Jason Graae and critic Wenzel Jones co-host the event.
Awards will be given in 20 categories, honoring excellence in theatre over the past year. Eight special awards will also be given, including an award honoring Kirk Douglas for his lifetime contribution to Los Angeles theatre.
Among the titles nominated in the Production category are Life Could Be a Dream, Munched, No Man's Land, Parade, Stick Fly, The Happy Ones and The Pain and the Itch.
Broadway songwriters Susan Birkenhead and Charles Strouse were nominated for the score to the Broadway-aimed Minsky's.
Broadway and TV actress Laurie Metcalf ("Roseanne," November) was nominated in the Lead Performance category for her work in Voice Lessons. The 2009 Special Award recipients are:
Solo Performance
Danny Hoch, Taking Over, Center Theatre Group at the Kirk Douglas Theatre
Makeup Design
Ann Closs-Farley, Land of the Tigers, The Sacred Fools Theater Company & Burglars of Hamm in association with Frantic Redhead Productions at Sacred Fools Theater
Puppet Design
Wes Crain, Lena Garcia, Lynn Jeffries, Elizabeth Luce, and Brian White, Gogol Project, Rogue Artists Ensemble in association with Bootleg Theater at Bootleg Theater
The nominees for the 2009 Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle Awards for theatrical excellence are:
Production
Life Could Be a Dream, David Elzer, Peter Schneider & Crooning Crabcakes, LLC, Hudson Mainstage
Munched, Buzzworks Theater Company, El Centro Theatre
No Man's Land, Odyssey Theatre Ensemble, Odyssey Theatre
Parade, Center Theatre Group and the Donmar Warehouse, Mark Taper Forum
Stick Fly, The Matrix Theatre Company, Matrix Theatre
The Happy Ones, South Coast Repertory, South Coast Repertory
The Pain and the Itch, The Theatre @ Boston Court and Furious Theatre Company, Theatre @ Boston Court
McCulloh Award for Revival (shows between 1920 and 1980)
Equus, The Production Company, Chandler Studio Theatre
Hair, Chance Theater, Chance Theater
The Browning Version, Pacific Resident Theatre, Pacific Resident Theatre
Direction
Sean T. Cawelti, Gogol Project, Rogue Artists Ensemble in association with Bootleg Theater at Bootleg Theater
Duane Daniels, Munched, Buzzworks Theater Company at the El Centro Theatre
Shirley Jo Finney, Stick Fly, The Matrix Theatre
Marilyn Fox, The Browning Version, Pacific Resident Theatre
Oanh Nguyen, Hair, Chance Theater
Writing
Julie Hébert, Tree, Ensemble Studio Theatre—LA at [Inside] the Ford
Bruce Norris, The Pain and the Itch, The Theatre @ Boston Court and Furious Theatre Company at the Theatre @ Boston Court
Kim Porter, Munched, Buzzworks Theater Company at the El Centro Theatre
Brian Christopher Williams, Anita Bryant Died for Your Sins, West Coast Ensemble at the El Centro Theatre
Writing (Adaptation)
Kitty Felde, Gogol Project, Rogue Artists Ensemble in association with Bootleg Theater at Bootleg Theater
Meryl Friedman, The Wasps, Stinger Productions at The Lost Studio
Music Direction
Brent Crayon, Songs for a New World, International City Theatre
David O, The Wasps, The Lost Studio
Michael Paternostro, Life Could Be a Dream, Hudson Mainstage
Phil Reno, Minsky's, Center Theatre Group at the Ahmanson Theatre
Bill Strongin, Hair, Chance Theatre
Choreography
Matthew Bourne, Stephen Mear, and Geoffrey Garratt, Mary Poppins, Disney and Cameron Mackintosh at the Ahmanson Theatre
Ameenah Kaplan, Altar Boyz, Celebration Theatre
Kelly Todd, Hair, Chance Theater
Musical Score
Susan Birkenhead and Charles Strouse, Minsky's, Center Theatre Group at the Ahmanson Theatre
