Andres Velez, Jack Stehlin, Emily Yetter, Jade Sealey and Ahkei Togun in “Lear Redux” presented by the Odyssey Theatre/The New American Theatre/ Not Man Apart Physical Ensemble (Photo by John Dlugolecki Photography)
The 2026 Stage Raw Theater Awards Program
The Candle That Couldn’t Be Extinguished
For all the turmoil in 2025, within the theater community, backstage, onstage, and in the chaotic world beyond it, our theater emerged as a kind of stabilizer, a flickering candle that couldn’t be extinguished, despite some determined efforts to do so.
PROGRAM for the 2026 Stage Raw Theater Awards Party
(Monday, May 4 at the Sassafras Saloon, Hollywood)
- 7:30 pm – Doors Open
- 8:30 pm – Choral Presentation by Jack Grotenstein and Max Sanders of the Los Angeles County High School for the Arts
- Introduction by Stage Raw Founding Editor Steven Leigh Morris
- Keelyn McDermott acknowledges Darin Anthony, Artistic Director of Moving Arts, for Stage Raw’s first ever Distinguished Artistic Leadership award.
- Queen of the Angels Award: Fable Isaacson introduces recipient Beth Hogan
- Queen of the Angels: Katy Kragel introduces recipients Julia Rodriguez-Elliot and Geoff Elliot
- Lifetime Achievement Award: Warren Riley introduces recipient David Hunt Stafford
- Lifetime Achievement Award: Playwright Levy Lee Simon introduces recipient Ben Guillory
- Passing the Torch Award: Keelyn and Steven introduce recipientsJohn Flynn and Gary Grossman
- Closing remarks by Steven
Producers: Steven Leigh Morris and Dana Martin; Graphic Designer, Mia Christou; Image Preparation: Elmira Rahim, Photographer: Martín Hernandez; Front of House: Madison Mellon, G. Bruce Smith, Julia Stier; Certificates Table: Lovell Estell III, Asa Fris, Socks Whitmore, Iris Mann, Molly McLean, Elmira Rahim; Step-n’Repeat: Julia Stier
Stage Raw Contributors: Amanda L. Andrei, Philip Brandes, Katie Buenneke, V. Cate, Julyza Commodore, Catherine Crouch, Lovell Estell III, F. Kathleen Foley, Asa Fris, Martín Hernandez, Taylor Kass, Deborah Klugman, Iris Mann, Ali MacLean, Dana Martin, Keelyn McDermott, Molly McLean, Madison Mellon, Myron Meisel, Steven Leigh Morris, Odalys Nanin, Warren Riley, G. Bruce Smith, Julia Stier, Isadora Swann, Steven Vargas, and Socks Whitmore
2026 Stage Raw Theater Awards Party Sponsors: The Beverly Hills Playhouse, Theatre Forty, Rogue Machine, The Geffen Playhouse, Davidson & Choy Publicity, Theatricum Botanicum, The 24th Street Theatre, DEMAND PR, Borne Identities, Dina Morrone, Fringe Management, The Group Rep, The Hudson Theatre, Jaxx Theatricals, Sandra Kuker PR, PLAY LA, Lucy Pollak Public Relations, Onstage411.com, Pacific Resident Theatre, Philip Sokoloff Publicity for the Arts, Playwrights’ Arena, The Road Theatre Company, Robey Theatre Company, Sacred Fools, The Santa Monica Playhouse, Theatre 68, Theatre West, and The Victory Theatre Center.
Stage Raw Subscribers: Debbie Devine, John Flynn, Martín Hernandez, Linda Kerns, Dana Jackson, Leo Marks, Joseph Masiero, Donna Marie Minano, Arianne Neumark, Irene Oppenheim, Wendy Radford, Bryan Rasmussen, Amy Sosa, Janellen Steininger, Joel Swetow, Eileen T’Kaye, Peter Van Norden, Jose Luis Valenzuela, and Laura Zucker.
Special thanks to J. Alexander Griffin and his staff of the Sassafras Saloon, to Myron Meisel, to Sandra Kuker, to onstage411.com, and to Devon Armstrong and Chanel Castaneda, of the Los Angeles County High School for the Arts.
Amerika, or The Man Who Disappeared at Open Fist Theatre (Photo by Keats Elliot)
Stage Raw is a professional theater journal that covered over 300 productions in 2025, across Santa Barbara, Ventura, Los Angeles, Orange, and San Bernardino counties. (For 2026, we now have two contributors in San Diego County. Our first-ever San Diego review appeared last week, with another scheduled for this coming week.)
The Stage Raw Theater Awards are expressions of acknowledgement and respect from our team of writers for distinguished work on stages large and small. Stage Raw’s contributors each vote in categories of their choosing and in a number proportional to the number of eligible productions they’ve seen. There are no quorums that knock out shows in remote locations and are at the mercy of a sufficient number of voters hoofing it out to one particular show or another. In New York or Chicago, that would be a reasonable requirement, but not in a region as geographically sprawling and perpetually gridlocked as Southern California. All of the names and productions listed below are awards recipients, not nominees. Congratulations to all those named below.
