LADCC Awards
Reefer Madness was the big hit at the 31st annual Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle Awards on Monday night, taking seven of the awards, presented in a ceremony at the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel. Hosted by Jane Morris, understudy for funny nun Maripat Donovan (Late Night Catechism), the ceremony presented awards to the following for excellence in theatre in Los Angeles and Orange Counties:
Production: The Cherry Orchard (Interact Theatre) and Reefer Madness (Dead Old Man Productions at the Hudson Backstage Theatre); Direction: David Emmes, The Philanderer (South Coast Repertory); Andy Fickman, Reefer Madness, and Matt Walker, Twelfth Dog Night (Falcon Theater); Musical Direction: Nathan Wang and David Manning, Reefer Madness; Dan Wheetman, It Ain't Nothin' but the Blues (Geffen Playhouse); Writing: Laurel Meade, Harry Thaw Hates Everybody; Musical Score: Kevin Murphy and Dan Studney, Reefer Madness; Lead Performance: Pedro Balmaceda, Orphans (International City Theatre); Christian Campbell, Reefer Madness; Julia Campbell, Bitter Women (Cast Theatre); Carolee Carmello, Bells Are Ringing (Reprise at UCLA); Valerie Dillman, Lulu (Pacific Resident Theatre); Maripat Donovan, Late Night Catechism (Henry Fonda and Upstairs at the Coronet); Tracy Middendorf, Summer and Smoke (Fountain Theatre), and Douglas Weston, The Philanderer; Featured Performance: Jim J. Bullock, When Pigs Fly (Coronet Theatre); Francois Giroday, The Cherry Orchard; Blake Hammond, When Pigs Fly, and Sara Zinsser, Bitter Women; Scenic Design: Roy Christopher, Light Up The Sky (Pasadena Playhouse) and Victoria Profitt, The Swan (Pacific Resident Theatre); Lighting Design: David Flad, The Angels of Lemnos (The Road Theatre) and Kris Sandheinrich, Broadway (The Actors' Gang); Costume Design: the late Howard Crabtree, When Pigs Fly; Sound Design: Jon Gottlieb and Phillip G. Allen, Cinderella (The Ahmanson) and Chet Towle, Reefer Madness.
The following special awards were also presented-The Ted Schmitt Award for the world premiere of an outstanding new play: Paul Mullin, Louis Slotin Sonata (Circle X Theatre at the Hollywood Court); The Angstrom Award for lifetime achievement in stage lighting: Michael Gilliam; Bob Z Award for lifetime achievement in set design: Victoria Profitt; The Margaret Harford Award for sustained excellence in theatre: The Will Geer Theatricum Botanicum; The Natalie Schafer Award for emerging comic actress: Audrey Rapaport; the new Polly Warfield Award for an excellent season in a small to midsize theatre: Pacific Resident Theatre, and the new Ron Link Award for consistent quality in directing: Ron Sossi.
Jay Thompson
(1931-2000)
A leading theatrical photographer for more than three decades, Jay Thompson died on Mar. 14 at Glendale Adventist Hospital from respiratory failure. His work for the Music Center's Mark Taper Forum in the last 23 years included such world premieres as the Pulitzer Prize-winning Angels in America and The Kentucky Cycle, the Tony Award-winning Children of a Lesser God, Zoot Suit, Division Street, In the Belly of the Beast, Stand-Up Tragedy, Burn This, Jelly's Last Jam, and Twilight: Los Angeles, 1992, to name a few. In all, Thompson shot more than 250 Taper productions, and numerous shows for the Ahmanson Theatre including Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? with Glenda Jackson and John Lithgow, The Heidi Chronicles with Amy Irving, and Smokey Joe's Caf . Thompson was also known for his celebrity portraits, including those of Bette Davis, Eleanor Roosevelt, and Lucille Ball.
Born in East Orange, New Jersey, Thompson began working as a publicist for Universal Studios before coming to feel that he could do the work better than the photographers he was hiring. In addition to his photography, he was also a spiritual teacher for the Infinite Way and an active member of the Hollywood Revitalization Committee.
