Backstage
February 28, 2008
2008 Garland Awards
2008 Garland Awards: The Winners
For Excellence in Southland Theatre
February 28, 2008
Welcome to the 2008 Garland Awards issue!
This year marks the 10th anniversary of those awards, the 10th year the critics of Back Stage West have voted on the best of Southland theatre.
The critics collectively saw hundreds of shows in 2007, even if they were not reviewing. Theirs is a devotion to theatre in Los Angeles and vicinities that most people find hard to understand -- or believe. But Back Stage West's critics know that great theatre -- or even a great moment in theatre -- is a lifetime memory. We take pride in our Garland Award winners, and we appreciate that the winners take pride in receiving these awards.
Although Back Stage's mission is to serve actors, the awards also recognize the contributions of all who make theatre -- from producers to prop makers. Under our voting system, each Garland winner was named on at least three critics'
Best of 2007 lists. Each critic was allowed to name up to five nominees for each category except performance -- up to 10 nominees for performance in a musical production and up to 10 in straight productions. Check
here for the critics' lists, minus the winners.
This year's issue includes quotes from our critics' reviews of many of the Garland winners, so those of you who were unable to see the winners' works can get a feel for what each accomplished.
I'd like to this year thank our national editor-in-chief, Jamie Painter Young, for her steadfast support of the awards and for her guidance in designing this year's issue.
This year the winners will be presented with Garland statuettes at a party scheduled for March 31. We will be contacting the winners shortly with invitations. If you won but are not sure we have your contact info, please email dmargolies@backstage.com.
And to all other theatremakers in the Southland, we hope to see your names on these lists next year. Now get to work!
WINNERS
PRODUCTION
Sleeping Beauty Wakes
Center Theatre Group and Deaf West Theatre at Kirk Douglas Theatre
The Quality of Life
Geffen Playhouse at
Audrey Skirball Kenis Theater
Trying
The Colony Theatre
PLAYWRITING
Jane Anderson
The Quality of Life
Geffen Playhouse at
Audrey Skirball Kenis Theater
Mickey Birnbaum
Bleed Rail
Theatre @ Boston Court
Jeff Goode
Love Loves a Pornographer
Circle X Theatre Company at
[Inside] the Ford
David Henry Hwang
Yellow Face
Center Theatre Group and the Public Theater in association with East West Players at Mark Taper Forum
Matt Pelfrey
An Impending Rupture of the Belly
Furious Theatre Company
at Carrie Hamilton Theatre/
Pasadena Playhouse
ADAPTATION
Matt Walker
OthE.L.O.
Troubadour Theater Company,
Falcon Theatre
MUSICAL SCORE
Jason Robert Brown
13
Center Theatre Group at Mark Taper Forum
David Noroña and Eric Whitacre
Paradise Lost: Shadows and Wings
Theatre @ Boston Court
DIRECTION
Jane Anderson
The Quality of Life
Geffen Playhouse at
Audrey Skirball Kenis Theater
Jillian Armenante
Love Loves a Pornographer
Circle X Theatre Company at
[Inside] the Ford
David Fofi
In Arabia We'd All Be Kings
Elephant Theatre Company in association with VS. Theatre Company at
Elephant Theatre
Robin Larsen
Tryst
Black Dahlia Theatre
Simon Levy
The Milk Train Doesn't Stop Here Anymore
Fountain Theatre
Cameron Watson
Trying
The Colony Theatre
CHOREOGRAPHY
Jeff Calhoun
Sleeping Beauty Wakes
Center Theatre Group and Deaf West Theatre at
Kirk Douglas Theatre
Michele Lynch
13
Center Theatre Group at
Mark Taper Forum
Lee Martino
On Your Toes
Reprise! Broadway's Best at
UCLA Freud Playhouse
Janet Miller
Winter Wonderettes
David Elzer and Peter Schneider
and Marvelous Dreams at
El Portal Forum Theatre
Sha Newman
Seven Brides for Seven Brothers
Fullerton Civic Light Opera at
Plummer Auditiorium
MUSIC DIRECTION
Bill Brown
Zanna, Don't!
