Seattle Theater Writers Honor Area Theater Artists With The 2014 Gypsy Rose Lee Awards

ACT’s searing production of Ayad Akhtar’s  “The Invisible Hand” won for Best Production of a Play at this year’s Gypsy Rose Lee Awards. Photo by Tim Durkan

Against all odds, the Seattle Theater Writers group has held itself together for the FOURTH straight year to get together and honor excellence for Seattle area theater in the calendar year 2014. After being virtually exiled from Theater Puget Sound’s “Gregory Awards” 5 years ago, the miffed critics gathered together to start their own group to reward local productions and artists. The Gypsy Rose Lee Awards are the only local theater accolades to separately honor work for smaller theaters as well as better funded large theater companies. This year, the group presented awards in 32 categories, divided by size of theater companies and genre of show (musicals honored separately from non-musicals in some categories).

This year’s big winners with nominations as well as wins: Sound Theatre Company for their production of “A Small Fire”. The intimate four hander received 7 nominations and won four Gypsy Awards, including Best Production of a Play (Smaller Theater), Best Director, Best Actress and Best Supporting Actor. Sound also won big at the Gypsy Awards for their musical, “The Wild Party”.

Two local musical productions also scored strongly with this year’s Gypsy Awards. Village Theater’s “In The Heights” grabbed 3 wins out of 6 nominations including Best Production of a Musical and Best Choreography. The annual co-production between ACT and the 5th Avenue Theater for 2014 was their well received “Little Shop of Horrors” which received 7 nominations and won 3 awards including Best Actor in a Musical for Joshua Carter and Best Actress in a Musical for Jessica Skerritt.

And, in of those “Awwwww…..ain’t that cute?!?” moments, Ms Skerritt’s real life husband Dane Stokinger picked up a Gypsy for Best Supporting Actor in a Musical for his work in “Monty Python’s Spamalot” at the 5th Avenue.

Other shows with multiple wins include New Century Theatre’s “Tails of Wasps” which won 3 awards out of 6 nominations including  a win for Best Local Writing for Stephanie Timm, and Seattle Children’s Theater which won for Best Set and Best Lighting for “The Boy at the Edge of Everything”. ACT’s acclaimed production of “The Invisible Hand” also won two awards: Best Production of a Play (Larger Theater) and Best Sound Design.

Greg Lyle-Newton won the Best Actor Gypsy Award for his work in Strawshop’s “The Normal Heart”.
Photo: Erik Stuhaug

Several artists were honored for work in LGBTQ roles and/or work in LGBTQ themed productions. Two AIDS dramas, Strawberry Theatre Workshop’s “The Normal Heart” and Intiman’s “Angels in America” picked up noms and awards including a Best Actor win for The Normal Heart’s Greg Lyle-Newton and a Best Supporting Actor win for Timothy McCuen Piggee in “Angels”. Evelyn DeHais won a Best Supporting Actress award for her work as a trans identified character in Annex’s clever play, “Chaos Theory”.

Evelyn DeHais as Bach in Annex Theatre’s “Chaos Theory”.

Seattle Theatre Writer’s also announced :

a Special Award of Recognition for Mr. Robert Schenkkan for Excellence in Playwriting for his exceptional history of Lyndon BainesJohnson in his two plays, All the Way and The Great Society, presented at Seattle Repertory Theatre.

Mr.Schenkkan’s work has already won a Tony Award among other recognition and we are proud to be able to call him “ours” and to acknowledge his work and the work of all those at Seattle Repertory Theatre and at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival in producing this epic work.

The complete list of nominees and winners in all categories is listed below…winners indicated by bolding/italics.  Congratulations to all!

Excellence in Production of a Play

Larger Theater

• Tails of Wasps – New Century Theatre Company
• The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay – Book-It Repertory Theatre
• The Boy at the Edge of Everything – Seattle Children’s Theatre
• The Invisible Hand – ACT Theatre
• The Normal Heart – Strawberry Theatre Workshop

Smaller Theater

• A Small Fire – Sound Theatre Company
• Blood Countess – Annex Theatre
• Gidion’s Knot – Seattle Public Theater
• Seascape – Theater Schmeater
• The Lisbon Traviata – Theatre22

Excellence in Production of a Musical

• A Little Night Music -SecondStory Repertory
• In the Heights – Village Theatre
• Little Shop of Horrors – The 5th Avenue Theatre/ACT Theatre co-production
• Mary Poppins – Village Theatre
• Monty Python’s Spamalot – The 5th Avenue Theatre

