Wednesday, April 16, 2008
Santa Cruz Film Festival
Tween, a feature I shot last year, is premiering at the Santa Cruz Film Festival , and is showing at the Riverfront Twin, Friday, May 9th at 7pm. So if anyone is in Santa Cruz... check it out!
Tuesday, April 8, 2008
Here is the article about the LA Weekly Awards
L.A. Weekly Gives 'Em 'Hades'
Odyssey Theatre drama leads annual theatre awards
April 08, 2008
By Les Spindle
There was hell to pay for some nominees at the 29th annual L.A. Weekly Theater Awards, bestowed at the Avalon club in Hollywood April 7. The show netting most awards was the Koan Ensemble's myth-based drama Sliding Into Hades at the Odyssey Theatre. The improvisation-developed piece received four plaques, including production of the year, direction (Ron Sossi), playwriting (Aaron Henne), and production design. Runners-up, with three citations apiece, were Black Dahlia's staging of Karoline Leach's Tryst and Palace of the End, 49th Parallel and Open at the Top Production's evening of solo works at the NoHo Arts Center. Tryst won for lead actors Gabriel Olds and Deborah Puette, as well as in the two-person-show category. Three solo performers in Palace were also honored: Anna Kahja, Michael Catlin, and Kate Mines.
Other acting nods were as follows: Theatre Banshee's Loyal Women (best ensemble); Edgar Allan Poe's Masque of the Red Death at Zombie Joe's Underground Theatre (best one-act ensemble); Bush Is Bad, Open at the Top Productions (best musical ensemble); Limonade Tous les Jours, from I'm a Parade Productions (best comedy ensemble); Valerie Dillman in Pacific Resident Theatre's Anatol and Adam Haas Hunter in Dark Play or Stories for Boys at Theatre @ Boston Court (best supporting performances); Megan Boone in Limonade Tous les Jours and Benjamin Burdick in Travesties at the Open Fist Theatre Company (best comedy performances); and Troy Dunn in Quartet at City Garage (best one-act performance). Hunter, who also scored in the supporting performance category at last month's Los Angeles Drama Critics Awards, repeated his capsule acceptance speech, "Thank you."
Built around a rock music theme, which suited the nominated musicals, the fast-paced and entertaining awards show was subtitled The Rock Opera. It was hosted by the audaciously hilarious Matt Walker, artistic director of the Troubadour Theatre Company, sporting rock-star costumes and wigs. He and his merry band of performers offered an opening musical salute to the Weeklys and appeared in character guises from past Troubadour shows while presenting awards. The troupe's captivating antics were highlighted by a performer on sky-high stilts, carrying the plaques to certain recipients seated in the balcony.
The audience was also treated to perhaps the only chance we'll ever have to see distinguished LA Weekly Theater Editor Steven Leigh Morris sporting punk-rock attire and a fright wig.
An emotional high point was the presentation of a career achievement award to Jeff Murray, founder and artistic director of Theatre/Theater, one of our most durable local 99-seat companies, where the work of award-winning playwright Del Shores and countless other notable talents has been nurtured. Taking the stage with his longtime life partner and business collaborator Nicolette Chaffey, Murray reminisced about the night the couple launched the company in its original venue on Melrose Blvd. in Hollywood in 1981, only to later discover their car battery was stolen. They curled up on some blankets on the floor and spent the night in their new artistic abode, offering a fortuitous christening to a formidable artistic legacy.
Poignant tributes were also offered to three illustrious theatre artists who lost their lives last year: Memphis-based actor Darius Ever Truly, brutally murdered on the street while he was in town performing at the Odyssey Theatre; Pacific Resident Theatre's renowned actor-teacher-director Gar Campbell, and Lonny Chapman, veteran film actor and local theatre producer.
This year's LAWees was an intoxicating mix of sass and class, a welcome salute to the creative breadth and ongoing brilliance of L.A.'s tireless 99-Seat theatre community.