West Coast Ensemble at
Lyric Hyperion Theatre
Greg Chun
Paradise Lost: Shadows and Wings
Theatre @ Boston Court
Ron Melrose
Jersey Boys
Center Theatre Group at
Ahmanson Theatre
David O
13
Center Theatre Group at
Mark Taper Forum
Gerald Sternbach
On Your Toes
Reprise! Broadway's Best at
UCLA Freud Playhouse
SCENIC DESIGN
François-Pierre Couture
The Quality of Life
Geffen Playhouse at
Audrey Skirball Kenis Theater
Craig Siebels
Tryst
Black Dahlia Theatre
Gary Smoot
Love Loves a Pornographer
Circle X Theatre Company at
[Inside] the Ford
LIGHTING DESIGN
Karl Gajdusek
Love Loves a Pornographer
Circle X Theatre Company at
[Inside] the Ford
Howard Harrison
Heroes
Geffen Playhouse
Christina Munich
Jekyll & Hyde: The Musical
Fullerton Civic Light Opera at
Plummer Auditorium
Jeremy Pivnick
For an outstanding year
in lighting design
Steven Young
Paradise Lost: Shadows and Wings
Theatre @ Boston Court
COSTUME DESIGN
Shannon A. Kennedy and Ann Closs-Farley
Gulliver's Travels
The Actors' Gang at Ivy Substation
Soojin Lee
Paradise Lost: Shadows and Wings
Theatre @ Boston Court
Paul Spadone
Love Loves a Pornographer
Circle X Theatre Company at
[Inside] the Ford
MAKEUP DESIGN
Becca Coffman
Paradise Lost: Shadows and Wings
Theatre @ Boston Court
SOUND DESIGN
Martin Carrillo
Paradise Lost: Shadows and Wings
Theatre @ Boston Court
Cricket S. Myers
Dark Play or Stories for Boys
Theatre @ Boston Court
Eric Snodgrass
Sleeping Beauty Wakes
Center Theatre Group and Deaf West Theatre at Kirk Douglas Theatre
John Zalewski
Bleed Rail
Theatre @ Boston Court
MULTIMEDIA/DIGITAL DESIGN
Kirk Hanson, Lyn Gaza, and
Michael Manning (anime design)
Paradise Lost: Shadows and Wings
Theatre @ Boston Court
PERFORMANCE IN A (PRIMARILY) STRAIGHT PLAY
Scott Bakula
The Quality of Life
Geffen Playhouse at
Audrey Skirball Kenis Theater
Dennis Boutsikaris
The Quality of Life
Geffen Playhouse at
Audrey Skirball Kenis Theater
Alan Mandell
Trying
The Colony Theatre
Laurie Metcalf
The Quality of Life
Geffen Playhouse at
Audrey Skirball Kenis Theater
Kirsten Vangsness
Fat Pig
Geffen Playhouse at
Audrey Skirball Kenis Theater
JoBeth Williams
The Quality of Life
Geffen Playhouse at
Audrey Skirball Kenis Theater
PERFORMANCE IN A (PRIMARILY) MUSICAL PRODUCTION
Eric Anderson
OthE.L.O.
Troubadour Theater Company,
Falcon Theatre
Jeannette Bayardelle
The Color Purple
Center Theatre Group at Ahmanson Theatre
Christopher Kale Jones
Jersey Boys
Center Theatre Group at Ahmanson Theatre
ENSEMBLE PERFORMANCE
In Arabia We'd All Be Kings
Elephant Theatre Company in association with VS. Theatre Company
Jade Dornfeld, Carolina Espiro, Marlene Forte, Dan Gilvary, Brett Hren, Torrance Jordan, Charles Pacello, Maya Parish, Patricia Rae, Charlie Romanelli, George Russo, Steven Schub, Bernadette Speakes, Tim Starks, Kenny Suarez, Jason Warren
Click here for the complete list of Honorable Mentions.
CRITICS' COMMENTS
Didn't catch all the winning shows? No worries. Read on to see what our critics said about some of these outstanding performances.
