2009 Lucille Lortel Award Winners Announced; Fela!, Our Town, Ruined, Cripple of Inishmaan Lead Pack

Awards were handed out for 14 categories and 2 special awards are announced by the Off-Broadway League for the Lucille Lortel Awards recognizing Outstanding Achievement Off-Broadway.  This year’s ceremony benefits The Actors Fund.  A list of nominees follows below.
 
Now in its 24th year, the Lortel Awards were handed out on Sunday, May 3, 2009 at the “Off” Broadway Ballroom at the Marriott Marquis.  The Lortel Recipients were lauded by lovely host, Kristen Johnston, a performance by nominated comedian Mike Birbiglia and with a bevy of presenters, including Jane Krakowski, Parker Posey, Marcia Gay Harden, Piper Perabo, Lisa Edelstein, Jeremy Irons, Ari Graynor, Rosie Perez, Ellen Burstyn, Craig Bierko, Christian Siriano, Tim Gunn, Mireille Enos, Olivia d’Abo, John Glover, Margarita Levieva, Mark Indelicato, Keith Nobbs, Kerry Butler, Marsha Mason, Robert Verdi, Karen Olivo, Boyd Gaines & Lynn Cohen, Stephanie J Block, Fern Mallis, Ty Burrell, Phyllis Newman, Michael T. Weiss, Kate Jennings Grant, Jessica Blank & Erik Jensen.
 
Representatives of the Off-Broadway League, Actors’ Equity Association, Society of Stage Directors & Choreographers, the Lucille Lortel Foundation in addition to theatre journalists and academics and other Off-Broadway professionals serve on the Voting Committee.  The 2009 Voting Committee is comprised of Jeremy Dobrish, John Clinton Eisner, Barrack Evans, Kurt Everhart, Peter Filichia, David Finkle, Jeffrey Fiske, ElizaBeth Frankel, Melanie Herman, Linda Herring, Matthew Kelty, Walt Kiskaddon, Renée Lasher, Russell Lehrer, Niclas Nagler, Barbara Pasternack, Richard Price, Mark Rossier, David Savran and Barbara Toy. 
 
The Lucille Lortel Awards are produced by the Off-Broadway League by special arrangement with the Lucille Lortel Foundation.  Additional support provided by Theatre Development Fund. Support also provided by Ketel One Vodka, Lunetta Prosecco, The Powder Group and Amavi Cellars.
 
The Lortel Awards website, www.LortelAward.com <http://www.LortelAward.com> , has updates and news about the ceremony, hosts and media releases.  To follow the Lortel Awards on Twitter, please go to:  twitter.com/LortelAward; Facebook at the Lucille Lortel Awards Group.
 
 

RECIPIENTS FOR THE 2009 Lucille Lortel AWARDS
AWARD RECIPIENTS IN BOLD IN EACH CATEGORY

Outstanding Play:

Animals Out of Paper; Second Stage Theatre, Producer; Rajiv Joseph, Playwright
 
Becky Shaw; Second Stage Theatre, Producer; Gina Gionfriddo, Playwright
 
Ruined; Manhattan Theatre Club and Goodman Theatre, Producer; Lynn Nottage, Playwright

The Good Negro; The Public Theater in association with Dallas Theater Center, Producers; Tracey Scott Wilson, Playwright
 
The Sound and the Fury (April Seventh, 1928); New York Theatre Workshop and Elevator Repair Service, Producers; Text by William Faulkner, Created by Elevator Repair Service
 
Outstanding Musical:

Fela! A New Musical; Ruth and Stephen Hendel and Roy Gabay, Producers; Book by Jim Lewis and Bill T. Jones, Music and Lyrics by Fela Anikulapo Kuti, Add'l Music by AaRon Johnson and Jordan McLean, Add'l Lyrics by Jim Lewis.

My Vaudeville Man!; The York Theatre Company and Melanie Herman, Producers; Book by Jeff Hochhauser, Music by Bob Johnston, Lyrics by Bob Johnston and Jeff Hochhauser
 
Road Show; The Public Theater, Producer; Music and Lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, Book by John Weidman
 
Saved; Playwrights Horizons in association with Elephant Eye Theatrical, Producers; Music and Lyrics by Michael Friedman, Book and Lyrics by John Dempsey and Rinne Groff
 
This Beautiful City; Vineyard Theatre, Producer; Composer and Lyricist Michael Friedman, Librettist Steve Cosson and Jim Lewis, Created by The Civilians
 
Outstanding Solo Show:

Humor Abuse; Manhattan Theatre Club, Producer; Created by Lorenzo Pisoni and Erica Schmidt, Performed by Lorenzo Pisoni

Sleepwalk With Me; Eli Gonda, Ryan Scott Warren, Marc Turtletaub, Peter Saraf, and Nathan Lane, Producers; Written and Performed by Mike Birbiglia
 
Outstanding Revival:

Enter Laughing, The Musical; The York Theatre Company, Producer; Book by Joseph Stein, Music and Lyrics by Stan Daniels, Based on the play Enter Laughingby Joseph Stein, from the novel by Carl Reiner.
 
