THE 32ND ANNUAL ELLIOT NORTON AWARDS
ACADEMY AWARD-WINNER OLYMPIA DUKAKIS ACCEPTS LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD
PAUL DAIGNEAULT ACCEPTS THE ELLIOT NORTON PRIZE FOR SUSTAINED EXCELLENCE
BOSTON, MA. (May 19, 2014) – The 32nd Annual Elliot Norton Awards ceremony took place on Monday, May 19 at the Wheelock Family Theatre in Boston. Presented by the Boston Theater Critics Association (BTCA), the awards are named in honor of the late, distinguished Boston theater critic Elliot Norton, who for many years served on the selection committee, and who remained an engaged supporter of theater, both locally and nationally, until his death in 2003 at age 100. For 48 years, Mr. Norton was a drama critic for Boston newspapers; concurrently, from 1958 until his retirement in 1982, he moderated Elliot Norton Reviews on WGBH-TV. The event sponsors include Actors’ Equity Association, ArtsBoston, The Boston Globe/thebostonglobe.com, TheaterMania/Ovation Tix, and WBUR.
As the audience were taking their seats a photo montage tribute played marking the year’s major anniversaries which include Actors’ Shakespeare Project (10), Broadway In Boston (30), Company One (15), The Charles Playhouse (175), The Lyric Stage Company of Boston (40), The Theater Offensive (25) and The Wilbur Theatre (100).
Emceed by BTCA President Joyce Kulhawik, the evening featured three live performances by the nominated musicals which include Stoneham Theatre’s Thoroughly Modern Millie, Gold Dust Orphans’ It’s A Horrible Life, and the Wheelock Family Theatre’s Hairspray.
With remarks by Mayor Martin Walsh and former Governor Michael Dukakis (her cousin) the stage was set for the presentation of the 2014 Elliot Norton Lifetime Achievement Award to Academy Award-winner and theater veteran Olympia Dukakis.
The BTCA presented select awards in memory of longtime ART company member Jeremy Geidt, the legendary Julie Harris and the Huntington Theatre Company’s former Artistic Director Nicholas Martin.
To close the evening, SpeakEasy Stage Company’s Paul Daigneault accepted The 2013 Elliot Norton Prize For Sustained Excellence.
2014 Winners
Elliot Norton Prize for Sustained Excellence: Paul Daigneault
Outstanding Visiting Production
Mies Julie (Baxter Theatre Centre, presented by ArtsEmerson) **
Waiting for Godot (Gare St Lazare Players and Dublin Theatre Festival, presented by ArtsEmerson)
A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Bristol Old Vic in association with Handspring Puppet Company, presented by ArtsEmerson)
Outstanding Production by a Large Resident Theater
All the Way (American Repertory Theater) **
The Heart of Robin Hood (American Repertory Theater)
Venus in Fur (Huntington Theatre Company)
Outstanding Production by a Midsize Theater
Tribes (SpeakEasy Stage Company) **
Imagining Madoff (New Repertory Theatre)
The Cherry Orchard (Actors’ Shakespeare Project)
Outstanding Production by a Small Theater
Windowmen (Boston Playwrights’ Theatre)
How We Got On (Company One)
The Flick (Company One, co-presented with Suffolk University) **
Outstanding Production by a Fringe Theater
Punk Rock (Zeitgeist Stage Company) **
The Normal Heart (Zeitgeist Stage Company)
The Libertine (Co-Produced by Bridge Repertory Theater and Playhouse Creatures Theatre Company)
Outstanding Design, Large Theater
The Heart of Robin Hood: Set design by Börkur Jónsson, costumes by Emma Ryott, lighting by Björn Helgason, sound by Jonathan Deans (American Repertory Theater) **
Mies Julie: Set and lighting design by Patrick Curtis, original lighting design by Paul Abrams, costumes by Birrie Le Roux, music composed and performed by Daniel and Matthew Pencer (Baxter Theatre Centre, presented by ArtsEmerson)
The Jungle Book: Scenic design by Daniel Ostling, costumes by Mara Blumenfeld, lighting by T.J. Gerckens, sound by Joshua Horvath, Ray Nardelli, and Andre J. Pluess (Huntington Theatre Company)
Outstanding Design, Midsize, Small or Fringe Theater
