East West Players Announces Ovation Awards Nominations

East West Players (EWP), the nation's longest-running professional theater of color and the largest producing organization of Asian American artistic work, is pleased to announce its nominations for the 29th Annual Ovation Awards, which will be held on Monday, January 28, at The Theatre at Ace Hotel. The annual Ovation Awards "are the only peer-judged theatre awards in Los Angeles, created to recognize excellence in theatrical performance, production, and design in the Greater Los Angeles area," according to LA Stage Alliance, which administers the awards.

"East West Players' 52nd anniversary season was the largest in our history. We are so thrilled to see three of the shows from this season (Allegiance, Kaidan Project: Walls Grow Thin, and Soft Power) receive a total of 21 nominations," says Snehal Desai, EWP Producing Artistic Director. "A big thank you to all that took part in these landmark productions, especially our co-producers the Japanese American Cultural & Community Center, Rogue Artists Ensemble, and Center Theatre Group."

East West Players' received four Ovation Awards nominations for the Los Angeles premiere of Allegiance, co-produced with Japanese American Cultural & Community Center, during EWP's landmark 52nd season, The Company We Keep:

• Lead Actress in a Musical: Elena Wang, Allegiance
• Featured Actor in a Musical: Eymard Cabling, Allegiance
• Sound Design (Large Theater): Cricket Myers, Allegiance
• Video/Projection Design (Large Theater): Adam Fleming, Allegiance

EWP opened its 52nd season with the world premiere of Rogue Artists Ensemble's Kaidan Project: Walls Grow Thin, co-produced with EWP, which garnered six Ovation Awards nominations, as well as Ovations Honors in the categories of Music Composition for a Play and Puppet Design:

• Best Production of a Play (Intimate Theater): Kaidan Project: Walls Grow Thin
• Lighting Design (Intimate Theater): Karyn Lawrence, Kaidan Project: Walls Grow Thin
• Scenic Design (Intimate Theater): Keith Mitchell & Dillon Nelson, Kaidan Project: Walls Grow Thin
• Sound Design (Intimate Theater): Gillian Moon & Stephen Swift, Kaidan Project: Walls Grow Thin
• Costume Design (Intimate Theater): Lori Meeker, Kaidan Project: Walls Grow Thin
• Video/Projection Design (Intimate Theater): Matthew Hill, Kaidan Project: Walls Grow Thin
• Ovation Honors for Music Composition for a Play: Adrien Prevost, Kaidan Project: Walls Grow Thin
• Ovation Honors for Puppet Design: Greg Ballora, Sean Cawelti, Christine Papalexis, Jack Pullman, Morgan Rebane & Brian White, Kaidan Project: Walls Grow Thin

In addition, the world premiere musical Soft Power by David Henry Hwang, produced by Center Theatre Group in association with EWP, received 11 Ovation Awards nominations.

For the 28th Annual Ovation Awards, held at The Theatre at Ace Hotel on January 29, 2018, EWP won four Ovation Awards for its production of Next to Normal: Best Production of a Musical (Large Theater), Best Featured Actress in a Musical (Isa Briones), Best Lead Actress in a Musical (Deedee Magno Hall), and Direction of a Musical (Nancy Keystone). At the ceremony, Hana Kim, the Set/Projection Designer for Next to Normal, was also honored with the Sherwood Award, which includes a $10,000 prize.

As the nation's premier Asian American theatre organization, East West Players produces artistic work and educational programs that foster dialogue exploring Asian Pacific Islander (API) experiences. Founded in 1965, at a time when APIs faced limited or no opportunities to see their experiences reflected outside of stereotypical and demeaning caricatures in the American landscape, EWP not only ensures that API stories are told, but works to increase access, inclusion, and representation in the economy.

For more information, please visit eastwestplayers.org