Excellence in Direction of a Play

(Larger Theater)

• Sheila Daniels – The Normal Heart (Strawberry Theatre Workshop)
• Darragh Kennan – Tails of Wasps (New Century Theatre Company)
• John Langs – Bethany (ACT Theatre)
• Allen Nause – The Invisible Hand (ACT Theatre)
• Myra Platt – The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay (Book-It Repertory Theatre)

(Smaller Theater)

• Julie Beckman – A Small Fire (Sound Theatre Company)
• Shana Bestock – Gidion’s Knot (Seattle Public Theater)
• Valerie Curtis-Newton – The Mountaintop (ArtsWest)
• Alicia Mendez – The Pillowman (SecondStory Repertory)
• Bobbin Ramsey – Attempts on Her Life (The Horse in Motion)

Excellence in Direction of a Musical

• Eric Ankrim – In the Heights (Village Theatre)
• Bill Berry – Little Shop of Horrors (The 5th Avenue Theatre/ACT Theatre co-production)
• Brandon Ivie – A Christmas Story (The 5th Avenue Theatre)
• Josh Rhodes – Monty Python’s Spamalot (The 5th Avenue Theatre)
• Steve Tomkins – Funny Girl (Village Theatre)

Excellence in Performance in a Play as a Lead Actor (Male)

(Larger Theater)

• Elijah Alexander – The Invisible Hand (ACT Theatre)
• Frank Boyd – The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay (Book-It Repertory Theatre)
• William Hall Jr. – A Lesson From Aloes (Thalia’s Umbrella)
• Greg Lyle-Newton – The Normal Heart (Strawberry Theatre Workshop)
• Connor Toms – The Invisible Hand (ACT Theatre)

(Smaller Theater)

• Gordon Carpenter – A Small Fire (Sound Theatre Company)
• Daniel Christensen – The Lisbon Traviata (Theatre22)
• Matthew Gilbert – The Elephant Man (STAGEright Theatre)
• Reginald Andre Jackson – The Mountaintop (ArtsWest)
• Will Rose – Don Quixote and Sancho Panza: Homeless in Seattle (ese Teatro)

Excellence in Performance in a Musical as a Lead Actor (Male)

• Greg McCormick Allen – Mary Poppins (Village Theatre)
• LeRoy Bell – Passing Strange (Sidecountry Theatre)
• Joshua Carter – Little Shop of Horrors (The 5th Avenue Theatre/ACT Theatre co-production)
• Ryan McCabe -La Cage aux Folles (SecondStory Repertory)
• Wade McCollum – Ernest Shackleton Loves Me (Balagan Theatre)

Excellence in Performance in a Play as a Lead Actor (Female)

(Larger Theater)

• Emily Chisholm – Bethany (ACT Theatre)
• Helen Harvester – Diana of Dobsons (Taproot Theatre)
• Tracy Michelle Hughes – Pretty Fire (Taproot Theatre)
• Pamela Reed – Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf (Seattle Repertory Theatre)
• Gillian Williams – Venus in Fur (Seattle Repertory Theatre)

(Smaller Theater)

• Mary Ewald – Hamlet (New City Theater)
• Peggy Gannon – Blood Relations (Sound Theatre Company)
• brianne a. hill – The Mountaintop (ArtsWest)
• Teri Lazzara – A Small Fire (Sound Theatre Company)
• Terri Weagant – Blood Countess (Annex Theatre)

Excellence in Performance in a Musical as a Lead Actor (Female)

• Sarah Rose Davis – Funny Girl (Village Theatre)
• Cayman Ilika – Mary Poppins (Village Theatre)
• Jennifer Littlefield – A Little Night Music (SecondStory Repertory)
• Jessica Skerritt – Little Shop of Horrors (The 5th Avenue Theatre/ACT Theatre co-production)
• Valerie Vigoda – Ernest Shackleton Loves Me (Balagan Theatre)

Excellence in Performance of a Play as a Supporting Actor (Male) – any non-lead

(Larger Theater)

• Peter Crook – The Normal Heart (Strawberry Theatre Workshop)
• Quinn Franzen – The Importance of Being Earnest (Seattle Shakespeare Company)
• Todd Jefferson Moore – Royal Blood (Onward Ho Productions)
• Timothy McCuen Piggee – Angels in America (Intiman Theatre)
• Michael Winters – All the Way/The Great Society (Seattle Repertory Theatre)

(Smaller Theater)

