Everyday Rapture, Glass Menagerie, The Pride Are Among Lortel Award Nominees

By Kenneth Jones
April 1, 2010

Nominations for the 25th Annual Lucille Lortel Awards, celebrating excellence in the 2009-10 Off-Broadway season, were announced April 1 in anticipation of the May 2 awards ceremony. Roundabout Theatre's current The Glass Menagerie, MCC's The Pride and Lincoln Center Theater's current When the Rain Stops Falling each received six nominations.

Among the nominees are Hugh Dancy, Laurie Metcalf, Jayne Houdyshell, Judith Ivey, The Scottsboro Boys, Clybourne Park and more. The Outstanding Director category mixes a two-time Lortel winner David Cromer (2008, 2009) and Lortel winner Joe Mantello (2003) with first-time director nominees Walter Bobbie, Pam MacKinnon and Gordon Edelstein.

Nominations in 14 categories and two special awards were announced by the Off-Broadway League for the 2010 Lucille Lortel Awards recognizing outstanding achievement Off-Broadway. This year's ceremony will benefit The Actors Fund.

With the "Off-Broadway Comes Home" theme, this 25th anniversary show "will feature live performances from outstanding talent that started Off-Broadway, celebrity presenters, a curated gallery of historic programs, production stills, costumes, props from the last 25 years of Off-Broadway and several surprises, all in a new Midtown location, Terminal 5."

This year, members of the general public are welcome to view the ceremony that begins at 8 PM. Public tickets will be $75 and will be available starting on April 1, 2010 on Ticket Central www.ticketcentral.com.

A cocktail reception honoring the nominees will take place on April 19 at 5 PM at Matthew Weingarten's Inside Park at St. Bart's, located at 325 Park Avenue at 50th Street.

NOMINATIONS FOR THE 2010 LUCILLE LORTEL AWARDS

	Victoria Clark in When the Rain Stops Falling.
	photo by T. Charles Erickson

Outstanding Play

Clybourne Park; Playwrights Horizons, Producer; Written by Bruce Norris.

The Brother/Sister Plays; The Public Theater in association with McCarter Theatre, Producers; Written by Tarell Alvin McCraney.

The Orphans' Home Cycle; Signature Theatre Company and Hartford Stage, Producers; Written by Horton Foote.

The Temperamentals; Daryl Roth, Stacy Shane and Martian Entertainment, Producers; Written by Jon Marans.

When The Rain Stops Falling; Lincoln Center Theater, Producer; Written by Andrew Bovell.

Outstanding Musical

Click, Clack, Moo; Theatreworks USA, Producer; Book by Billy Aronson, Lyrics by Kevin Del Aguila, Music by Brad Alexander, Based on the book by Doreen Cronin with illustrations by Betsy Lewin.

Everyday Rapture; Second Stage Theatre, Producer; Written by Dick Scanlan and Sherie Rene Scott.

The Scottsboro Boys; Vineyard Theatre, Producer; Book by David Thompson, Lyrics and Music by John Kander and Fred Ebb.

The Toxic Avenger; Jean Cheever and Tom Polum, Producers; Book and Lyrics by Joe DiPietro, Music and Lyrics by David Bryan, Based on Lloyd Kaufman's The Toxic Avenger.

Yank! A WWII Love Story; The York Theatre Company, Maren Berthelsen/Pamela Koslow/Stuart Wilk, Matt Schicker, Hugh Hayes, Jim Kierstead and Sondra Healy/Shidan Majidi, Producers; Music by Joseph Zellnik, Book and Lyrics by David Zellnik.

Outstanding Solo Show

A Boy and His Soul; Vineyard Theatre, Producer; Written and performed by Colman Domingo.

Let Me Down Easy; Second Stage Theatre, Producer; Written and performed by Anna Deavere Smith.

Nightingale; Manhattan Theatre Club, Producer; Written and performed by Lynn Redgrave.

The Lady With All the Answers; Cherry Lane Theatre, Producer; Written by David Rambo, Performed by Judith Ivey.

Zero Hour; Kurt Peterson and Edmund Gaynes, in association with The Peccadillo Theater Company, Producers; Written and performed by Jim Brochu.

Outstanding Revival

A Lie of the Mind; The New Group, Producer; Written by Sam Shepard.

Candida; The Irish Repertory Theatre and Alexis Doyle, Producers; Written by George Bernard Shaw.

Measure for Measure; Theatre for a New Audience, Producer; Written by William Shakespeare.

The Emperor Jones; The Irish Repertory Theatre, Producer; Written by Eugene O'Neill.

The Glass Menagerie; Roundabout Theatre Company, Producer; Written by Tennessee Williams.

