Miwa Matreyek. This award is endowed by the Sherwood family and is accompanied by $10,000 to further Matreyek’s artistic work. 

The ceremony was hosted by French and Vanessa Claire Stewart, and this year’s presenters included LA theatre luminaries (in alphabetical order) Keith Allan, Bekah Brunsetter, Lap Chi Chu, Guillermo Cienfuegos, Tim Dang, Abigail Deser, Robert Egan, Christina Elmore, Ann Closs Farley, Shirley Jo Finney, Brighid Fleming, David and Kiki Gindler, Harry Groener, Sofia Klatzker, Michael Kricfalusi, Deborah Lawler, Alan Mandell, Terence McFarland, Stephen Sachs, Oz Scott, Madhuri Shekar, Trent Steelman, Seema Sueko, Jose Luis Valenzuela, and Kirsten Vangsness.

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 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 September 1, 2014 through August 31, 2015.

Since 1975, LA STAGE Alliance has dedicated to building awareness, appreciation, and support for the performing arts in Greater Los Angeles. All of its initiatives aim to serve and strengthen the sector — both at an individual and community level — providing resources that facilitate audience engagement, collaborative marketing, community building, and professional development.

Sponsors for this year’s Ovation Awards ceremony were The Sheri & Les Biller Family Foundation, TheaterMania, Goldstar, Walt Disney Imagineering Creative Entertainment, USC School of Dramatic Arts, UCLA School of Theater, Film & Television, Green Hasson Janks, Bakers Man Productions, Performances Magazine, City Tavern, Peter Konerko Photography, and Ken Werther Publicity. Variety was the media sponsor. 

A complete list of winners: 

BEST SEASON
WALLIS ANNENBERG CENTER FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS
ENTER LAUGHING - THE MUSICAL
LOVE, NOËL: THE LETTERS AND SONGS OF NOËL
COWARD
SPRING AWAKENING

BEST PRODUCTION OF A PLAY (INTIMATE THEATRE)
TREVOR
Circle X Theatre Company

BEST PRODUCTION OF A PLAY (LARGE THEATRE)
CHAVEZ RAVINE: AN L.A. REVIVAL
Center Theatre Group

BEST PRODUCTION OF A MUSICAL (INTIMATE THEATRE)
SPRING AWAKENING
Deaf West Theatre

BEST PRODUCTION OF A MUSICAL (LARGE THEATRE)
SPRING AWAKENING
Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts, Deaf West Theatre, and Cody Lassen

BEST PRESENTED PRODUCTION
LUNA GALE
Center Theatre Group

ACTING ENSEMBLE OF A PLAY
THE TEMPTATION OF ST ANTONY
Four Larks

ACTING ENSEMBLE OF A MUSICAL
SPRING AWAKENING
Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts, Deaf West Theatre, and Cody Lassen

CHOREOGRAPHY
SPENCER LIFF
SPRING AWAKENING
Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts, Deaf West Theatre, and Cody Lassen

MUSIC DIRECTION
ABDUL HAMID ROYAL
THE GOSPEL AT COLONUS Ebony Repertory Theatre

BOOK OF AN ORIGINAL MUSICAL
CAROLYN ALMOS, MATT ALMOS,
JON BEAUREGARD & ALBERT DAYAN
THE BEHAVIOR OF BROADUS
Sacred Fools Theater Company, Burglars of Hamm & Center Theatre Group

LYRICS/COMPOSITION OF AN ORIGINAL MUSICAL
BRENDAN MILBURN, MATT ALMOS & BURGLARS OF HAMM
THE BEHAVIOR OF BROADUS
Sacred Fools Theater Company, Burglars of Hamm & Center Theatre Group

PLAYWRITING FOR AN ORIGINAL PLAY
NICK JONES
TREVOR
Circle X Theatre Company

DIRECTION OF A MUSICAL
MICHAEL ARDEN
SPRING AWAKENING
Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts, Deaf West Theatre, and Cody Lassen

DIRECTION OF A PLAY
MICHAEL MATTHEWS
FAILURE: A LOVE STORY Coeurage Theatre Company

LEAD ACTOR IN A MUSICAL
TODD ADAMSON as Huey
MEMPHIS
Cabrillo Music Theatre

LEAD ACTRESS IN A MUSICAL
CHRISTANNA ROWADER as Mother
RAGTIME
3-D Theatricals

LEAD ACTOR IN A PLAY
JIMMI SIMPSON as Trevor
TREVOR
Circle X Theatre Company

LEAD ACTRESS IN A PLAY
LAURIE METCALF as Sandra
TREVOR
Circle X Theatre Company

FEATURED ACTOR IN A MUSICAL
SAMUEL BUTLER as Balladeer
THE GOSPEL AT COLONUS Ebony Repertory Theatre

FEATURED ACTRESS IN A MUSICAL
NICOE POTTS as Soloist
THE GOSPEL AT COLONUS Ebony Repertory Theatre

FEATURED ACTOR IN A PLAY
ALAN MANDELL as Gregory Solomon
THE PRICE
Center Theatre Group

FEATURED ACTRESS IN A PLAY
REBECCA MOZO as W
COCK
Rogue Machine

LIGHTING DESIGN (INTIMATE THEATRE)
JARED SAYEG
PICNIC
The Antaeus Company

LIGHTING DESIGN (LARGE THEATRE)
BEN STANTON
SPRING AWAKENING
Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts, Deaf West Theatre, and Cody Lassen

SCENIC DESIGN (INTIMATE THEATRE)
DARCY SCANLIN
COMPLETENESS
VS. Theatre Company & Firefly Theater & Films

SCENIC DESIGN (LARGE THEATRE)
TOM BUDERWITZ
THE WHIPPING MAN Pasadena Playhouse

SOUND DESIGN (INTIMATE THEATRE)
JOHN ZALEWSKI
THE DAY SHALL DECLARE IT
Los Angeles Performance Practice

SOUND DESIGN (LARGE THEATRE)
DREW DALZELL & NOELLE HOFFMAN
WICKED LIT 2014 Unbound Productions

COSTUME DESIGN (INTIMATE THEATRE)
VICKI CONRAD
THE MYSTERY OF EDWIN DROOD Actors Co-op

COSTUME DESIGN (LARGE THEATRE)
CHRISTOPHER ACEBO
CHAVEZ RAVINE: AN L.A. REVIVAL Center Theatre Group

VIDEO/PROJECTION DESIGN
JASON THOMPSON
CHAVEZ RAVINE: AN L.A. REVIVAL Center Theatre Group

OVATION HONORS 

COMPOSITION FOR A PLAY
MAT SWEENEY & ELLEN WARKENTINE
THE TEMPTATION OF ST ANTONY Four Larks

FIGHT CHOREOGRAPHY
MIKE MAHAFFEY
SHE KILLS MONSTERS Loft Ensemble

PUPPET DESIGN
TED BLEGEN
SHE KILLS MONSTERS Loft Ensemble

For more information, visit lastagealliance.com.