The 18th annual Elliot Norton Awards were held June 12 at the Ritz Carlton Hotel Ballroom in Boston, MA. Sponsored by the Boston Theatre Critics Association, the Norton Awards, which honor excellence in Boston area theatre, were founded in honor of critic Elliot Norton at his retirement in 1982.
Specially honored for Sustained Excellence were two managing directors - Michael Maso, of Huntington Theatre Company, and Robert J. Orchard, of American Repertory Theatre -- both lauded for "raising theatre management to an art and sharing expertise with the larger community."
Other 2000 Norton Award winners included:
Outstanding Production by a Large Resident Company: Mary Stuart (Huntington Theatre Company).
Outstanding Production by a Visiting Company: Wit (Broadway in Boston at Wilbur Theatre) Outstanding Production by a Small Resident Company: The Old Settler (Lyric Stage Company).
Outstanding Production by a Local Fringe Company: St. Nicholas (Sugan Theatre Company).
Outstanding Solo Performance: John Kuntz in Starfuckers (SpeakEasy Stage Company)
Outstanding Director - Large Company: Robert Woodruff (Full Circle at American Repertory Theatre).
Outstanding Director - Small Company: Rick Lombardo (Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead at New Repertory Theatre).
Outstanding Designer: Howard Jones (Cloud Tectonics at Merrimack Repertory Theatre)
Outstanding Actress - Large Company: Judith Light as Vivian Bearing in Wit (Wilbur Theatre).
Outstanding Actress - Small Company: Jacqui Parker as Elizabeth Borny in The Old Settler (Lyric Stage Company).
Outstanding Actor - Large Company: Will LeBow as Heiner Muller in Full Circle (American Repertory Theatre)>
Outstanding Actor - Small Company: Richard McElvain as A Man in St. Nicholas (Sugan Theatre Company).
Outstanding Musical Performance: Bridget Beirne as Violet in Violet (SpeakEasy Stage Company).
Special Citations: Arts/Boston, Inc. for "25 years of wide-ranging service to local theatre companies and patrons" & Boston Theatre Marathon for "enlivening local theatre through the annual showcase of short plays at the Boston Playwrights' Theatre."
According to Boston critic Caldwell Titcomb, selecting the Norton Awards winners this year (as they did for the past three years) were critics Skip Ascheim, Terry Byrne, Carolyn Clay, Iris Fanger, Arthur Friedman, Joyce Kulhawik, Jon Lehman, Bill Marx, Ed Siegel and Titcomb. The reviewers comprise the Boston Theatre Critics Association.
-- By David Lefkowitz