Windowmen: Scenic design by Anthony R. Phelps, sound and lighting by David Wilson, costumes by Rachel Padula Shufelt (Boston Playwrights’ Theatre)
The Flick: Scenic design by Cristina Todesco, lighting by Jen Rock, costumes by Amanda Maciel Antunes, sound by Edward Young, props master Anita Shriver (Company One, co-presented with Suffolk University) **
The Whale: Scenic design by Cristina Todesco, costumes by Gail Astrid Buckley, lighting by Jeff Adelberg, sound by David Remedios (SpeakEasy Stage Company)
Outstanding Musical Production by a Large Theater
Once (Broadway in Boston)
The Jungle Book (Huntington Theatre Company) **
Witness Uganda (American Repertory Theater)
Outstanding Musical Production by a Midsize, Small or Fringe Company
Thoroughly Modern Millie (Stoneham Theatre)
It’s a Horrible Life (Gold Dust Orphans)
Hairspray (Wheelock Family Theatre) **
Outstanding Musical Performance by an Actor
Andre De Shields, The Jungle Book (Huntington Theatre Company)
Paul Melendy, It’s a Horrible Life (Gold Dust Orphans)
Francis Jue, Miss Saigon (North Shore Music Theatre) **
Outstanding Musical Performance by an Actress
Melody Betts, Witness Uganda (American Repertory Theater)
Aimee Doherty, On the Town (Lyric Stage Company of Boston), Hairspray (Wheelock Family Theatre) **
Ephie Aardema, Thoroughly Modern Millie (Stoneham Theatre)
Outstanding New Script
Windowmen, by Steven Barkhimer (Boston Playwrights’ Theatre) **
Absence, by Peter M. Floyd (Boston Playwrights’ Theatre)
Breaking the Shakespeare Code, by John Minigan (Vagabond Theatre Group)
Outstanding Director, Large Theater
Gisli Örn Gardarsson, The Heart of Robin Hood (American Repertory Theater) **
Mary Zimmerman, The Jungle Book (Huntington Theatre Company)
Yåel Farber, Mies Julie (Baxter Theatre Centre, presented by ArtsEmerson)
Outstanding Director, Midsize Theater
M. Bevin O’Gara, Tribes (SpeakEasy Stage Company)
Ilyse Robbins, Thoroughly Modern Millie (Stoneham Theatre) **
Melia Bensussen, The Cherry Orchard (Actors’ Shakespeare Project)
Outstanding Director, Small or Fringe Theater
Summer L. Williams, How We Got On (Company One)
David J. Miller, Punk Rock and The Normal Heart (Zeitgeist Stage Company) **
Shawn LaCount, The Flick (Company One, co-presented with Suffolk University)
Outstanding Actor, Large Theater
Bryan Cranston, All the Way (American Repertory Theater) **
Bongile Mantsai, Mies Julie (Baxter Theatre Centre, presented by ArtsEmerson)
Denis O’Hare, An Iliad (Homer’s Coat, presented by ArtsEmerson)
Outstanding Actress, Large Theater
Hilda Cronje, Mies Julie (Baxter Theatre Centre, presented by ArtsEmerson)
Andrea Syglowski, Venus in Fur (Huntington Theatre Company) **
Christina Bennett Lind, The Heart of Robin Hood (American Repertory Theater)
Outstanding Actor, Midsize Theater
John Kuntz, The Whale (SpeakEasy Stage Company)
Steven Barkhimer, The Cherry Orchard (Actors’ Shakespeare Project)
Jeremiah Kissel, Imagining Madoff (New Repertory Theatre) **
Outstanding Actress, Midsize Theater
Erica Spyres, Tribes (SpeakEasy Stage Company) **
Georgia Lyman, The Whale (SpeakEasy Stage Company)
Marianna Bassham, The Cherry Orchard (Actors’ Shakespeare Project)
Outstanding Actor, Small or Fringe Theater
Phil Gillen, Punk Rock (Zeitgeist Stage Company)
Alex Pollock, This Is Our Youth (Gloucester Stage Company), Windowmen (Boston Playwrights’ Theatre), The Flick (Company One, co-presented with Suffolk University) **
Victor Shopov, The Normal Heart (Zeitgeist Stage Company)
Outstanding Actress, Small or Fringe Theater
Maureen Adduci, The Normal Heart (Zeitgeist Stage Company) **
Brenna Fitzgerald, The Flick (Company One, co-presented with Suffolk University)
Cloteal Horne, How We Got On (Company One)
Outstanding Ensemble, Large Theater
All the Way (American Repertory Theater)
The Heart of Robin Hood (American Repertory Theater)
The Seagull (Huntington Theatre Company) **
Outstanding Ensemble, Midsize, Small or Fringe Theater
Punk Rock (Zeitgeist Stage Company)
Windowmen (Boston Playwrights’ Theatre)
Hairspray (Wheelock Family Theatre) **
Thoroughly Modern Millie (Stoneham Theatre)