Services will be held on Mar. 27 at the Music Center Annex, Rehearsal Room A, 601 W. Temple St. in downtown Los Angeles.
Off The Wire...
PACIFIC NORTHWEST-Printer's Devil Theatre in Seattle has launched "The Bonanza: Three Months of Projects in Progress," which will continue through May 27. The Bonanza is comprised of artist talks and performances, including Scot Augustson's Albuquerque Wedding, Julia Edwards' Fun House Style, Caridad Svich's Pensacola, David Vegh's Atom and Eve, Dmitry Lipkin's The Elephant Play, and Normal, by Adam Greenfield, Mara Hesed, and Duke Novak. (206) 328-6290...
The Empty Space Theatre in Seattle, in cooperation with high school educators, is currently touring its production of The Compleat Works of Wllm Shkspr (Abridged), by Jess Borgeson, Adam Long, and Daniel Singer, at local schools. For more information on the program, call (206) 547-7633, ext. 102.
NORTHERN CALIFORNIA-San Francisco's Intersection for the Arts will present "New Works/New Voices," a benefit reading with playwrights Octavio Solis and Wendy Weiner on Mar. 28 at the theatre. (415) 626-2787...
San Jos Repertory Theatre and the Abbey Theatre of Dublin are co-recipients of the 2000 Spirit of Ireland Award, which was presented at a ceremony on Mar. 10 at the Fairmont Hotel in downtown San Jos . The award is the cornerstone in the Dublin/San Jos Sister City Committee's "Irish Week," and is presented to individuals or companies whose accomplishments have exemplified the strong relationship between Silicon Valley and Dublin. (408) 291-2266...
San Francisco's Gilbert & Sullivan repertory company, Lamplighters Music Theatre, will present a double bill-Arthur Sullivan: The California Connection and Sullivan's one-act operetta Cox and Box, Mar. 24-26 at the Ira and Leonore Gershwin Theatre in San Francisco. In Arthur Sullivan, the composer's great-grandson Scott Hayes tells the story of Sullivan's journey to California in 1885 through slides, memorabilia, and excerpts from his letters. (415) 227-4797...
The Western Stage of Salinas has announced that executive director Harvey Landa will retire in October. Landa's duties will be reorganized under the title of managing director, a position that will be filled by Alan Harrison. Harrison recently served as director of communications for Seattle Repertory Theatre. Jeffrey Heyer will also join the staff as publicist, replacing Joyce McGreevy, who has left the position to finish preparations for her upcoming book publication, Gardening by Heart. (831) 755-6984.
SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA-Applications are now available for the second annual Edge of the World Theater Festival, which will be held in Los Angeles, Nov. 9-19. Applications are due Apr. 28, though projects that are still in the developmental stage will be considered. Artists are encouraged to create a new piece for the festival, and will have until June 1 to submit the final details. Past participants include Zoo District, Theatre of NOTE, Open Fist, Sacred Fools, Moving Arts, Ghost Road Company & Burglars of Hamm, The Actors' Gang, Cornerstone Theatre Company, and Circle X. Interested artists can download the application from www.edgeoftheworld.org or call (310) 281-7920...
The Orange County High School of the Arts is accepting applications for the 2000-'01 school year. The school offers specialized arts education, tuition-free, to students grades seven to 12 in classical/ contemporary dance, commercial dance, instrumental music, musical theatre, opera, production design, and visual arts. Now in its 14th year, the school will open in its new Santa Ana location in September. To receive an application to audition, call (562) 596-1435 or visit www.ochsanet.org...
FirstStage in Los Angeles is accepting submissions for Playwrights Express, its 14th annual marathon of short theatre pieces, Apr. 29-May 7 at FirstStage Theater in Hollywood. All works no more than 15 minutes long will automatically be accepted, assigned to a director, rehearsed, and performed by professional actors on one of the festival's four days. The deadline is Apr. 24. (323) 850-6271...