PRODUCTION
THE QUALITY OF LIFE, winner for Production
"In Ohio, Dinah and Bill, a solid Midwestern couple given to hiding their souls in private places, grieve for their brutally murdered daughter. In Northern California -- quite another place geographically, philosophically, and politically -- Dinah's cousin Jeannette, an unapologetic free spirit with all the passion that goes with it, grieves in her own way, which ostensibly involves not grieving, for the loss of their home to a blistering forest fire and for the imminent loss of her anthropology-professor husband, Neil, to late-stage cancer. When the estranged cousins come together on the fire-scourged mountaintop where Neil and Jeannette have set up alfresco housekeeping, it's an unspoken declaration of war between the states of mind."
-- Madeleine Shaner
SLEEPING BEAUTY WAKES, winner for Production
"Sleeping Beauty sleeps. She of the Charles Perrault fairy tale was born a princess centuries ago to a doting king and queen but was cursed by an evil fairy who was not invited to the princess' christening. Under the curse, the princess fell into a deep sleep that could be broken only by the kiss of a prince. Or so the traditional fairy tale tells us. Cleverly interweaving that tale into today's world of sleep clinics, Sleeping Beauty Wakes is modern in music, language, and staging but achingly timeless in sensibility and themes, with book by Rachel Sheinkin and music and lyrics by Brendan Milburn and Valerie Vigoda. Adding to the charm, a sizable portion of the cast is deaf or hearing-impaired, communicating with us in American Sign Language. So hearing actors voice and sing those roles in addition to portraying others."
-- Dany Margolies
PLAYWRITING
JANE ANDERSON, winner for Playwriting and Direction, The Quality of Life
"Playwright-director Jane Anderson jumps into the deep end in her exploration of the very private, soul-searing subject of relationships under the pressure of ineffable pain.... Over and under, above and beyond the private hell these couples inhabit is breathtaking dialogue that covers life, death, sickness, health, belief, love, need, pain, acceptance and denial. Anderson's writing and direction are superb in their admirable depth -- quietly dramatic, simple and clear, yet holding back from making a definitive case for any privately held point of view, which is the finest way of promoting an extended discussion beyond the play's final curtain."
-- Madeleine Shaner
MICKEY BIRNBAUM, winner for Playwriting, Bleed Rail
"Mickey Birnbaum's darkly metaphorical drama about workers in a Midwestern slaughterhouse is stunningly provocative.... In Birnbaum's universe, modern society is an extension of the slaughterhouse, where it is not our bodies but our souls that are being eviscerated. It may begin with the culture of the postindustrial carnivore, but it soon expands to a moral killing fields. While there is message of hope and redemption at the end, the play still paints a bloody prophecy of destruction."
-- Hoyt Hilsman
JEFF GOODE, winner for Playwriting, Love Loves a Pornographer
"Few fellows have found fancier, funnier ways this fall to turn a phrase than Jeff Goode, who with his new work pays homage to the mannered drawing rooms of the Victorian era and injects a healthy dose of modern edge to the dialogue.... Goode's strongest suit is the clever dialogue, loaded with alliteration such as '...the discourse during the course of our courtship.' "
-- Jeff Favre
DAVID HENRY HWANG, winner for Playwriting, Yellow Face
"David Henry Hwang, the Tony-winning writer of M. Butterfly, uses elements from his highly publicized 1993 Broadway flop Face Value to write a winner that weaves fact and fiction into wonderful comedy and insightful drama. It's unclear what elements of this exploration of race and political correctness actually happened, but that's not important.... Hwang, both the real one and the fictional one, protested the casting on Broadway of English actor Jonathan Pryce as an Asian in the musical Miss Saigon.... [T]he characters are so well-defined that the story winds its way back to its initial concept of finding personal identity. It's a story that's as much fun to talk about afterward as it is to experience."
-- Jeff Favre
MUSICAL SCORE
JASON ROBERT BROWN, winner for Musical Score, 13
"Composer-lyricist Jason Robert Brown and librettist Dan Elish have created a smashing new musical about the difficult rite of passage from childhood innocence to teenage panic. Thirteen proves to be a lucky number indeed in this sassy and melodic show that will be as enjoyable for parents as for the youngsters who in previous generations dragged their parents to see Grease and Bye Bye Birdie.... Slowly but surely, the emotions behind the revelry begin to feel genuine, the stakes for the youthful characters rise, and the show packs a much stronger emotional punch than we initially expect."