The 2026 Stage Raw Theater Awards Party is a celebratory and networking party for the entire stage community. It includes 30-minute presentation of special awards (“Queen of the Angels”, “Lifetime Achievement,” and “Passing the Torch” awards). All other awards will be available to be picked up at the event, slated for Monday night, May 4, 7:30 to 10 pm at Sassafras Saloon, 1233 Vine Street in Hollywood. This Party is Stage Raw’s annual fundraiser. Monies raised allow the site to continue functioning as a professional entity throughout the year. All tickets are $25, they include food and can be purchased online at https://onstage411.com/stageraw. Be sure to use the discount code stageraw to bypass all ticketing fees. (Thank you OnStage411!)
Sponsorships of the event are available with all manner of perks for companies and for individuals. For more information visit sponsorships@stageraw.com
How to identify a recipient?
Any name that appears on the list is a recipient. For Ensemble and Comedy Ensemble categories, any performer listed in their production’s program is a recipient. For Distinguished Production, Musical Production, and Revival Production categories, anybody listed in the production’s program as a producer, director, designer, choreographer, composer, writer, stage manager, or performer is an award recipient. For the Production Design category, anybody listed in the production’s program as a producer, director, and designer, is an award recipient.
2026 Stage Raw Theater Awards (for Calendar Year 2025):
Gerald C. Rivers and Ensemble in Strife at Theatricum Botanicum (Photo by Ian Flanders)
FIGHT CHOREOGRAPHY:
Jen Albert, Bacon, Rogue Machine
SET DECORATION AND PROPS DESIGN:
Megan Trapani, Adolescent Salvation, Rogue Machine
SET DESIGN:
Joel Daavid, Adolescent Salvation, Rogue Machine
Tesshi Nakagawa, Heisenberg, Brave Space Productions at The Skylight Theatre.
Tesshi Nakagawa, Joe Turner’s Come and Gone, A Noise Within
LIGHTING DESIGN:
Brandon Baruch, Bat Boy, The Musical, Open Fist Theatre Company
Karyn Lawrence, The Glass Menagerie, Antaeus Theatre Company
Emily Goss and Gigi Birmingham in The Glass Menagerie at Antaeus Theatre Company (Craig Schwartz photography)
AI/HUMAN VIDEO DESIGN BLEND: 
Michelle Hanzelova-Bierbauer, Anthropology, Rogue Machine
PROJECTION DESIGN:
Nicholas Santiago, Macbeth, A Noise Within
Kamal Bolden and Julanne Chidi Hill in Macbeth at A Noise Within (Photo by Craig Schwartz)
SOUND DESIGN:
David B. Marling, Sleeping Giant, Road Theatre Company
Phil Saguil, In Some Dark Valley, Moving Arts
ORIGINAL MUSIC:
Liz Eldridge, The Unraveling, Ghost Road Company
Marc Anthony Thompson, In Honor of Jean-Michel Basquiat, Outside In Theatre
COSTUME DESIGN:
Kate Bergh, Joe Turner’s Come and Gone, A Noise Within
Yasamin Sarabipour, Dr. Faustus, Independent Shakespeare Company
PRODUCTION DESIGN:
Amerika, Open Fist Theatre Company
Here There Are Blueberries, Tectonic Theater Project at The Wallis
Paranormal Activity, Center Theatre Group/Ahmanson Theatre
Swipe, Playwrights’ Arena and the Los Angeles LGBT Center
Ralph Cole, Jr. in Swipe, presented by Playwrights’ Arena and the Los Angeles LGBT Center (Photo by Kelly Stuart)
PLAYWRITING:
John Fazakerley, Corktown ’39, Rogue Machine
Keiko Green, You Are Cordially Invited to the End of the World!, South Coast Repertory
Roger Q. Mason, Hide & Hide, The Skylight Theatre
N..T. Vandecar, Otherkin, Road Theatre Company
DIRECTION:
Doug Engalla, The Curious Savage, The Group Rep
Brayden Hade, Into the Woods, Wisteria Theater
J. Scott Lapp, Bonnie & Clyde, Rubicon Theatre
Ann Hearn Tobolowsky, Sleeping Giant, Road Theatre Company
Sara Shearer and Kathleen Taylor in The Group Rep’s production of The Curious Savage (photo by Doug Engalla)
MUSIC DIRECTION:
Noreen Green, Oklahoma!, Valley Opera and Performing Arts at The El Portal Theatre
Michael Redfield, The Fantasticks, Ruskin Group Theatre
TWO-CHARACTER PERFORMANCE:
DeJuan Christopher and Kacie Rogers, Berta, Berta, Echo Theater Company
Brandon Gill and Brandon Micheal Hall, Topdog/Underdog, Pasadena Playhouse
Beejan Land and Ann Sonneville, Love’s End, Odyssey Theatre
Jeff LeBeau and Peter Zizzo, Years to the Day, Beverly Hills Playhouse
Kacie Rogers and DeWanda Wise, Furlough’s Paradise, Geffen Playhouse