The Los Angeles Women's Theatre Festival will be held this weekend, Mar. 23-26, at the 24th Street Theatre in Los Angeles. Honorary chairpersons Danny Glover and Hattie Winston will host the opening night awards ceremony kickoff, following a champagne gala. The festival includes opera, dance, poetry, standup, song, and storytelling. Theatre offerings include Bonnie Henderson's Come a Little Closer, Clarinda Ross' Spit Like a Big Girl, Sayda Trujillo's Banana Leaves, Nancy Becker Kennedy's I Had To Break My Neck to Get Here, Allaire Paterson's Purple Breasts, and Lee Chen's Life Flies. In an awards ceremony on Mar. 23, Jodi Long, Taylor Gilbert, Oralia Michel, and Virginia Capers will also be honored as artists who have made lasting contributions to the theatre community. (818) 752-2225.
The free one-week inaugural session of the Lincoln Center Director's Lab West (Apr. 17-22) is continuing to accept applications. The session is designed as a free exchange of ideas between directors and other collaborative theatrical artists. Session includes such topics as director-as-producer, multi-culturalism, dramaturgy, a designers panel, a critics panel, among others. Anne Cattaneo, literary manager of Lincoln Center Theatre in New York, Lars Hansen of Theatre LA, and Ernest Dillihay of the L.A. Cultural Affairs Dept. are among the speakers who will attend. Participants include Leon Katz of UCLA and Yale School of Drama, Martin Benson of South Coast Repertory, playwrights Jos Rivera and Bob Glaudini, directors Robert Egan of the Mark Taper Forum, Juliette Carillo of South Coast Repertory, and theatre columnist Steven Leigh Morris of the LA Weekly. (323) 281-0344...
Theatremania.com has launched a new website devoted to the entire theatre-going experience. Included on the homepage are theatre listings, ticketing options, show pages dedicated to each individual show, reviews, features, interviews and more. www.theatremania .com...
Clean Comedians will present curse-free comedian Brad Stine, who will attempt to prove that "clean is cool" in his upcoming comedy concert Rebel Without a Curse. Using "the same material in church as in the comedy club," Stine has performed comedy "with teeth and a bite" for 11 years without ever uttering a curse word. Stine will join comedian Nick Arnette for performances on Mar. 29 at the Hyatt in West Hollywood, and on Apr. 1 at the Doubletree in Santa Monica. (800) 354-4523...
Women in Theatre will hold an Actor's Workout Gym with actress/teacher Dee Wallace Stone on Mar. 25 at the Burbank Church of Religious Science, and a membership meeting on Mar. 28 at the Lankershim Art Center. (818) 763-5222...
The Ahmanson Theatre has designated the Mar. 23 matinee as a "Pay What You Can" performance of Martin Guerre, which will run through Apr. 8. Tickets must be purchased at the box office, on the day of the performance, with cash. There is a limit of two per person. (213) 628-2772...
The American Renegade Theatre in North Hollywood will kick off its new series of staged readings on Mar. 28 with a reading of The Seventh Monarch by Jim Henry (Angels of Lemnos). (818) 763-1834...
As part of a cultural exchange with the Swiss Cultural Council Pro Helvetia, Cal State Long Beach will present Aimee and Jaguar, direct from Switzerland, and Open Fire, the play being sent to Switzerland for the Lausanne University International Theatre Festival, Mar. 30-Apr. 1. Proceeds will help sponsor the tour. Set in Berlin 1943, Aimee and Jaguar tells the tragic love story of two women: one a Jewish woman who did not survive the Holocaust, the other the wife of a Nazi officer, who lived to tell her story after 50 years of silence. Aimee and Jaguar will be performed in the Edison Theatre, and Open Fire will be in the Player's Theatre. (562) 432-1818 (Edison); (562) 985-5526 (Players)...
Two of La Jolla Playhouse's 1999 productions, Regina Taylor's Oo-bla-dee and Chay Yew's Wonderland, are finalists for the 2000 American Theatre Critics/ Steinberg New Play Award. Finalists are selected by a committee of nine theatre critics from around the U.S. who evaluate scripts recommended by the American Theatre Critics Association. The top awards will be presented on Apr. 1 at the Humana Festival of New American Plays. The top honoree and two other finalists will receive cash grants, made possible by the Harold and Mimi Steinberg Charitable Trust. (619) 550-1070...
