Pablo Santiago Named Sherwood Award Winner at 2017 Ovation Awards

Center Theatre Group recognizes and celebrates the recipient of the 2017 Richard E. Sherwood Award, Pablo Santiago, for his exceptional contribution to the Los Angeles theatre landscape and his work as innovative and adventurous artist.

Created in memory of Richard E. Sherwood, the $10,000 award aims to cultivate emerging theatre artists working in Los Angeles who push formal and aesthetic boundaries and demonstrate dedication to improving their respective artistic fields. The winner of the $10,000 award was announced at the 2016 Ovation Awards on Tuesday, January 17, 2017, at the Ahmanson Theatre at The Music Center. The two additional finalists, Jenny Foldenauer and Keith Skretch, each received a $2,000 honorarium.

Pablo Santiago is a lighting designer originally from Chiapas, Mexico who designs for theatre, opera, dance and gallery work. Santiago found a home in Los Angeles where he worked in the film industry for 15 years before obtaining an MFA in lighting design from UCLA and transitioned into live stage design. Santiago integrates color theory into his designs and surprises collaborators with innovative plots. Santiago is particularly interested in projects that highlight social justice issues and experiment with time onstage. His design in "Premeditation" was nominated for an Ovation Award in 2014, and he won a Stage Raw Award for "Brother's Size" in 2015. Upcoming projects include the opera "Breaking the Waves" at the Perelman Theater for OperaPhila and Skirball Center in NYC, and "Zoot Suit" at the Mark Taper Forum.

Originally created in 1996, the Sherwood Award has met a vital need in the theatre landscape to support emerging artists.

Richard E. Sherwood was a patron of the arts with a special appreciation for emerging artists who are in the vanguard of theatre. He was president and then chairman of the Center Theatre Group Board of Directors from 1980 until his passing in 1993. The award is established as an endowed fund at Center Theatre Group by his family, friends, colleagues and fellow board members to honor Sherwood's passionate commitment to theatre.

Past recipients of the Richard E. Sherwood Award include Los Angeles artists Miwa Matreyek of Cloud Eye Control, Sean Cawelti of Rogue Artists Ensemble, Miranda Wright of Los Angeles Performance Practice, Lars Jan of Early Morning Opera, lighting designer Christopher Kuhl and costume designer Ann Closs-Farley, among others.

Center Theatre Group, one of the nation's preeminent arts and cultural organizations, is Los Angeles' leading nonprofit theatre company, programming seasons at the 736-seat Mark Taper Forum and 1600 to 2000-seat Ahmanson Theatre at The Music Center in Downtown Los Angeles, and the 317-seat Kirk Douglas Theatre in Culver City. In addition to presenting and producing the broadest range of theatrical entertainment in the country, Center Theatre Group is one of the nation's leading producers of ambitious new works through commissions and world premiere productions and a leader in interactive community engagement and education programs that reach across generations, demographics and circumstance to serve Los Angeles.

Photo Credit: Ryan Miller, Capture Imaging

Test and expand your Broadway knowledge with our new game - The Broadway Match-Up! How well do you know your Broadway casting trivia?	Play the Daily Game, explore current shows, and delve into past decades like the 2000s, 80s, and the Golden Age. Challenge your friends and see where you rank!
How well do you know your Tony Awards history? Take our never-ending quiz of nominations and winner history and challenge your friends.	Can you beat your friends? Play today’s daily Broadway word game, featuring a new theatrically inspired word or phrase every day!