NewsChamplin, Opel, Stuhlbarg, Sun and Miranda Among 2007 Obie Award WinnersThe 52nd Annual Village Voice Obie Awards, a major honor in the Off-Broadway community, were presented May 21 at New York University's Jack H. Skirball Center for the Performing Arts.
By
Andrew Gans
May 22, 2007
Nilaja Sun in No ChildPhoto by Carol Rosegg
Hosted by Cynthia Nixon and T.R. Knight, presenters included Angela Lansbury, Camryn Manheim, Michael Cerveris, Terrence McNally, Stephanie March, Liev Schreiber, William Ivey Long and Anika Noni Rose.
The Village Voice gives out the annual awards, which honor Off-Broadway and Off-Off Broadway shows. Award recipients are chosen by a panel without the complication of selecting or announcing nominees.
The winners of the 2006-2007 Obie Awards follow:
PERFORMANCE
Betsy Aidem, Sustained Excellence of Performance
Donna Lynne Champlin for her performance in The Dark at the Top of the Stairs
Andre De Shields, Sustained Excellence of Performance
Ain Gordon for his performance in Stories Left to Tell
David Greenspan for his performance in Faust and Some Men
Nina Hellman for her performance in Trouble in Paradise
Ron Cephas Jones, Sustained Excellence of Performance
Nancy Opel for her performance in My Deah
Roslyn Ruff for her performance in Seven Guitars
James Saito for his performance in Durango
Michael Stuhlbarg for his performance in The Voysey Inheritance
Nilaja Sun for her performance in No Child
Harris Yulin for his performance in Frank's Home
Ensemble for their performance in Tale of 2Cities (Winsome Brown, Michael Ray Escamilla, Tracey A. Leigh, Leo Marks Diane Rodriguez, Ed Vassallo, Heather Woodbury)
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PLAYWRITING
Adam Bock for The ThugsDIRECTION
Lou Bellamy for Two Trains Running
Anne Kauffman for The Thugs
Matthew Maguire for Abandon
Eirik Stubo for The Wild Duck
Chay Yew for Durango MUSIC AND CHOREOGRAPHY
Michael Friedman, Sustained Excellence in Music
Bill T. Jones for his choreography of Spring Awakening
Lin-Manuel Miranda for his music and lyrics for In The HeightsDESIGN
Beowulf Boritt, Sustained Excellence in Set Design
Robert Kaplowitz, Sustained Excellence in Sound Design
Rae Smith for the set and costume design of Oliver TwistLIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD
Alvin Epstein EMERGING PLAYWRIGHT AWARD ($1,000 prize)
Young Jean Lee THE ROSS WETZSTEON AWARD ($2,000 given annually to a theatre that nurtures innovative new plays)
Rattlestick Playwrights Theatre SPECIAL CITATIONS
Daniel Beaty, writing and performance Emergence-SEE
Edward Hall & Propeller, Taming of the Shrew
Tim Crouch, An Oak Tree
The Living Theatre, Ensemble and director Judith Malina, The Brig (Ensemble: Gene Ardor, Johnson Anthony, Kesh Baggan, Steven Scot Bono, Gary Brackett, Brent Bradley, Brad Burgess, John Kohan, Albert Lamont, Peter Lester, Jeff Nash, Josh Roberts, Bradford Rosenbloom, Jade Rothman, Isaac Scranton, Morteza Tavakoli, Evan True, Antwan Ward, Louis Williams; Steve Ben Israel, ensemble director) GRANTS (Totaling $10,000)
Transport Group
Peculiar Works Project
Synapse Productions
The Play Company *
Village Voice critic Michael Feingold was chairman of the Obie Awards Committee, which selected the winners. His fellow judges included Kirsten Childs, Ain Gordon, Adam Rapp, Anne Dennin, Jeremy McCarter, Alexis Soloski.
The cast of Adam Bock's The ThugsPhoto by Monique Carboni