The American Federation of Television and Radio Artists will present its new "Stand Up for Diversity" comedy showcase series on Mar. 27 at Hollywood's Luna Park, featuring comedians from multicultural backgrounds. AFTRA has extended formal invitation to all major networks and industry representatives. Representatives from NBC and CBS have already confirmed their attendance. (323) 634-8100...
Santa Monica Playhouse has announced the opening of enrollment for its exciting "Spring Break Play Building Workshops," two one-week sessions (Apr. 17-28) that are part of its Kids-In-Theatre workshop programs. Teaching staff includes members of the resident acting company, Actors' Repertory Theatre.
Santa Monica Playhouse has also announced that the Playhouse has received two $3,000 grants from the City of Santa Monica-one from the Latino Community Arts Program and one from the Community Arts Grant Program. The grants will support after-school theatre programs for underserved youth and a theatre-in-education program that will augment the local school district's World War II module. (310) 394-9779...
Long Beach Playhouse will present a free reading of Seal Beach playwright Harlene Goodrich's Light Under the Door on Mar. 25 as the first of four staged readings that comprise the 10th annual New Works Festival. The play explores the tragedy of having a loved one afflicted by a terminal illness. A panel of professional critics will critique the work and take part in a discussion conducted by a member of the playhouse's literary staff. (562) 494-1616...
Moving Arts will present a reading of L.A. playwright Glen Merzer's Peacock in a Hole on Mar. 29 at the company's workshop space in Silverlake. The play revolves around a man who answers an ex-lover reporter's plea for a favor (to pose as an American businessman in a foreign capital for a staged phone interview) and finds his world turned upside down. Admission is free. A discussion will follow the reading. (213) 622-8906...
Broadway L.A. will present dancer/ choreographer Tony Award winner Savion Glover (Bring in 'da Noise, Bring in 'da Funk) in a tap performance celebrating his work, titled Foot Notes. Performances will run Mar. 29-Apr. 2 at the Wilshire Theatre in Beverly Hills. (213) 365-3500...
Vanguard Theatre Ensemble and the Orange County Playwrights Alliance will present "The Writes of Spring," a festival of five new plays by local playwrights including Johnna Adams' Storm Riders, Anna Winslow's The Encounter, Martin E. Williams' Ghosts, Eleanor Brook's The Subject Isn't Rose, and Colleen Bevacqua's The Gospel According To... Performances will run Mar. 24-Apr. 2 at the Curtis Theatre in Brea. (714) 990-7722 or www.ocpaplaywrights.org...
A Noise Within, now in residence at CSLA's Luckman Fine Arts Complex, has announced its spring repertory season, which will include Shakespeare's Cymbeline, Moli're's The Misanthrope, and Tennessee Williams' Cat on a Hot Tin Roof. (323) 224-6420...
After announcing that it was suffering from financial woes last month, Alternative Repertory Theatre in Santa Ana received a challenge donation of $4,000 from Jack and Sally Leonard. The Leonards have agreed to match any donation give to ART by Apr. 1, up to a total of $4,000. (714) 542-5580...
Hollywood's American Cinematheque at the Egyptian will present a sneak preview screening of James Toback's racially charged Black and White starring Robert Downey Jr., and a screening of Fingers with Harvey Keitel. Toback will appear in person at the Mar. 29 screening. (323) 466-3456...
Ken Werther has been named press associate for the Ahmanson Theatre. For the past two years, Werther has run his own theatrical public relations company, handling press and publicity for such productions as Sandra Tsing Loh's Bad Sex With Bud Kemp, The Rocky Horror Show at the Tiffany Theater, The Last Night of Ballyhoo at the Canon Theatre, and I Love You, You're Perfect, Now Change at the Coronet...
The Search Party, in association with Free Speech Productions, will bring the long-running sociopolitical comedy show "Free Speech" to Sidewalk Studio in Toluca Lake, Mar. 25-Apr. 29. The show features comedians and monologists speaking on a "topic of the week," followed by a panel discussion. (818) 971-7111.
-Laura Weinert