The winners for the 9th annual Gypsy Rose Lee Awards from the Seattle Theater Writer’s group were announced Friday, January 31, 2020 honoring the best in Seattle area theater for 2019.
Among the big winners were Seattle Repertory Theatre’s highly acclaimed production of Indecent which shared Best Production of a Play and Best Direction honors with Village Theatre’s production of The Curious Incident Of The Dog In The Night-Time. Indecent also won awards for Musical Direction and Lighting Design while “Dog in the Night-Time” snagged wins for Best Lead Actor, Best Sound Design and Best Video Design.
For smaller theater companies, the big winners were Sound Theatre Company’s production of the play Citizen, which was a co-production with The Hansberry Project and a locally written play, Sheathed from Macha Theatre Works who both shared the award for Best Play Production. Citizen also won for Best Direction of a Play and Outstanding Ensemble while Sheathed won for Best Leading Performance and Best Play writing.
Washington Ensemble Theatre mostly swept the Design categories in the Smaller Theater category for their spooky thriller Feathers & Teeth, winning for Best Scenic Design, Best Lighting Design and Best Sound Design.
On the musical theater side, the ACT Theatre/5th Avenue Theatre co-production of Urinetown snagged awards for Supporting Performance in a Musical and Best Costumes, while the brand new musical, The Last World Octopus Wrestling Champion by out gay actor/writer/composer Justin Huertas and produced by ArtWest Playhouse won Best Musical Production, Best Lead Performance in a Musical and Best Composing.
The Gypsy Rose Lee Awards of 2019 go to:
(Winners denoted by a *** in front of their name, some categories have more than one winner)
Excellence in Production of a Play:
(Large Theaters):
| *** Indecent – Seattle Repertory Theatre |
| Nina Simone: Four Women – Seattle Repertory Theatre |
| Pass Over – ACT Theatre |
| Take Me Out – Strawberry Theatre Workshop |
| *** The Curious Incident Of The Dog In The Night-Time – Village Theatre |
(Small Theaters):
| *** Citizen – Sound Theatre Company and The Hansberry Project |
| Fire Season – Seattle Public Theater |
| *** Sheathed – Macha Theatre Works |
| The Christians – Pony World Theatre |
| White – Theatre22 |
Excellence in Production of a Musical:
| Head Over Heels – ArtsWest |
| Million Dollar Quartet – Village Theatre |
| *** The Last World Octopus Wrestling Champion – ArtsWest |
| The Light in the Piazza – Showtunes Theatre |
| Urinetown – The 5th Avenue Theatre and ACT Theatre |
Excellence in Direction of a Play:
(Large Theaters):
| Tim Bond – Pass Over (ACT Theatre) |
| Greg Carter – Take Me Out (Strawberry Theatre Workshop) |
| Valerie Curtis-Newton – Nina Simone: Four Women (Seattle Repertory Theatre) |
| *** Sheila Daniels – Indecent (Seattle Repertory Theatre) |
| *** Jerry Dixon – The Curious Incident Of The Dog In The Night-Time (Village Theatre) |
(Small Theaters):
| Julie Beckman – The Revolutionists (Theater22) |
| Corey McDaniel and Tayo Talabi –White (Theatre22) |
| Anita Montgomery – Dry Land (Seattle Public Theater) |
| *** Jay O’Leary – Citizen (Sound Theatre Company and The Hansberry Project) |
| Amy Poisson – Sheathed (Macha Theatre Works) |
Excellence in Direction of a Musical:
| Bill Berry – Urinetown (The 5th Avenue Theatre and ACT Theatre) |
| Karen Lund – Bright Star (Taproot Theatre) |
| Scott Weinstein – Million Dollar Quartet (Village Theatre) |
| Mathew Wright – The Last World Octopus Wrestling Champion (ArtsWest) |
| *** Mathew Wright – Head Over Heels (ArtsWest) |
Excellence in Performance in a Play as a Lead Actor:
(Large Theaters):
| Andi Alhadeff – Indecent (Seattle Repertory Theatre) |
| Ian Bond – American Junkie (Book-It Repertory Theatre) |
| Bradford Farwell – Indecent (Seattle Repertory Theatre) |
|
Gin Hammond – Returning the Bones (Book-It Repertory Theatre) |
| *** Michael Krenning – The Curious Incident Of The Dog In The Night-Time (Village Theatre) |
| Lamar Legend – Take Me Out (Strawberry Theatre Workshop) |
| Treavor Lovelle – Pass Over (ACT Theatre) |
| Ayo Tushinde – Bulrusher (Intiman Theatre) |
| *** Shontina Vernon – Nina Simone: Four Women (Seattle Repertory Theatre) |
| James Yi – Kim’s Convenience (Taproot Theatre) |
(Small Theaters):
| Libby Barnard – Dry Land (Seattle Public Theater) |
| Allyson Lee Brown – Citizen (Sound Theatre Company and The Hansberry Project) |
| *** Sunam Ellis – Sheathed (Macha Theatre Works) |
| Aishé Keita – Sunset Baby (ArtsWest) |
| Teri J. Lazzara – Trevor (MAP Theatre) |
| Shermona Mitchell – White (Theatre22) |
| Christian Quinto – Office Hour (ArtsWest) |
| Brandon Ryan – Trevor (MAP Theatre) |
| *** Kathryn Van Meter – Fire Season (Seattle Public Theater) |
| Erika Vetter – Lungs (Really Really Theatre Group) |
Excellence in Performance in a Musical as a Lead Actor:
| John Countryman – Million Dollar Quartet (Village Theatre) |
| Rachel Guyer-MaFuné – Howl’s Moving Castle (Book-It Repertory Theatre) |
| Olivia Hernandez – Austen’s Pride (The 5th Avenue Theatre) |
| *** Corinna Lapid Munter – The Last World Octopus Wrestling Champion (ArtsWest) |
| Billie Wildrick – The Light in the Piazza (Showtunes Theatre) |
Excellence in Performance of a Play as a Supporting Actor – any non-lead:
(Large Theaters):
| Carol Dennis – Shout Sister Shout! (Seattle Repertory Theatre) |
| Sunam Ellis – Uncle Vanya (The Seagull Project and ACTLab) |
| *** Monika Jolly – People of the Book (ACT Theatre) |
| Jon Lutyens – Take Me Out (Strawberry Theatre Workshop) |
| Craig Peterson – Take Me Out (Strawberry Theatre Workshop) |
| Shaunyce Omar – Nina Simone: Four Women (Seattle Repertory Theatre) |
| Jéhan Ósanyín – The Curious Incident Of The Dog In The Night-Time (Village Theatre) |
| *** Peter Sakowicz – Everything Is Illuminated (Book-It Repertory Theatre) |
| Amy Thone – Romeo and Juliet (ACT Theatre) |
| Michael Winters – Everything Is Illuminated (Book-It Repertory Theatre) |
(Small Theaters):
| *** Shanna Allman – The Revolutionists (Theatre22) |
| Mike Dooly – Fire Season (Seattle Public Theater) |
| Sunam Ellis – The Christians (Pony World Theatre) |
| *** Kathy Hsieh – Washer/Dryer (Pratidhwani and SiS Productions) |
| *** Suzy Hunt – John (ArtsWest) |
| Shermona Mitchell – B (Washington Ensemble Theatre) |
| Marianne Owen – John (ArtsWest) |
| Abhijeet Rane – Language Rooms (Pony World Theatre) |
| Funé Tautala – Sheathed (Macha Theatre Works) |
Excellence in Performance of a Musical as a Supporting Actor – any non-lead:
| Nik Hagen – Rock of Ages (The 5th Avenue Theatre) |
| Kataka Corn – Head Over Heels (ArtsWest) |
| Michael Krenning – The Light in the Piazza (Showtunes Theatre) |
| *** Arika Matoba – Urinetown (The 5th Avenue Theatre and ACT Theatre) |
| Rafael Molina – The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee (Village Theatre) |
| Mari Nelson – Urinetown (The 5th Avenue Theatre and ACT Theatre) |
| Brandon O’Neill – Urinetown (The 5th Avenue Theatre and ACT Theatre) |
| Alex Sturtevant – Head Over Heels (ArtsWest) |
Excellence in Performance as an Ensemble:
(Large Theaters):
| As You Like It (Public Works) – Seattle Repertory Theatre |
