Harry Groener

West Coast stagings of Caroline, or Change, A Little Night Music, and Hairspray are among the shows with most nominations for the Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle for excellence in L.A. and Orange County theatre for the year 2004. Tony Award nominee Harry Groener (Oklahoma!, Crazy for You) and theatre critic Wenzel Jones will host the 36th Annual Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle Awards ceremony set for March 21 at 7:30 PM at West Hollywood’s Coronet Theatre. Tickets ($35) are available by calling (818) 754-4785. Doors open at 6:30 PM for drinks and a buffet.

Special awards will be bestowed as follows: The Margaret Harford Award (for sustained excellence in theatre) will go to Dakin Matthews. The Ted Schmitt Award (for world premiere of an outstanding new play) will also be presented to Dakin Matthews for The Prince of L.A. The Bob Z Award (for lifetime achievement in set design) will honor Tom Buderwitz. The Angstrom Award (for lifetime achievement in lighting design) goes to Steven Young. The Natalie Schafer Award (for an emerging comic actress) will be awarded to Kirsten Vangsness. The Polly Warfield Award (for an excellent season/year in a small-to-mid-sized theatre) will be bestowed upon The Black Dahlia Theatre. And the Lifetime Achievement Award will honor Center Theatre Group artistic director Gordon Davidson.

The 2004 nominees for Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle Awards are:

PRODUCTION
# A Little Night Music - New York City Opera production presented by Los Angeles Opera, Dorothy Chandler Pavilion
# Caroline, or Change - Center Theatre Group/Ahmanson Theatre, in association with Carole Shorenstein Hays
# Cyrano De Bergerac - South Coast Repertory, Segerstrom Stage
# Exits and Entrances - Simon Levy, the Fountain Theatre
# Hot Mikado - Musical Theatre West, Carpenter Performing Arts Center
# Theater District - The Black Dahlia Theatre

TOM MCCULLOH AWARD (REVIVAL)
# A Flea in Her Ear - A Noise Within, A Noise Within
# Awake and Sing - Shashin Desai, International City Theatre
# Rocket to the Moon - Pacific Resident Theatre and West Coast Jewish Theatre

DIRECTION
# Elina De Santos, Rocket to the Moon
# Geoff Elliott and Julia Rodriguez Elliott, A Flea In Her Ear
# Scott Ellis, A Little Night Music
# Jessica Kubzansky, Light - The Theatre @ Boston Court
# Stuart Rogers, Book of Days - Theatre Tribe
# Stephen Sachs, Exits and Entrances
# Matt Shakman Theater District

MUSICAL DIRECTION
# Lloyd Cooper, Hot Mikado
# John DeMain, A Little Night Music
# Kimberly Grigsby, Caroline, or Change
# Gerald Sternbach, Company - Reprise! Broadway’s Best
# Jim Vukovich, Hairspray - Pantages Theatre

WRITING
# Athol Fugard, Exits and Entrances
# Tom Jacobson, Ouroboros - The Other Side of the Hill Productions, Inc., the Road Theatre
# Richard Kramer, Theater District
# Tony Kushner, Caroline, or Change
# Jean-Claude van Itallie Light
# Trey L. Wilson, Stage Directions - Ensemble Studio Theatre

ADAPTATION
# Matthew Barber, Enchanted April - Pasadena Playhouse
# Bart DeLorenzo, Hard Times - The Evidence Room
# Nicholas Saunders and Fran Dwyer Chekhov X 4 - The Antaeus Company

MUSICAL SCORE
# Bark! David Troy Francis (music) and Gavin Geoffrey Dillard & Robert Schrock (lyrics), with additional lyrics by Mark Winkler, Jonathan Heath, and Danny Lukic - Bark Productions, The Coast Playhouse
# Hairspray Marc Shaiman (music) and Marc Shaiman & Scott Wittman (lyrics)
# Caroline, or Change Jeanine Tesori (music) and Tony Kushner (lyrics)

LEAD PERFORMANCE
# Viola Davis, Intimate Apparel - Roundabout Theatre Company production presented by Center Theatre Group/Mark Taper Forum
# Mark Harelik, Cyrano de Bergerac
# Morlan Higgins, Exits and Entrances
# Wade McCollum, Hedwig and the Angry Inch - Derek Charles Livingston, Celebration Theatre
# Dakin Matthews, The Prince of L.A. - Andak Stage Company, NewPlace Theatre Center
# Tonya Pinkins, Caroline, or Change
# Lenny Von Dohlen, Light

FEATURED PERFORMANCE
# Julian Acosta, Lovers and Executioners - South Coast Repertory, Julianne Argyros Stage
# Harry Groener, Chekov X 4
# Arye Gross, Brooklyn Boy South Coast Repertory in association with Manhattan Theatre Club, Segerstrom Stage
# William Dennis Hurley, Exits and Entrances
# Anika Noni Rose, Caroline, or Change
# Jeremy Sisto, Take Me Out - Geffen Playhouse at the Brentwood Theatre
# Cory Stoll, Intimate Apparel

ENSEMBLE PERFORMANCE
# The cast of A Very Merry Unauthorized Children’s Scientology Pageant, Powerhouse Theatre Company and Les Freres Corbusier
# The cast of Book of Days
# The cast of Chekhov x 4

SCENIC DESIGN
# Michael Anania, A Little Night Music
# D Martyn Bookwalter, Talley’s Folly - Pasadena Playhouse and Arizona Theatre Company
# Craig Siebels, Dorian - Open at the Top Productions and Denver Center Attractions

LIGHTING DESIGN
# Jules Fisher and Peggy Eisenhauser, Caroline, or Change
# Michael Gilliam, 110 in the Shade - Pasadena Playhouse, Pasadena Playhouse
# Jeremy Pivnick, Light

COSTUME DESIGN
# Lindsay W. Davis, A Little Night Music
# Scott Lane, Dorian
# Catherine Zuber, Intimate Apparel

SOUND DESIGN
# David B. Marling, Hedwig and the Angry Inch
# Jon Weston, A Little Night Music
# John Zalewski, M. Butterfly - East West Players, David Henry Hwang Theatre

CHOREOGRAPHY
# Kay Cole, Bark!
# Sean McNight, Hot Mikado
# Jerry Mitchell, Hairspray

HAIR, WIGS AND MAKEUP DESIGN
# Paul Huntley (wig and hair design) Hairspray

A tally of show with multiple nominations follows:
Caroline, or Change - 7
A Little Night Music - 6
Exits and Entrances - 5
Hairspray - 4
Light - 4
Chekhov x 4 - 3
Hot Mikado - 3
Intimate Apparel - 3
Theater District - 3
A Flea in Her Ear - 2
Bark! - 2
Book of Days - 2
Cyrano De Bergerac - 2
Dorian - 2
Hedwig and the Angry Inch - 2
Rocket to the Moon - 2

The LADCC, founded in 1969, is dedicated to excellence in theatrical criticism, and to the encouragement and improvement of theatre in Greater Los Angeles. 17 critics reviewed theatre for different websites, radio stations, and newspapers and magazines for the year 2004. For more information, visit www.ladramacriticscircle.com.