2nd Annual 'Stage Raw' Awards Winners Announced

Professional Los Angeles intimate theater companies and their friends sold out Los Angeles Theatre Center to support the second-ever STAGE RAW THEATRE AWARDS. Picking up where the LA WEEKLY Awards left off, and hosted by the Independent Shakespeare Co. and Dr. Pinch and Pinchtones, the best of 99-seat theatre was celebrated in an exuberant and emotional evening that put a "Raw" spotlight on the year's best work.

For a career of promoting new plays in Los Angeles at his Skylight Theatre - not to mention his recent mediated discussions with Actors Equity Association, on behalf of the region's smaller theaters, STAGE RAW honored GARY GROSSMAN with its Career Achievement Award in one of the evening's most moving speeches and moments. Another highlight was this year's Queen of the Angels Award winner Highways' LEO GARCIA whose rousing speech and entrance were both memorable.

The award recipients for the 2015 STAGE RAW Awards are as follows:

FIGHT CHOREOGRAPHY

Edgar Landa - Hit the Wall - Los Angeles LGBT Center

VIDEO/PROJECTION DESIGN

Anthony Backman and Jim Pierce - Astro Boy and the God of Comics - Sacred Fools Theater

SOUND DESIGN

Danny Echevarria - The Temptation of St. Anthony - Four Larks

LIGHTING DESIGN

Jared A. Sayeg - Picnic - The Antaeus Theatre Company

COSTUME DESIGN

Kimberly Freed - Entropy - Theatre of NOTE

ORIGINAL MUSIC

Jake Broder - Miravel - Sacred Fools Theatre Company

QUEEN OF THE ANGELS

Leo Garcia

CHOREOGRAPHY

Angela Todaro - Jesus Christ Superstar - DOMA Theatre Co at the MET Theatre

MUSICAL DIRECTION (TIE)

Joe Lawrence - Sweeney Todd - Kelrik Productions at the El Portal Theatre

Chris Raymond - Jesus Christ Superstar - DOMA Theatre Co at the MET Theatre

SET DESIGN

Wilson Chin - Anna Christie - Odyssey Theatre Ensemble

TWO PERSON PERFORMANCE

Ed F. Martin and Michelle Azar - My Barking Dog - The Theatre @ Boston Court

LEADING FEMALE PERFORMANCE

Zoe Perry - Anna Christie - Odyssey Theatre Ensemble

SUPPORTING FEMALE PERFORMANCE

Ferrell Marshall - Enron - The Production Company at The Lex Theatre (T L Kolman and August Viverito)

SUPPORTING MALE PERFORMANCE

Robert Gossett - Watching O.J. - Ensemble Studio Theatre, Los Angeles

CAREER ACHIEVEMENT

Gary Grossman

LEADING MALE PERFORMANCE

Matthew Hancock - Hit the Wall - Los Angeles LGBT Center

MALE COMEDY PERFORMANCE

Michael Shepperd - Bootycandy - Celebration Theatre

FEMALE COMEDY PERFORMANCE

Julanne Chidi Hill - Bootycandy - Celebration Theatre

SOLO PERFORMANCE

Erica Gimpel - Sister - MPE Productions, Sahara Vision, and The Bootleg Theater

ADAPTATION

Stephen Sachs - Citizen: An American Lyric - The Fountain Theatre

PLAYWRITING

David McMillan - Watching O.J. - Ensemble Studio Theatre, Los Angeles

PRODUCTION DESIGN

Hit the Wall - Los Angeles LGBT Center

COMEDY ENSEMBLE

Bootycandy - Celebration Theatre

ENSEMBLE

Hit the Wall - Los Angeles LGBT Center

COMEDY DIRECTION

Jaime Robledo - Rio Hondo - Theatre of NOTE in association with Opiate of the Masses

DIRECTION

Ken Sawyer - Hit the Wall - Los Angeles LGBT Center

MUSICAL OF THE YEAR

Sweeney Todd - Kelrik Productions at the El Portal Theatre

REVIVAL PRODUCTION OF THE YEAR (of a 20th- or 21st-century work)

Anna Christie - Odyssey Theatre Ensemble

PRODUCTION OF THE YEAR

Hit the Wall - Los Angeles LGBT Center