In a Sept. 25 ceremony held at the Herberger Theater Center in Phoenix, the Arizona Production Association presented the annual ariZoni [sic] Awards for Theatre Excellence. The awards are not decided on a win-lose basis with nominees but rather on the basis of achieving a standard of excellence. Thus, multiple productions and artists can win in any given category.
At this year's Zoni's, the Arizona Theatre Company's production of The Mystery of Irma Vep topped the 1999-2000 season with 9 awards. Other productions that took home awards included the Phoenix Theatre Cookie Company's Sleeping Beauty, Childsplay's The Wind in the Willows and Even Steven Goes to War, Actors Theatre of Phoenix's A Christmas Carol, and ATC's Side Man, Play On! and As You Like It.
A complete list of this year's ariZoni winners follow:
OVERALL PRODUCTION - PLAY: Side Man, Arizona Theatre Company, Sleeping Beauty, Phoenix Theatre Cookie Company
OVERALL PRODUCTION - MUSICAL: The Wind in the Willows, Childsplay.
ORIGINAL SCRIPT: Even Steven Goes to War, Allison Gregory, Childsplay; Sleeping Beauty, Alan J. Prewitt, Phoenix Theatre Cookie Company.
DIRECTOR - PLAY: David Ira Goldstein, The Mystery of Irma Vep, Arizona Theatre Company
DIRECTOR - MUSICAL: Graham Whitehead, The Wind in the Willows, Childsplay.
ACTOR IN A MAJOR ROLE - PLAY: Jeff Steitzer, As You Like It, Arizona Theatre Company; Bob Sorenson and R. Hamilton Wright, The Mystery of Irma Vep, Arizona Theatre Company; Robert Harper, Sleeping Beauty, Phoenix Theatre Cookie Company
ACTOR IN A MAJOR ROLE - MUSICAL: Richard Allen and Natalie Venetia Belcon, both in Play On!, Arizona Theatre Company.
ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE - PLAY: Jon Gentry, Even Steven Goes to War, Childsplay; Nicolas Glaeser, Side Man, Arizona Theatre Company
ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE - MUSICAL: Clinton Derricks-Carroll, Cynthia Jones, Kevin Ramsey, all Play On!, Arizona Theatre Company.
SOUND DESIGN: Brian Jerome Peterson, The Mystery of Irma Vep, Arizona Theatre Company.
LIGHTING DESIGN: Michael Gilliam, The Mystery of Irma Vep, Arizona Theatre Company.
MUSICAL DIRECTION: Alan Ruch, A Christmas Carol, Actors Theatre of Phoenix; Roberta Carlson (Composer), The Mystery of Irma Vep, Arizona Theatre Company.
COSTUME DESIGN: Paul Tazewell, As You Like It, Arizona Theatre Company, David K. Mickelsen, The Mystery of Irma Vep, Arizona Theatre Company; Gail Wolfenden-Steib, Sleeping Beauty, Phoenix Theatre Cookie Company.
MAKEUP AND HAIR DESIGN: Joyce Degenfelder, As You Like It, Arizona Theatre Company, Dione H. Labhar, Side Man, Arizona Theatre Company.
SCENIC DESIGN: Drew Boughton, The Mystery of Irma Vep, Arizona Theatre Company.
CHOREOGRAPHY: Michael Barnard, A Christmas Carol, Actors Theatre of Phoenix.
-- by Ernio Hernandez