• Andrew Lee Creech – Girl You Know It’s True (The Stay Up Late Show/Theatre Off Jackson co-production)
• Eric Mulholland – The Lisbon Traviata (Theatre22)
• Carter Rodriquez – Uncle Vanya (Akropolis Performance Lab)
• Ray Tagavilla – A Small Fire (Sound Theatre Company)
• James Weidman – Blood Countess (Annex Theatre)

Excellence in Performance of a Musical as a Supporting Actor (Male)

• Matt Giles – A New Brain (STAGEright Theatre)
• Justin Huertas – In the Heights (Village Theatre)
• David Anthony Lewis – Little Shop of Horrors (The 5th Avenue Theatre/ACT Theatre co-production)
• John Scott – Funny Girl (Village Theatre)
• Dane Stokinger – Monty Python’s Spamalot (The 5th Avenue Theatre)

Excellence in Performance of a Play as a Supporting Actor (Female)

(Larger Theater)

• Sylvie Davidson – Tails of Wasps (New Century Theatre Company)
• Amy Hill – Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf (Seattle Repertory Theatre)
• Amy Love – Royal Blood (Onward Ho Productions)
• Betsy Schwartz – Tails of Wasps (New Century Theatre Company)
• Amy Thone – The Normal Heart (Strawberry Theatre Workshop)

(Smaller Theater)

• Lisa Branham – Attack of the Killer Murder … of Death! (Theater Schmeater)
• Alyson Scadron Branner – Arcadia (Seattle Public Theatre)
• Evelyn Dehais – Chaos Theory (Annex Theatre)
• Caitlin Frances – Blood Relations (Sound Theatre Company)
• Tracy Leigh – American Wee-Pie (Seattle Public Theatre)

Excellence in Performance of a Musical as a Supporting Actor (Female) – any non-lead

• Taryn Darr – A Chorus Line (The 5th Avenue Theatre)
• Iris Elton – In the Heights (Village Theatre)
• Laura Griffith – Monty Python’s Spamalot (The 5th Avenue Theatre)
• Megan Chenovick – Jerry Springer the Opera (Balagan Theatre)
• Shermona Mitchell – A New Brain (STAGEright Theatre)

Excellence in Performance as an Ensemble

(Larger Theater)

• A Lesson From Aloes – Thalia’s Umbrella (William Hall, Jr., TerryEdward Moore, Pam Nolte)
• Art Dog – Seattle Children’s Theatre (Allen Galli, Auston James, Khanh Doan, Kate Jaeger)
• Tails of Wasps – New Century Theatre Company (Sylvie Davidson, Brenda Joyner, Hannah Mootz, Betsy Schwartz,Paul Morgan Stetler)
• The Invisible Hand – ACT Theatre (Elijah Alexander, Erwin Galan, William Ontiveros, Connor Toms)
• The Normal Heart – Strawberry Theatre Workshop (Stephen Black, Rob Burgess, Peter Crook, Brian Culbertson, Joseph Cummings, Simon Hamlin, Greg Lyle-Newton, Andrew Russell, Amy Thone)

(Smaller Theater)

• A Small Fire – Sound Theatre Company (Gordon Carpenter, SaraCoates, Teri Lazzara, Ray Tagavilla)
• Attack of the Killer Murder … of Death! – Theater Schmeater (Ashley Bagwell, Alyssa Bostwick, Lisa Branham, Nik Doner, Alyssa Keene, J.D. Lloyd, Corey McDaniel, Tim Moore, Allie Pratt, Lisa Viertel, Lantz Wagner)
• Gidion’s Knot – Seattle Public Theater (Heather Hawkins, Rebecca Olson)
• Horse Girls – Annex Theatre (Erin Bednarz, Rachel Brow, Elizabeth Grant, Kasey Harrison, Anastasia Higham, Pilar O’Connell, Sascha Streckel)
• Seascape – Theater Schmeater (Paul Custodio, Lori Lee Haener, Josh Ryder, Katherine Woolverton)

Excellence in Set Design

(Larger Theater)

• Scott Bradley – A Great Wilderness (Seattle Repertory Theatre)
• Andrea Bryn Bush – Twelfth Night (Seattle Shakespeare Company)
• Matthew Smucker – Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf (Seattle Repertory Theatre)
• Carey Wong – The Boy at the Edge of Everything (Seattle Children’s Theatre)
• Jennifer Zeyl – Royal Blood (Onward Ho Productions)

(Smaller Theater)