The complete list of recipients is as follows:
Production of the Year
Sliding Into Hades, Koan Ensemble at the Odyssey Theatre
Revival Production of the Year (of a 20th- or 21st-century work)
Why Marry?, Theater Neo at the Secret Rose Theater
Musical of the Year
Hair, MET Theatre
Direction
Ron Sossi, Sliding Into Hades, Koan Ensemble at the Odyssey Theatre
Comedy Production
Charles Otte, Travesties, Open Fist Theatre Company
One-Act Direction
Frédérique Michel, Quartet, City Garage
Musical Direction
Billy Thompson, Invasion!The Musical, Flying Pig Productions at the Hudson Backstage Theatre
Ensemble
Loyal Women, Theatre Banshee
Musical Ensemble
Bush Is Bad, Open at the Top Productions at the NoHo Arts Center
Comedy Ensemble
Limonade Tous les Jours, I'm a Parade Productions at 2100 Square Feet
One-Act Ensemble
Edgar Allan Poe's Masque of the Red Death, Zombie Joe's Underground Theatre Group
Leading Female Performance
Deborah Puette, Tryst, Black Dahlia Theater
Leading Male Performance
Gabriel Olds, Tryst, Black Dahlia Theater
Supporting Female Performance
Valerie Dillman, Anatol, Pacific Resident Theatre
Supporting Male Performance
Adam Haas Hunter, Dark Play or Stories for Boys, Theatre @ Boston Court
Two-Person Show
Tryst, Black Dahlia Theater
Solo Performance
Anna Kahja, Palace of the End, 49th Parallel and Open at the Top Productions at the NoHo Arts Center
Michael Catlin, Palace of the End
Kate Mines, Palace of the End
Female Comedy Performance
Megan Boone, Limonade Tous les Jours, I'm a Parade Productions at 2100 Square Feet
Male Comedy Performance
Benjamin Burdick, Travesties, Open Fist Theatre Company
One-Act Performance
Troy Dunn, Quartet, City Garage
Playwriting
Aaron Henne, Sliding Into Hades, Koan Ensemble at the Odyssey Theatre
Career Achievement
Jeff Murray, founder and artistic director, Theatre/Theater
Queen of the Angels
Tom Fitzpatrick, actor
Production Design
Sliding Into Hades, Koan Ensemble at the Odyssey Theatre
Adaptation
Christopher Kelley, Wreck of the Unfathomable, Theatre of NOTE
Lighting Design
Steven Young, Paradise Lost: Shadows and Wings, Theatre @ Boston Court
Costume Design
Audrey Eisner, Anatol, Pacific Resident Theatre
Set Design
Travis Gale Lewis, Miss Julie, Fountain Theatre
Sound Design
Tim Labor, The Swine Show, Sacred Fools Theatre Company
Choreography
Bo Crowell, Hair, MET Theatre
Fight Choreography
Josh Gordon, Gilgamesh, Theatre @ Boston Court
Original Music
Billy Thompson, Invasion!The Musical, Flying Pig Productions at the Hudson Backstage Theatre
April 08, 2008
By Les Spindle
There was hell to pay for some nominees at the 29th annual L.A. Weekly Theater Awards, bestowed at the Avalon club in Hollywood April 7. The show netting most awards was the Koan Ensemble's myth-based drama Sliding Into Hades at the Odyssey Theatre. The improvisation-developed piece received four plaques, including production of the year, direction (Ron Sossi), playwriting (Aaron Henne), and production design. Runners-up, with three citations apiece, were Black Dahlia's staging of Karoline Leach's Tryst and Palace of the End, 49th Parallel and Open at the Top Production's evening of solo works at the NoHo Arts Center. Tryst won for lead actors Gabriel Olds and Deborah Puette, as well as in the two-person-show category. Three solo performers in Palace were also honored: Anna Kahja, Michael Catlin, and Kate Mines.
Other acting nods were as follows: Theatre Banshee's Loyal Women (best ensemble); Edgar Allan Poe's Masque of the Red Death at Zombie Joe's Underground Theatre (best one-act ensemble); Bush Is Bad, Open at the Top Productions (best musical ensemble); Limonade Tous les Jours, from I'm a Parade Productions (best comedy ensemble); Valerie Dillman in Pacific Resident Theatre's Anatol and Adam Haas Hunter in Dark Play or Stories for Boys at Theatre @ Boston Court (best supporting performances); Megan Boone in Limonade Tous les Jours and Benjamin Burdick in Travesties at the Open Fist Theatre Company (best comedy performances); and Troy Dunn in Quartet at City Garage (best one-act performance). Hunter, who also scored in the supporting performance category at last month's Los Angeles Drama Critics Awards, repeated his capsule acceptance speech, "Thank you."
Built around a rock music theme, which suited the nominated musicals, the fast-paced and entertaining awards show was subtitled The Rock Opera. It was hosted by the audaciously hilarious Matt Walker, artistic director of the Troubadour Theatre Company, sporting rock-star costumes and wigs. He and his merry band of performers offered an opening musical salute to the Weeklys and appeared in character guises from past Troubadour shows while presenting awards. The troupe's captivating antics were highlighted by a performer on sky-high stilts, carrying the plaques to certain recipients seated in the balcony.
