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Whoever Won is Almost Beside the Point
The First-Evah Stage Raw Theater Awards
By Steven Leigh Morris
Daisy Eagan, on the shoulders of Michael Shepperd, hoisting the Pro99 banner. (Photo by Tim Norris)
How odd it is to throw an awards ceremony where whoever wins accolades doesn’t matter much – or at least as much as it otherwise might.
Through an odd confluence of events, largely out of own control, the purpose of the first Stage Raw Theater Awards on April 13 at Los Angeles Theatre Center (hosted by Celebration Theatre, Alec Mapa and Parvesh Cheena, in partnership with LATC) metamorphosed into a galvanizing party, a rally of sorts, for the Pro-99 movement, whose theaters have been widely belittled as a nuisance to serious-thinking professionals by the actors/stage managers’ union, Actors Equity Association. The union has offered a promulgated edict (in the guise of a democratic vote) to eliminate the availability of L.A.’s biggest arts and culture incubator, The 99-Seat Theater Plan. The political rally aspect made sense, given how the Stage Raw Theater Awards continue the L.A. Weekly Theater Awards’ tradition of honoring the best work in theaters of up-to-99-seats.
Stasha et al on the runway (Photo by Tim Norris)
In his remarks from the stage, Stage Raw critic Bill Raden thanked AEA for “their well-intended, if deluded proposal to pull the plug on what is unarguably the most vibrant and daring if still emergent intimate stage scene in the nation has unwittingly taken what had been a loose community of common self-interest and galvanized it into a movement.”
The question of the night was not “Will you still love me tomorrow?” but rather, “Will we be standing tomorrow?”
And with the conflicting emotions of confidence and dismay accompanying that question, the ceremony acknowledged the original plaintiffs in the room – union actors who, in 1987, had the courage to sue their own union for the right to create art that stirred them, for less-than-union rates on L.A.’s intimate stages, after their union had told them “No, you can’t.”
The consequent 1989 out-of-court settlement that so peeved the union essentially said, “Yes, you can, but nobody should be making money off this.” And that’s pretty much how things unfolded – hundreds of theaters generating money-losing productions that fueled local economies, propelled the careers of local playwrights, and generated many subsequent, Equity contracts for actors – for over a quarter of a century.
Co-hosts Alec Mapa and Parvesh Cheena feeling angelic. (Photo by Tim Norris)
Representing what he satirically called “the old guard,” which also included Tom Ormeny, Maria Gobetti, Allan Miller, Salome Jens and Joe Stern – Gary Grossman passed a torch of leadership to newly anointed Queen of the Angels Rebecca Metz, one of many spokespeople and rabble-rousers for the Pro-99 movement. Metz thanked feminism for stirring her ire upon being accused of hysteria, and for people telling her she that she doesn’t really know what’s in her best interests. She was, of course, referring to AEA’s pronouncements of why the 99-Seat Plan needs to disappear.
Career Achievement recipient Jon Lawrence Rivera spoke passionately about the tradition of his Playwrights Arena (dedicated to L.A.-based scribes) and the need to continue providing opportunities in L.A. theater for artists of color.
Two weeks before the event, only 60 tickets had been sold, which certainly gave us pause. That’s when Tracey Paleo, Kevin Delin, Gregory Crafts and Marc Wheeler kicked into social media overdrive on Stage Raw’s behalf. Aside from the event being live-streamed on Twitter, trending regionally and generating over 2 million impressions, a mere three hours before the theater doors opened for the public, the event numerically sold out, eventually over-reaching the theater’s 500-seat capacity.
Presenter French Stewart with Michael Franco (Photo by Tim Norris)
To be critical, and we must, the room was too hot, the bar-line was excruciatingly slow, the bar then closed before the show was over, and we ran out of Kimchi’s great post-show food.