Anthony Bollas, Stranger, Bootleg Theater
Erin Kamler, Divorce! The Musical, Hudson Mainstage
Lead Performance
Sam Anderson, The Bird and Mr. Banks, The Road Theatre Company at the Lankershim Arts Center
Johnny Clark, Blackbird, VS. Theatre Company at the Elephant Studio Space
Jade Dornfeld, Blackbird, VS. Theatre Company at the Elephant Studio Space
Bruce French, The Browning Version, Pacific Resident Theatre
Jim Hanna, Equus, The Production Company at The Chandler Studio Theatre
Deidrie Henry, Coming Home, The Fountain Theatre
William Dennis Hurley, Shining City, The Fountain Theatre
Michael Kostroff, The Producers, Musical Theatre West at the Carpenter Performing Arts Center
Alan Mandell, No Man's Land, Odyssey Theatre
Laurie Metcalf, Voice Lessons, Zephyr Theater
Darin Singleton, The Unseen, The Road Theatre Company at the Lankershim Arts Center
Samantha Sloyan, Munched, Buzzworks Theater Company at the El Centro Theatre
Featured Performance
Hugo Armstrong, Land of the Tigers, The Sacred Fools Theater Company & Burglars of Hamm in association with Frantic Redhead Productions at Sacred Fools Theater
Chuma Gault, Tree, Ensemble Studio Theatre—LA at [Inside] the Ford
P.J. Griffith, Setup & Punch, The Blank Theatre Company at the 2nd Stage Theatre
Andrea Hutchman, Munched, Buzzworks Theater Company at the El Centro Theatre
Heather Lee, No Way to Treat a Lady, Colony Theatre
Sally Smythe, The Browning Version, Pacific Resident Theatre
Greg Watanabe, The Happy Ones, South Coast Repertory
Jacqueline Wright, Tree, Ensemble Studio Theatre—LA at [Inside] the Ford
Ensemble Performance
Hair, Chance Theater
Hunter Gatherers, Furious Theatre Company at the Carrie Hamilton Theatre
Life Could Be a Dream, Hudson Mainstage
Our Mother's Brief Affair, South Coast Repertory
Stick Fly, The Matrix Theatre
The Pain and the Itch, The Theatre @ Boston Court and Furious Theatre Company at the Theatre @ Boston Court
Set Design
John Iacovelli, Stick Fly, The Matrix Theater
Jeff McLaughlin, A Skull in Connemara, Theatre Tribe Stephanie Kerley Schwartz, Treefall, Rogue Machine at Theatre/Theater
Lighting Design
Lap-Chi Chu, Our Mother's Brief Affair, South Coast Repertory Haylee Freeman, Gogol Project, Rogue Artists Ensemble in association with Bootleg Theater at Bootleg Theater
David Lander, Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo, Center Theatre Group at the Kirk Douglas Theatre
Dan Weingarten, Stranger, Bootleg Theater
Costume Design
Gregg Barnes, Minsky's, Center Theatre Group at the Ahmanson Theatre
Ann Closs-Farley, Land of the Tigers, The Sacred Fools Theater Company & Burglars of Hamm in association with Frantic Redhead Productions at Sacred Fools Theater
Shigeru Yaji, Peace, The Getty Villa
Sound Design
Ron Klier, Blackbird, Elephant Theatre Lab
John Nobori, Gogol Project, Rogue Artists Ensemble in association with Bootleg Theater at Bootleg Theater
Ken Sawyer, Dracula, Noho Arts Center
CGI/Video
John MacDonald, Hair, Chance Theater
Brian White, Gogol Project, Rogue Artists Ensemble in association with Bootleg Theater at Bootleg Theater
Fight Choreography
Brian Danner, Macbeth, Theater Banshee
Victor Warren, Stranger, Bootleg Theater
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The Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle was founded in 1969. It is dedicated to excellence in theatrical criticism, and to the encouragement and improvement of theatre in Greater Los Angeles.
For tickets, visit LADCC's website, at www.ladramacriticscircle.com.
