One of this year's special Tony Award honorees Julie Harris was the guest of honor at the Boston-based Elliot Norton Awards ceremony May 20. The 20th annual celebration of all things theatrical in the Greater Beantown area was held at the Stuart Street Playhouse. Simon Russell Beale and Tony Award nominee Andrea Martin were among the few who took home acting nods.

The awards — named for the distinguished drama critic — were selected by a committee of eight members of the Boston Theater Critics Association including Terry Byrne, Carolyn Clay, Iris Fanger, Joyce Kulhawik, Jon Lehman, Bill Marx, Ed Siegel and Caldwell Titcomb.

The winners are:

Outstanding Actress, Large Company:
Andrea Martin in Betty's Summer Vacation (Huntington Theatre Company)

Outstanding Actress, Small Company:
Nancy E. Carroll in Bailegangaire (Súgán Theatre Company) Outstanding Actor, Large Company:
Simon Russell Beale in Hamlet (Broadway in Boston, Wilbur Theatre)

Outstanding Actor, Small Company:
Robert Pemberton in Much Ado About Nothing (Publick Theatre), Lobby Hero (Lyric Stage Company of Boston) and Shel's Shorts (Market Theatre)

Outstanding Production by a Large Resident Company:
Homebody/Kabul (Oskar Eustis, director; Trinity Repertory Company)

Outstanding Musical Production by a Large Company:
Contact (Susan Stroman, director; Broadway in Boston, Colonial Theatre

Outstanding Production by a Small Resident Company:
Twelfth Night (Steven Maler, director; Commonwealth Shakespeare Company)

Outstanding Musical Production by a Small Company:
Sunday in the Park with George (Spiro Veloudos, director; Lyric Stage Company of Boston)

Outstanding Visiting Production:
The Glass Menagerie (Michael Wilson director; Hartford Stage, presented by the American Repertory Theatre)

Outstanding Production by a Local Fringe Company:
The Laramie Project (Nancy Curran Willis and Jason Southerland, co-directors; Boston Theatre Works)

Outstanding Solo Performance:
The Last Letter (Frederick Wiseman, director; Market Theatre)

Outstanding Director, Large Company:
Nicholas Martin for Betty's Summer Vacation (Huntington Theatre Company)

Outstanding Director, Small Company:
Carmel O'Reilly for The Lonesome West and Bailegangaire (Súgán Theatre Company)

Outstanding Set Design:
Alexander Dodge forTwelfth Night (Commonwealth Shakespeare Company) and Heartbreak House (Huntington Theatre Company)

Outstanding Costume Design:
Gail Astrid Buckley for Curse of the Bambino (Lyric Stage Company of Boston), Much Ado About Nothing (Publick Theatre), Twelfth Night (Commonwealth Shakespeare Company) and Shel's Shorts (Market Theatre)

The Norton Prize for Sustained Excellence was awarded to Barbara Meek, an actress who has graced the New England stages for 34 years. A special 20th Anniversary Award was given to American Repertory Theatre founding artistic director Robert Brustein for his work culminating over two decades in the Boston area. A final Special Citation was presented to Eliza Rose Fichter, a young actress, for her turns as children in A Russian Tea Party (Women on Top Festival/Underground Railway Theatre and Centagstage Performance Group), One Flea Spare (New Repertory Theatre), The Miracle Worker (Lyric Stage Company of Boston) and Reason (Market Theatre).

— by Ernio Hernandez