Peter Zizzo and Jeff LeBeau in Years to The Day at Beverly Hills Playhouse (Photo by Kim Podell)
SUPPORTING PERFORMANCE:
Brent Charles, Love’s Labour’s Lost, Independent Shakespeare Company
Brent Charles, Dr. Faustus, Independent Shakespeare Company
James Lemire, To Each Their Own, ArtCrush L.A. at The Atwater Village Theatre
Kelvin Morales, The Unraveling, Ghost Road Company at the Broadwater Mainstage
Camila Rozo, The Unraveling, Ghost Road Company at the Broadwater Mainstage
Kalean Ung, Dr. Faustus, Independent Shakespeare Company
COMEDY PERFORMANCE:
Lacey Buchanan, Bachelorette, The Broadwater Mainstage
Avery Norris, Lacey Buchanan, and Victoria Gluchoski in Bachelorette at The Broadwater
SOLO PERFORMANCE:
Robert Bailey, In Some Dark Valley, Moving Arts
Ralph Cole, Jr., Swipe, Playwrights’ Arena and the Los Angeles LGBT Center
Roger Guenveur Smith, In Honor of Jean-Michel Basquiat, Outside In Theatre
LEADING PERFORMANCE:
Amielynn Abellera, Hide & Hide, The Skylight Theatre
Alley Mills Bean, Reel to Reel, HorseChart Theatre/Rogue Machine
Marin Ireland, Ironbound, Ojai Theatre Festival
Jeremy Lucas, Cabaret, Jaxx Theatricals
Virginia Newcomb, Alabaster, The Fountain Theatre
Ann Noble, Corktown ’39, Rogue Machine
Gerald C. Rivers, Strife, Theatricum Botanicum
Jack Stehlin, Lear Redux, Odyssey Theatre/New American Theatre/Not Man Apart Physical
Theatre Ensemble
COMEDY ENSEMBLE:
The Curious Savage, The Group Rep
Eureka Day, Pasadena Playhouse
Rick Holmes and Mia Barron in Eureka Day at the Pasadena Playhouse (Photo by Jeff Lorch)
ENSEMBLE:
Anthropology, Rogue Machine
Hello, My Name Is. . . Moving Arts
Nice Girl, Rogue Machine
Outside Mullingar, The 6th Act at the Matrix Theatre
DISTINGUISHED PRODUCTION:
Evanston Salt Costs Climbing, Rogue Machine
Furlough’s Paradise, Geffen Playhouse
The Great Lover, Robey Theatre Company
An Inspector Calls, Theatre 40
नेहा & Neel, Artists at Play/Latino Theater Co.
Our Town, The Group Rep
Tune-In, Theatre of NOTE
You Are Cordially Invited to the End of the World!, South Coast Repertory
CJ Obilom and Jason Mimms in The Great Lover, presented by Robey Theatre Company (Photo by Jermaine Alexander)
MUSICAL PRODUCTION:
Unconditional, A Musical Memoir, a visiting production at The Skylight Theatre
REVIVAL PRODUCTION:
Killer Joe, Whitmore Lindley Theatre
DISTINGUISHED ARTISTIC DIRECTION:
Darin Anthony, Moving Arts
QUEEN OF THE ANGELS:
Beth Hogan
Geoff Elliott and Julia Rodriguez-Elliott
Photos left to right below: Three Queens of the Angels: Beth Hogan now running the Odyssey Theatre since the illness and passing of founder Ron Sossi. She’s seen here in that theater’s production of Old Clown, directed by Sossi (Photo by Enci Box); JuliaRodriguez-Elliott and Geoff Elliott, who have been co-producing artistic directors of A Noise Within since 1991, dedicating their life’s work to staging classics and turning their 99-seat theater in Glendale into a Pasadena-based mid-size institution.
LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT:
David Hunt Stafford
Ben Guillory
Left to right: Lifetime Achievement Award recipients David Hunt Stafford of Theatre 40 and Ben Guillory of Robey Theatre Company. (Photos courtesy of the subjects)
PASSING THE TORCH:
John Flynn
Gary Grossman
Retiring from artistic leadership at, respectively, Rogue Machine and The Skylight Theatre, John Flynn (upper photo) and Gary Grossman, have served the L.A. theater community for decades with distinction. (Photos courtesy of the subjects)
Stage Raw was founded in 2014 to offset the decline in print arts journalism. It is a Southern California-based community-funded LLC and digital arts journal committed to fostering an intelligent and thriving conversation with the public about local and international theater. Its Youth Journalism Program, in partnership with Unusual Suspects Theatre Company, aims to bring arts journalism to new generations, and to excite them about the possibilities of live performance. Stage Raw currently employs two dozen writers and editors, ranging in age from 16 to 79. Some are veterans of the Los Angeles Times, and L.A. Weekly, others are recent graduates of local colleges and universities, and of the Youth Journalism Fellowship.