• Robin Macartney – Girl You Know It’s True (The Stay Up Late Show/Theatre Off Jackson co-production)
• Robin Macartney – Balconies (Annex Theatre)
• Cate McCrea – Returning to Albert Joseph (Satori Group)
• Montana Tippett – A Small Fire (Sound Theatre Company)
• Burton Yuen – The Mountaintop (ArtsWest)

Excellence in Costume Design

(Larger Theater)

• Anastasia Armes – Royal Blood (Onward Ho Productions)
• Sarah Burch Gordon – Diana of Dobsons (Taproot Theatre)
• Christine Meyers – Twelfth Night (Seattle Shakespeare Company)
• Pete Rush – Truth Like the Sun (Book-It Repertory Theatre)
• Cynthia Savage – Mary Poppins (Village Theatre)

(Smaller Theater)

• Julia Evanovich – Attack of the Killer Murder…Of Death! (Theater Schmeater)
• Candace Frank – American Wee-Pie (Seattle Public Theater)
• Cami Funk – Balconies (Annex Theatre)
• Desiree Jones – The Hunchback of Seville (Washington Ensemble Theatre)
• Scarlett O’Hairdye – Girl You Know It’s True (The Stay Up Late Show/Theatre Off Jackson co-production)

Excellence in Lighting Design

(Larger Theater)

• Brian Bembridge – Mary’s Wedding (New Century Theatre Company)
• Kristeen Willis Crosser – The Invisible Hand (ACT Theatre)
• L.B. Morse – A Great Wilderness (Seattle Repertory Theatre)
• Alexander V. Nichols – Ernest Shackleton Loves Me (Balagan Theatre)
• Andrew D. Smith – The Boy at the Edge of Everything (Seattle Children’s Theatre)

(Smaller Theater)

• Mark Chenovick and Jen Klos -The Pillowman (SecondStory Repertory)
• Marnie Cummings – Returning to Albert Joseph (Satori Group)
• Dani Norberg – The Mountaintop (ArtsWest)
• Gwyn Skone – Blood Countess (Annex Theatre)
• Sara Torres – Marisol (The Collision Project)

Excellence in Sound Design

(Larger Theater)

• Obadiah Eaves – A Great Wilderness (Seattle Repertory Theatre)
• Brendan Patrick Hogan – The Invisible Hand (ACT Theatre)
• Matt Starritt – The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay (Book-It Repertory Theatre)
• Nathan Wade – Frankenstein; Or, The Modern Prometheus (Book-It Repertory Theatre)
• Robertson Witmer and Kevin Heard – Ernest Shackleton Loves Me (Balagan Theatre)

(Smaller Theater)

• Al Angel – Attack of the Killer Murder… of Death! (Theater Schmeater)
• Josh Blaisdel – The Lisbon Traviata (Theatre22)
• Mark Chenovick and Jen Klos – A Little Night Music (SecondStoryRepertory)
• Evan Mosher – Returning to Albert Joseph (Satori Group)
• James Schreck – Attempts on Her Life (The Horse in Motion)

Excellence in Musical Direction

• Paul Linnes – A Little Night Music (SecondStory Repertory)
• Ryan O’Connell – Ernest Shackleton Loves Me (Balagan Theatre)
• RJ Tancioco – In the Heights (Village Theatre)
• RJ Tancioco – Little Shop of Horrors (The 5th Avenue Theatre/ACT Theatre co-production)
• Tim Symons and Bruce Monroe – Funny Girl (Village Theatre)

Excellence in Choreography or Movement

• Bill Berry – Little Shop of Horrors (The 5th Avenue Theatre/ACT Theatre co-production)
• Kristin Holland Bohr – Funny Girl (Village Theatre)
• Diana Cardiff – Girl You Know Its True (The Stay Up Late Show/Theatre Off Jackson co-production)
• Daniel Cruz – In the Heights (Village Theatre)

Excellence in Local Playwriting

• Kelleen Conway Blanchard – Blood Countess (Annex Theatre)
• Samuel D. Hunter – A Great Wilderness (Seattle Repertory Theatre)
• Wayne Rawley – Attack of the Killer Murder … of Death! (Theater Schmeater)
• Jeff Schwager – The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay (Book-It RepertoryTheatre)
• Stephanie Timm – Tails of Wasps (New Century Theatre Company)

Excellence in Local Composing

• Obadiah Eaves – A Great Wilderness (Seattle Repertory Theatre)
• Zhenya Lavy – Uncle Vanya (Akropolis Performance Lab)
• Mark Siano and Opal Peachey – Seattle Vice (Marxiano Productions)