-- Les Spindle
DIRECTION
JILLIAN ARMENANTE, winner for Direction, Love Loves a Pornographer
"Crisply directed by Jillian Armenante for Circle X Theatre Company, it stars an ensemble that steps perfectly into the era and classes.... Armenante keeps the action flowing and the dialogue moving at a blistering pace, snuggly fitting in twice as much dialogue as would normally be delivered in a two-hour running time."
-- Jeff Favre
CAMERON WATSON, winner for Direction, Trying
"Cameron Watson's sure direction shows a loving hand."
-- Madeleine Shaner
CHOREOGRAPHY
JANET MILLER, winner for Choreography, Winter Wonderettes
"The spirited doo-wop quartet from writer-director Roger Bean's long-running jukebox musical The Marvelous Wonderettes returns in this felicitous sequel.... [T]he primary order of the evening is high-flying fun. Ensuring that this occurs [is] Janet Miller's exhilarating and hilarious choreography."
-- Les Spindle
MUSIC DIRECTION
GERALD STERNBACH, winner for Music Direction, On Your Toes
"These evergreen songs from composer Rodgers and lyricist Hart overflow with lilting melodies, clever lyrics, and lush romanticism [and are] interpreted to perfection by music director Gerald Sternbach and his orchestra."
-- Les Spindle
LIGHTING DESIGN
CHRISTINA MUNICH, winner for Lighting Design, Jekyll & Hyde: The Musical
"Christina Munich's lighting artfully enhances the goosebump-inducing story."
-- Les Spindle
PERFORMANCE
ERIC ANDERSON, winner for Performance, OthE.L.O.
"Eric Anderson, a lovely hunk of menacing...."
-- Jennie Webb
JEANNETTE BAYARDELLE, winner for Performance, The Color Purple
"Bayardelle is a powerhouse as the beleaguered heroine, adding grace notes of sharp humor to her interpretation. Just as her character slowly emerges from a cocoon, Bayardelle astutely builds vocal power a little at a time, so that Celie's spiritual rebirth coincides with Bayardelle's showstopping climactic number, the exhilarating 'I'm Here.' "
-- Les Spindle
KIRSTEN VANGSNESS, winner for Performance, Fat Pig
"Lunchtime at a busy pizza joint finds Tom dining with a stranger, Helen (Kirsten Vangsness), who is a librarian and also quite overweight. Their encounter leads to a friendship and then dating, but Tom's embarrassment over Helen's appearance keeps him from telling his co-worker pal…and former girlfriend.... Vangsness displays the natural, understated quality of a woman who is -- most of the time -- happy with the way she is."
-- Jeff Favre
ALAN MANDELL, winner for Performance, Trying
"Alan Mandell plays the demanding, hard-to-please Biddle to immaculate perfection. At 81, occupied only by writing his memoirs, Biddle knows he's well into the third act of his life.... Mandell invests his characterization with touching insight and clarifying energy, sharply illuminating the sour defensiveness of a once vigorous leader of men who must now be coddled and catered to out of necessity, not deference. The bitter taste of the old man's loss of powers becomes almost palpable in an overarching performance."
-- Madeleine Shaner
ENSEMBLE
IN ARABIA WE'D ALL BE KINGS, winner for Ensemble
"In the pivotal role of a loudmouth businessman, Tom Starks does a bang-up job of representing the ostensibly respectable society members who are drawn to ghettos to prey on the misery of the downtrodden. Also very compelling is Jason Warren's gun-toting ex-con whose façade as a bully can't disguise his deep-seated insecurities and anguish. Jade Dornfeld mesmerizes as a childlike waif to whom prostitution and crack addiction seem an ordinary lot in life. Also quite fine are Carolina Espiro's embittered unwed mother, Bernadette Speakes' hard-edged yet compassionate opportunist, and Steven Schub's drug-crazed failed actor, plus brilliant contributions from Don Gilvary, Torrence Jordan, Patricia Rae, George Russo, Charles Pacello, Bret Hren, and Charlie Romanelli."
-- Les Spindle