A mere 60 minutes before the house opened for the start of the show, the ornate Stage-Raw-branding chandelier (to be suspended over the otherwise black stage) got stuck for 20-minutes in the elevator between the second and third floors – a little disconcerting given the now heaving lobby. LATC tech “Wayne” was unperturbed. He said that gave him a chance to dust it off and to repair its electrical lines. The house needed to open 10-minutes late while the chandelier was being hung. At 7:30 p.m., a switch got flipped, and all the twinkly lights came on. It felt like a kind of miracle, representing the larger miracle that was unfolding in the lobby. As we opened the theater doors, I was told that a New York Times staff reporter was in the house. “Surreal” doesn’t even begin to describe that sequence of events.
This is the theater. Our theater. How it falls apart, and how it comes together, is anybody’s guess.
Michael Shepperd and The Celebration Theatre. (Photo by Tim Norris)
The Awards jury included Bill Raden, Mayank Keshaviah, Jenny Lower, Pauline Adamek, Deborah Klugman, Myron Meisel, Neal Weaver, Steven Leigh Morris, Lovell Estell III, Paul Birchall, Terry Morgan and Bob Verini
For more coverage on the awards, read KCRW, American Theatre Magazine, and BroadwayWorld.com.
The Awards Recipients:
Fight Choreography
Ahmed Best, Backyard, Echo Theater Company
Video/Projection Design
Hana S. Kim, The Ugly One, Ensemble Studio Theatre/L.A.
Queen of the Angels
Adaptation
Aaron Posner, Stupid Fucking Bird, Circle X Theatre Company and Theatre @ Boston Court
Playwriting
Benjamin Brand, Taste, Sacred Fools Theater Company
Sound Design
Christopher Moscatiello, Penelope, Rogue Machine
Career Achievement
Lighting Design
Pablo Santiago, The Brothers Size, The Fountain Theatre
Costume Design
Jenny Foldenauer, Everything You Touch, Theatre @ Boston Court and Rattlestick
Playwrights Theater
Set Design
DeAnne Millais, Taste, Sacred Fools Theatre Company
Production Design
Everything You Touch, Theatre @ Boston Court and Rattlestick Playwrights Theater
Two Person Performance
Donal Thoms-Cappello and Chris L. McKenna, Taste, Sacred Fools Theater Company
Supporting Female Performance
Kelli Anderson, One in the Chamber, 6140 Productions/Theatre Planners
Supporting Male Performance
Joel Polis, My Name Is Asher Lev, The Fountain Theatre
Male Comedy Performance
Hugo Armstrong, The Behavior of Broadus, Burglars of Hamm and Sacred Fools
Theater Company
Female Comedy Performance
Ann Noble, The Goat, or Who Is Sylvia, LGBT’s Davidson/Valenti Theatre
Solo Performance
Ben Moroski, The Wake, Theatre Asylum
Comedy Ensemble
The Ugly One, Ensemble Studio Theatre/L.A.
Ensemble
Wedding Band, The Anteaus Company
Original Music
Matt Almos, Brendan Milburn and Burglars of Hamm, The Behavior of Broadus,
Burglars of Hamm and Sacred Fools Theater Company
Choreography
Ken Roht, The Behavior of Broadus, Burglars of Hamm and Sacred Fools Theater
Company
Leading Female Performance
Cara Pifko, O Réjane, Bootleg Theatre
Leading Male Performance
David Selby, A Delicate Balance, Odyssey Theatre Ensemble
Musical Direction John Ballinger, The Behavior of Broadus, Burglars of Hamm and Sacred Fools Theater Company
Comedy Direction Award
Stuart Gordon, Taste, Sacred Fools Theater Company
Direction Award
Jessica Kubzansky, Everything You Touch, Theater @ Boston Court and Rattlestick
Playwrights Theater
Musical of the Year Award
The Behavior of Broadus, Burglars of Hamm and Sacred Fools Theater Company
Revival Production Of The Year Award (of a 20th- or 21st-century work)
Wedding Band, The Antaeus Company
Production Of The Year Award
Everything You Touch, Theatre @ Boston Court and Rattlestick Playwrights Theater
