The 7 PM awards gala, held at the Loretto-Hilton Center on March 31, was hosted by On Your Toes Tony nominee Lara Teeter. Rob Ruggiero (Off-Broadway's Make Me a Song) directed the event, which featured performances from such nominated productions as Altar Boyz, Crazy for You, The Full Monty, Les Misérables, A Little Night Music and I Love You, You're Perfect, Now Change.
Tolivar and Elder earned Outstanding Actress and Actor in a Musical, respectively, for their performances in the Stages St. Louis production of Crazy for You. The Gershwin musical also picked up an award for Outstanding Ensemble in a Musical.
Actress Jen Cody earned the Kline Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Musical for her role as Minnie Fay in Hello, Dolly! at the Muny. Cody was also nominated in the same category for the Muny staging of The Pajama Game.
Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Musical went to Keith Tyrone for The Full Monty at Stages St. Louis, while The Full Monty tied for Best Direction of a Musical (Michael Hamilton) with I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change (Bobby Miller) at the Playhouse at West Port Plaza. The Full Monty also went home with the Kline Award for Outstanding Production of a Musical.
Christopher Gattelli earned a Kline for re-creating his choreography for the Repertory Theater of St. Louis production of Altar Boyz, which was also honored for Outstanding Musical Direction for Henry Palkes. The Kline for Outstanding Costume Design was presented to Dorothy Marshall Englis for A Little Night Music at Stages St. Louis. Outstanding Set Design was nabbed by Dunsi Dai for Remnant at the Mustard Seed Theatre. That production also earned a Kline for Outstanding Lighting Design for Glenn Dunn. The Kline for Outstanding Sound Design was awarded to David B. Smith for the Repertory Theatre of St. Louis staging of Dracula.
On the dramatic end, Lavonne Byers walked away with the Kline for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Play for her work in A Delicate Balance at St. Louis Actors' Studio, and Outstanding Lead Actor in a Play went to Jason Babinsky for his performance in the Repertory Theatre of St. Louis' production of The Bomb-itty of Errors.
Outstanding Supporting Actor and Actress in a Play went to, respectively, John Kinney for What's Wrong with This Picture? at the New Jewish Theatre and Teresa Doggett for Enchanted April with Act Inc. Outstanding Ensemble of a Play was a tie between the New Jewish Theatre productions of Kindertransport and Women's Minyan.
Doug Finlayson earned the Kline for Outstanding Director of a Play for NJT's Kindertransport, while the Orange Girls' production of Standing on My Knees earned the Kline for Outstanding Production of a Play.
The Kline for Outstanding New Play or Musical went to Dan Rubin's Demons…and Other Blunt Objects at HotCity Theatre, and Stages St. Louis' production of Snoopy! earned the Kline for Outstanding Production for Young Audiences.
For a complete list of nominees visit www.kevinklineawards.org.