Outstanding Director

Walter Bobbie, Venus in Fur
David Cromer, When the Rain Stops Falling
Gordon Edelstein, The Glass Menagerie
Pam MacKinnon, Clybourne Park
Joe Mantello, The Pride

Outstanding Choreographer

Jeffry Denman, Yank! A WWII Love Story
Ken Roberson, A Boy and His Soul
Wendy Seyb, Click, Clack, Moo
Wendy Seyb, The Toxic Avenger
Susan Stroman, The Scottsboro Boys

	The Pride star Hugh Dancy (Ben Whishaw in foreground).
	photo by Joan Marcus

Outstanding Lead Actor

Hugh Dancy, The Pride
Patch Darragh, The Glass Menagerie
Brandon Victor Dixon, The Scottsboro Boys
John Douglas Thompson, The Emperor Jones
Michael Urie, The Temperamentals

Outstanding Lead Actress

Nina Arianda, Venus in Fur
Jayne Houdyshell, Coraline
Judith Ivey, The Glass Menagerie
Cristin Milioti, Stunning
Sherie Rene Scott, Everyday Rapture

Outstanding Featured Actor

Keith Carradine, A Lie of the Mind
Adam James, The Pride
David Pittu, Equivocation
Jeremy Shamos, Clybourne Park
C.J. Wilson, Happy Now?

Outstanding Featured Actress

Tracee Chimo, Circle Mirror Transformation
Mary Beth Hurt, When the Rain Stops Falling
Laurie Metcalf, A Lie of the Mind
Nancy Opel, The Toxic Avenger
Andrea Riseborough, The Pride

Outstanding Scenic Design

David Korins, When the Rain Stops Falling
David Korins, Why Torture is Wrong, and the People Who Love Them
Derek McLane, A Lie of the Mind
Michael Yeargan, The Glass Menagerie
David Zinn, The Pride

Outstanding Costume Design

Miranda Hoffman, Stunning
Martin Pakledinaz, The Glass Menagerie
Clint Ramos, So Help Me God!
Ilona Somogyi, Clybourne Park
Anita Yavich, Venus in Fur

Outstanding Lighting Design

Mark Barton, Circle Mirror Transformation
Paul Gallo, The Pride
Peter Kaczorowski, The Brother/Sister Plays
Tyler Micoleau, When the Rain Stops Falling
Rui Rita, The Orphans' Home Cycle

Outstanding Sound Design

Kurt Fischer, The Toxic Avenger
John Gromada, The Orphans' Home Cycle
Fitz Patton, When the Rain Stops Falling
Shane Rettig, A Lie of the Mind
Ryan Rumery and Christian Frederickson, The Emperor Jones

Special Awards

Outstanding Body of Work
Lincoln Center Theater

Lifetime Achievement Award
Daryl Roth (previously announced)

For more information, visit www.LortelAward.com.

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Representatives of the Off-Broadway League, Actors' Equity Association, Stage Directors & Choreographers Society and the Lucille Lortel Foundation in addition to theatre journalists, academics and other Off-Broadway professionals serve on the Voting Committee.

The 2010 Voting Committee is comprised of Terry Berliner, John Clinton Eisner, Kurt Everhart, Peter Filichia, Jeffrey Fiske, George Forbes, Susan Gallin, Eleanor Goldhar, Melanie Herman, Linda Herring, Walt Kiskaddon, Renee Lasher, Russell Lehrer, Niclas Nagler, Barbara Pasternack, Richard Price, Mark Rossier, David Savran and Barbara Toy.

The Lucille Lortel Awards for Outstanding Achievement Off-Broadway were created in 1985 by the Off-Broadway League. The Lortel Awards recognize excellence Off-Broadway by honoring the invaluable contribution of artists to the theatre community.

Lucille Lortel Foundation was created by Lucille Lortel to foster excellence and diversity in the theatre, as well as to faithfully preserve the rich history and support the continued prosperity of Off-Broadway. The Foundation has several major programs, including its general operating support program that has provided millions of dollars to small to mid-size theatres in New York City, universities, and theatre service organizations. The Foundation created and maintains the Internet Off-Broadway Data Base (www.lOBDB.com). For a listing of all of the Foundation's programs, previous Lortel Award nominees and recipients, information on the Lucille Lortel Theatre and Playwrights' Sidewalk, and much more, please visit www.lortel.org.

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The Off-Broadway League is a trade organization dedicated to fostering increased awareness and interest in Off-Broadway theatre and supporting the creation of new theatrical productions. Known for presenting the Lucille Lortel Awards for Outstanding Achievement Off-Broadway, other major programs include Free Night of Theatre, Live Theatre Week, On the House in conjunction with NYC & Company, and other industry-wide marketing initiatives.

For more information, go to OffBroadway.com.