Othello; Theatre for a New Audience, Producer; William Shakespeare, Playwright
 
Our Town; Scott Morfee, Jean Doumanian, Tom Wirtshafter, Ted Snowdon, Eagle Productions, Dena Hammerstein/Pam Pariseau, The Weinstein Company, Burnt Umber Productions, Producers; Thornton Wilder, Playwright

The Cripple of Inishmaan; Atlantic Theater Company and Druid Theatre Company, Producers; Martin McDonagh, Playwright
 
The Glass Cage; Mint Theater Company, Producer; J.B. Priestley, Playwright
 
Outstanding Director:

Arin Arbus, Othello
David Cromer, Our Town
Garry Hynes, The Cripple of Inishmaan
Kate Whoriskey, Ruined
RoBert Woodruff, Chair

Outstanding Choreographer:

Martha Clarke, Garden of Earthly Delights
Bill T. Jones, Fela! A New Musical
Janet Miller, The Marvelous Wonderettes
Lynne Taylor-Corbett and Shonn Wiley, My Vaudeville Man!
Sergio Trujillo, Saved

Outstanding Lead Actor:

Ned Eisenberg, Othello
Josh Grisetti, Enter Laughing, The Musical
Brian d'Arcy James, Port Authority
Sahr Ngaujah, Fela! A New Musical
John Douglas Thompson, Othello

Outstanding Lead Actress:

Ellen Burstyn, The Little Flower of East Orange
Saidah Arrika Ekulona, Ruined
Carmen M. Herlihy, crooked
Kellie Overbey, The Savannah Disputation
Annie Parisse, Becky Shaw

Outstanding Featured Actor:

Utkarsh Ambudkar, Animals Out of Paper
Francois Battiste, The Good Negro
John McMartin, Saturn Returns
Aaron Monaghan, The Cripple of Inishmaan
Thomas Sadoski, Becky Shaw

Outstanding Featured Actress:

Annika Boras, Chair
Kerry Condon, The Cripple of Inishmaan
Lisa Emery, Distracted
Mamie Gummer, Uncle Vanya
Juliet Rylance, Othello

Outstanding Scenic Design:

Beowulf Boritt, Animals Out of Paper
Marina Draghici, Fela! A New Musical
Roger Hanna, The Glass Cage
James Schuette, Wig Out!
David Zinn, Chair

Outstanding Costume Design:

Marina Draghici, Fela! A New Musical
Ann Hould-Ward, Road Show
Toni-Leslie James, Wig Out!
Karen Perry, The First Breeze of Summer
Theresa Squire, Rafta, Rafta…

Outstanding Lighting Design:

Christopher Akerlind, Garden of Earthly Delights
Mark Barton, Chair
Lap Chi Chu, The Good Negro
Marcus Doshi, Othello
Jason Lyons, Mourning Becomes Electra

Outstanding Sound Design:

Quentin Chiappetta, Irena's Vow
John Gromada, Shipwrecked! An Entertainment
Robert Kaplowitz, Wig Out!
Jane Shaw, The Widowing of Mrs. Holroyd
Matt Tierney, The Sound and the Fury (April Seventh, 1928)

Special Awards:

Edith Oliver Award for Sustained Excellence:

Ira Weitzman

Outstanding Body of Work:

The Lark Play Development Center

The Lucille Lortel Awards for Outstanding Achievement Off-Broadway were created in 1985 by the Off-Broadway League.  The Lortel Awards recognize excellence Off-Broadway by honoring the invaluable contribution of artists to the theatre community.
 
Representatives of the Off-Broadway League, Actors’ Equity Association, Society of Stage Directors & Choreographers, the Lucille Lortel Foundation in addition to theatre journalists and academics and other Off-Broadway professionals serve on the Voting Committee.
 
The awards are given in the following categories: Play, Musical, Solo Show, Revival, Alternative Theatrical Experience, Director, Choreographer, Lead Actor and Actress, Featured Actor and Actress, Scenic, Costume, Lighting and Sound Design.  The following honorary awards may also be given: Lifetime Achievement, Body of Work (awarded to an institution), the Edith Oliver Award for Sustained Excellence and induction onto the Playwrights’ Sidewalk in front of the historic Lucille Lortel Theatre in New York City.
 
For more information, please see www.LortelAward.com