| Indecent – Seattle Repertory Theatre (Bradford Farwell, Julie Briskman, Ron Orbach, Cheyenne Casebier, Nathaniel Tenenbaum, Andi Alhadeff, Antoine Yared, Alexander Sovronsky, Kate Olson, Jamie Maschler) |
| Million Dollar Quartet – Village Theatre (Skye Scott, Brian Grey, Jason Kappus, John Countryman, Matt Wade, Cayman Ilika, James ‘Rif’ Reif, Chris Jones) |
| *** Nina Simone: Four Women – Seattle Repertory Theatre (Shontina Vernon, Shaunyce Omar, Britney Nicole Simpson, Porscha Shaw) |
| Pass Over – ACT Theatre (Treavor Lovelle, Preston Butler III, Avery Clark) |
| The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee – Village Theatre (Justin Huertas, Sarah Russell, Rafael Molina, MJ Sieber, Arika Matoba, Taylor Niemeyer, Jessica Skerritt, Brian Lange, Nicholas Japaul Bernard) |
| The Curious Incident Of The Dog In The Night-Time – Village Theatre (Michael Krenning, Jéhan Òsanyìn , James D. Sasser, Kathryn Van Meter, Anne Allgood, Eric Polani Jensen, William Shindler, Rob Burgess, Keiko Green, Cheryl Massey-Peters) |
(Small Theaters):
| *** Citizen – Sound Theatre Company and The Hansberry Project (Shermona Mitchell, Allyson Lee Brown, Naa Akua, Nicholas Japaul Bernard, Rebecca Cort, Richard Sean Glen) |
| Head Over Heels – ArtsWest (Mila Jam, Louis Hobson, Ann Cornelius, Rheanna Atendido, Kataka Corn, Eric Dobson, Alex Sturtevant, Joseph Tancioco, Will Chadek, Maddi Chancey, Yena Han, Maleah Haverly, Cherisse Martinelli, Drew O’Donnell, Adrian Renon, Malcom “MJ” Smith, Spencer Stromberg, Brandon Weglin) |
| Peeling – Sound Theatre Company (Michelle Mary Schaefer, Sydney Maltese, Carolyn Agee) |
| Salty – ReAct Theatre (Varinique Davis, Angela DiMarco, Annelih Hamilton, David S. Hogan, Lia Lee, Tony Magana Jr., Kenon Veno) |
| Sheathed – Macha Theatre Works (Ayo Tushinde, Sunam Ellis, Funé Tautala, Maile Wong, Natalie Berg, Isis King, Dylan Smith) |
| The Last World Octopus Wrestling Champion – ArtsWest (Rachel Guyer-MaFuné, Corinna Lapid Munter, Christian Quinto, Tyler Rogers, Porscha Shaw) |
| Trevor – MAP Theatre (Teri J. Lazzara, Brandon Ryan, Michael D. Blum, Jesse Calixto, Danielle Daggerty, Zenaida Rose Smith) |
Excellence in Scenic Design:
(Large Theaters):
| Martin Christoffel – Urinetown (The 5th Avenue Theatre and ACT Theatre) |
| L.B. Morse – Indecent (Seattle Repertory Theatre) |
| *** Matthew Smucker – Dracula (ACT Theatre) |
| Julia Hayes Welch – Pass Over (ACT Theatre) |
| Mark Wendland – The Curious Incident Of The Dog In The Night-Time (Village Theatre) |
(Small Theaters):
| Lex Marcos – Lungs (Really Really Theatre Group) |
| *** Pete Rush – Feathers and Teeth (Washington Ensemble Theatre) |
| Burton Yuen – John (ArtsWest) |
| Parmida Ziaei – Sheathed (Macha Theatre Works) |
| Parmida Ziaei and Margaret Toomey – White (Theatre22) |
Excellence in Costume Design:
(Large Theaters):
| *** Melanie Taylor Burgess – Urinetown (The 5th Avenue Theatre and ACT Theatre) |
| Beth Goldenberg – Indecent (Seattle Repertory Theatre) |
| Kelly McDonald – The Tempest (Seattle Shakespeare Company) |
| Cathy Meacham Hunt – Guys and Dolls (Village Theatre) |
| Emilio Sosa – Shout Sister Shout! (Seattle Repertory Theatre) |
(Small Theaters):
| *** Jocelyne Fowler – Head Over Heels (ArtsWest) |
| Jocelyne Fowler – The Revolutionists (Theatre22) |
| Jocelyne Fowler – Sheathed (Macha Theatre Works) |
| Ricky German – Is God Is (Washington Ensemble Theatre) |
| Parmida Ziaei and Taya Pyne – Peeling (Sound Theatre Company) |
Excellence in Lighting Design:
(Large Theaters):
| *** Robert J. Aguilar – Indecent (Seattle Repertory Theatre) |
| Amiya Brown – The Curious Incident Of The Dog In The Night-Time (Village Theatre) |
| Thorn Michaels – The Tempest (Seattle Shakespeare Company) |