The audience was also treated to perhaps the only chance we'll ever have to see distinguished LA Weekly Theater Editor Steven Leigh Morris sporting punk-rock attire and a fright wig.
An emotional high point was the presentation of a career achievement award to Jeff Murray, founder and artistic director of Theatre/Theater, one of our most durable local 99-seat companies, where the work of award-winning playwright Del Shores and countless other notable talents has been nurtured. Taking the stage with his longtime life partner and business collaborator Nicolette Chaffey, Murray reminisced about the night the couple launched the company in its original venue on Melrose Blvd. in Hollywood in 1981, only to later discover their car battery was stolen. They curled up on some blankets on the floor and spent the night in their new artistic abode, offering a fortuitous christening to a formidable artistic legacy.
Poignant tributes were also offered to three illustrious theatre artists who lost their lives last year: Memphis-based actor Darius Ever Truly, brutally murdered on the street while he was in town performing at the Odyssey Theatre; Pacific Resident Theatre's renowned actor-teacher-director Gar Campbell, and Lonny Chapman, veteran film actor and local theatre producer.
This year's LAWees was an intoxicating mix of sass and class, a welcome salute to the creative breadth and ongoing brilliance of L.A.'s tireless 99-Seat theatre community.
The complete list of recipients is as follows:
Production of the Year
Sliding Into Hades, Koan Ensemble at the Odyssey Theatre
Revival Production of the Year (of a 20th- or 21st-century work)
Why Marry?, Theater Neo at the Secret Rose Theater
Musical of the Year
Hair, MET Theatre
Direction
Ron Sossi, Sliding Into Hades, Koan Ensemble at the Odyssey Theatre
Comedy Production
Charles Otte, Travesties, Open Fist Theatre Company
One-Act Direction
Frédérique Michel, Quartet, City Garage
Musical Direction
Billy Thompson, Invasion!The Musical, Flying Pig Productions at the Hudson Backstage Theatre
Ensemble
Loyal Women, Theatre Banshee
Musical Ensemble
Bush Is Bad, Open at the Top Productions at the NoHo Arts Center
Comedy Ensemble
Limonade Tous les Jours, I'm a Parade Productions at 2100 Square Feet
One-Act Ensemble
Edgar Allan Poe's Masque of the Red Death, Zombie Joe's Underground Theatre Group
Leading Female Performance
Deborah Puette, Tryst, Black Dahlia Theater
Leading Male Performance
Gabriel Olds, Tryst, Black Dahlia Theater
Supporting Female Performance
Valerie Dillman, Anatol, Pacific Resident Theatre
Supporting Male Performance
Adam Haas Hunter, Dark Play or Stories for Boys, Theatre @ Boston Court
Two-Person Show
Tryst, Black Dahlia Theater
Solo Performance
Anna Kahja, Palace of the End, 49th Parallel and Open at the Top Productions at the NoHo Arts Center
Michael Catlin, Palace of the End
Kate Mines, Palace of the End
Female Comedy Performance
Megan Boone, Limonade Tous les Jours, I'm a Parade Productions at 2100 Square Feet
Male Comedy Performance
Benjamin Burdick, Travesties, Open Fist Theatre Company
One-Act Performance
Troy Dunn, Quartet, City Garage
Playwriting
Aaron Henne, Sliding Into Hades, Koan Ensemble at the Odyssey Theatre
Career Achievement
Jeff Murray, founder and artistic director, Theatre/Theater
Queen of the Angels
Tom Fitzpatrick, actor
Production Design
Sliding Into Hades, Koan Ensemble at the Odyssey Theatre
Adaptation
Christopher Kelley, Wreck of the Unfathomable, Theatre of NOTE
Lighting Design
Steven Young, Paradise Lost: Shadows and Wings, Theatre @ Boston Court
Costume Design
Audrey Eisner, Anatol, Pacific Resident Theatre
Set Design
Travis Gale Lewis, Miss Julie, Fountain Theatre
Sound Design
Tim Labor, The Swine Show, Sacred Fools Theatre Company
Choreography
Bo Crowell, Hair, MET Theatre
Fight Choreography
Josh Gordon, Gilgamesh, Theatre @ Boston Court
Original Music
Billy Thompson, Invasion!The Musical, Flying Pig Productions at the Hudson Backstage Theatre
Monday, April 7, 2008
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