| Tristan Roberson – American Junkie (Book-It Repertory Theatre) |
| Andrew D. Smith – Dracula (ACT Theatre) |
(Small Theaters):
| Ahren Buhmann – Sheathed (Macha Theatre Works) |
| *** Ryan Dunn – Feathers and Teeth (Washington Ensemble Theatre) |
| Carolina Johnson – The Brothers Paranormal (Pork Filled Productions) |
| Thorn Michaels – Fire Season (Seattle Public Theater) |
| Richard Schaefer – Citizen (Sound Theatre Company and The Hansberry Project) |
Excellence in Sound Design:
(Large Theaters):
| Erin Bednarz – The Tempest (Seattle Shakespeare Company) |
| Sharath Patel – Pass Over (ACT Theatre) |
| Paul James Prendergast – Indecent (Seattle Repertory Theatre) |
| *** Brent Warwick – The Curious Incident Of The Dog In The Night-Time (Village Theatre) |
| Robertson Witmer – Dracula (ACT Theatre) |
(Small Theaters):
| Dominic CodyKramers – John (ArtsWest) |
| Johanna Melamed – Sheathed (Macha Theatre Works) |
| *** Maggie Rogers – Feathers and Teeth (Washington Ensemble Theatre) |
| Troy Lund – The Brothers Paranormal (Pork Filled Productions) |
Excellence in Musical Direction:
| Claire Marx – The Last World Octopus Wrestling Champion (ArtsWest) |
| Brandon Peck – Cabaret (Gilbert & Sullivan Society) |
| *** Alexander Sovronsky – Indecent (Seattle Repertory Theatre) |
| R.J. Tancioco – Head Over Heels (ArtsWest) |
| Nathan Young – The Light in the Piazza (Showtunes Theatre) |
Excellence in Choreography or Movement:
(Large Theaters):
| *** Sonia Dawkins – The Curious Incident Of The Dog In The Night-Time (Village Theatre) |
| Tanya Lockyer – Indecent (Seattle Repertory Theatre) |
| Nikki Long – Guys and Dolls (Village Theatre) |
| William Carlos Angulo – Shout Sister Shout! (Seattle Repertory Theatre) |
(Small Theaters):
| Alyza DelPan-Monley (movement) and May Nguyen Lee (fight director) – Sheathed (Macha Theatre Works |
| Alyza DelPan-Monley – Office Hour (ArtsWest) |
| *** UJ Mangune – Head Over Heels (ArtsWest) |
Excellence in Local Playwriting:
| Kelleen Conway Blanchard – The Neverborn (Annex Theatre) |
| Justin Huertas – The Last World Octopus Wrestling Champion (ArtsWest) |
| *** Maggie Lee – Sheathed (Macha Theatre Works) |
| Myra Platt – Behold the Dreamers (Book-It Repertory Theatre) |
| Aurin Squire – Fire Season (Seattle Public Theater) |
Excellence in Local Composing:
| *** Justin Huertas – The Last World Octopus Wrestling Champion (ArtsWest) |
| Leanna Keith – Sheathed (Macha Theatre Works) |
| Curtis Moore – The Curious Incident Of The Dog In The Night-Time (Village Theatre) |
| Malex Reed – The Tempest (Seattle Shakespeare Company) |
| *** Robertson Witmer and Rachael Beaver – Dracula (ACT Theatre) |
Excellence in Video Design:
| Ahren Buhmann – White (Theatre22) |
| Bryce Bartl-Geller and Broom Cupboard Studio – Feathers and Teeth (Washington Ensemble Theatre) |
| Jared Norman – Peeling (Sound Theatre Company) |
| L.B. Morse – Indecent (Seattle Repertory Theatre) |
| *** Gregory W. Towle – The Curious Incident Of The Dog In The Night-Time (Village Theatre) |
About Seattle Theater Writers:
Founded in 2010 by Miryam Gordon and comprised of local writers and reviewers, Seattle Theater Writers is a group of critic/reviewers dedicated to raising public awareness of theater practitioners and the work produced by professional theater organizations. Seattle Theater Writers’ hope is that these awards might encourage theater attendance and enjoyment of our rich cultural offerings. Born from this mission are the annual Gypsy Rose Lee Awards, recognizing excellence in Seattle theater across 28 categories.
About the Author: Michael Strangeways
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