Welcome to the Best of New Orleans! Feature Story 03 12 02

FEATURE STORY

03 12 02

Into the Spotlight

2002 Big Easy Entertainment Awards theatre nominees face the music.

By David Lee Simmons

Award-winning playwright, director and Loyola University professor Father. Ernest Ferlita will receive the Lifetime Achievement Award in Theatre.

You didn't have to get nominated for Best Musical to be honored at this year's Big Easy Entertainment Awards. There were so many quality musical productions to choose from that two multiply nominated shows aren't even up for the vaunted Best Musical category.

The Mystery of Edwin Drood snags four nominations without the key nomination, while Nighttime Naughties earns three. The Best Musical nominations go to Will Rogers Follies, George M, and Hedwig and the Angry Inch. All three Best Musical nominees earn four nominations each, setting up an intriguing four-horse race at the Big Easy Entertainment Awards, which will be held April 22 at the Grand Ballroom of the Hilton Riverside New Orleans Hotel followed by the Harrah's Celebration Bash at Harrah's Casino.

Father Ernest Ferlita, an award-winning playwright, director and teacher at Loyola University, will receive the Lifetime Achievement Award in Theatre, while Crescent City Pictures President and Louisiana Film Commission co-founder Al Salzer will serve as the Honorary Theatre Chairman.

Veteran co-host and part-time New Orleanian Harry Shearer (The Simpsons, NPR's Le Show) will pair with New Orleans native and Rendez-View producer and former Daily Show correspondent Vance DeGeneres as this year's masters of ceremonies. The awards program also will feature performances by nominees in both music and theater.

This year's Business Recognition Award honors the New Orleans Tourism Marketing Committee for its support of the Louisiana Living History Project, which for five years has employed actors each December to provide visitors with live history pieces in the French Quarter.

The theater nominees also quickly become a list of accomplishments for the veteran theater company The Producers Circle and upstart troupe Running With Scissors. The Producers Circle accounts for a combined seven nominations, four for When Ya Smilin' (including Best Comedy) and three for Nighttime Naughties. Running With Scissors accounts for a combined six nominations, four for Hedwig and the Angry Inch and two for Camille.

The nominations also underscore a resurgence in African-American theater in the city. The new Anthony Bean Community Theater scores a nomination, while Southern Rep's presentation of A Lesson Before Dying earns three. Two of the four Best Drama nominations, A Lesson Before Dying and Jitney, featured predominantly all-black casts.

Dillard University's Yvette Sirker earns a nomination for Best University Production for her Troubled Waters, while African-American actresses Carol Sutton (A Lesson Before Dying) and Gwendolyn Foxworth (Two Trains Running) are two of the three nominees in the Best Supporting Actress in a Play category. Troi Bechet's performance of Billie Holiday in Lady Day at the Emerson Bar & Grill (directed by Tommye Myrick) earns her a nomination for Best Actress in a Musical. Finally, Gabrielle Porter will get to defend her 2001 win for Best Performance by a Child (Babes) with this year's nomination for Grease. Both were performed at NORD Theatre.

VIP tickets to the Big Easy Entertainment Awards are $125 each, with tables of 10 going for $1,000. Cost includes open bar, buffet dinner, special reserved seating for the awards ceremonies and the Harrah's Celebration Bash afterwards. Call Lindsay Moylan at 486-5900, ext. 160 for reservations. The Big Easy Entertainment Awards is presented by Gambit Weekly, Harrah's New Orleans Casino, CC's Coffee, John Jay, Cox Communications, and Coleman E. Adler & Sons. The awards gala benefits the Foundation for Entertainment Development and Education.

2002 THEATRE AWARDS NOMINEES (for accomplishment in calendar year 2001)

BEST MUSICAL

Will Rogers Follies, Tulane Summer Lyric

George M, Le Petit Theatre du Vieux Carré

Hedwig and the Angry Inch, All Kinds of Theatre, Running With Scissors, Glitter

BEST DRAMA

A Lesson Before Dying, Southern Repertory Theatre

Crescent City Pictures President and Louisiana Film Commission co-founder Al Salzer gets the nod as this year's Honorary Theatre Chairman.

Jitney, The Cinque Group

Richard II, The Shakespeare Festival at Tulane

Spiritual Gifts, Dalt Wonk

BEST COMEDY

As Bees in Honey Drown, Brava

Camille, Running With Scissors

When Ya Smilin', The Producers Circle

BEST DIRECTOR -- COMEDY/DRAMA

Ricky Graham, When Ya Smilin', The Producers Circle

David Hoover, As Bees in Honey Drown, Brava

Janet Shea, Lonesome West, Beefield Productions

BEST DIRECTOR -- MUSICAL

Derek Franklin & Sonny Borey, George M, Le Petit Theatre du Vieux Carré

Alton Geno, Will Rogers Follies, Tulane Summer Lyric

Carl Walker and Richard Read, Hedwig and the Angry Inch, All Kinds of Theatre, Running With Scissors, Glitter

Gabrielle Porter, 2001 winner for Best Performance By a Child, earned the same nomination this year for her performance in Grease.

BEST CHOREOGRAPHY

Diana Lala, Will Rogers Follies, Tulane Summer Lyric

Leo Jones, Purlie, NORD Theatre

Heidi P. Junius, Nighttime Naughties, The Producers Circle

BEST MUSICAL DIRECTOR

Derek Franklin, George M, Le Petit Theatre du Vieux Carré

Pamela LeGendre, My Fair Lady, Tulane Summer Lyric Theatre

Harry Mayronne Jr., Nighttime Naughties, The Producers Circle

BEST SET DESIGN

Keith Briggs, Morning's at Seven, Rivertown Repertory Theatre

Shawn Hall, Rumors of War, ArtSpot Productions and the UNO Women's Center

Chad Talkington, A Lesson Before Dying, Southern Repertory Theatre

BEST LIGHTING DESIGN

Joe Harris, Morning's at Seven, Rivertown Repertory Theatre

When Ya Smilin', with (clockwise) Angela Mannino, Becky Allen, Sean Patterson, Gavin Mahlie, Heidi Junius and Ricky Graham, nabbed four of The Producers Circle's seven nominations.

Bill Walker, The Mystery of Edwin Drood, Le Petit Theatre du Vieux Carré

Daniel Zimmer, Tintypes, Rivertown Repertory Theatre

BEST COSTUME DESIGN

Linda Fried, The Mystery of Edwin Drood, Tulane Summer Lyric Theatre

Roy Haylock, Nighttime Naughties, The Producers Circle

Amanda Madden, Camille, Running With Scissors

BEST PERFORMANCE BY A CHILD

Rendell DeBose, Grease, NORD Theatre

Jennifer Marks, Annie, Tulane Summer Lyric Theatre

Gabrielle Porter, Grease, NORD Theatre

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS -- PLAY

Gwendolyn Foxworth, Two Trains Running, Anthony Bean Community Theatre

Mary Lee Gibbons, As Bees in Honey Drown, Brava

Carol Sutton, A Lesson Before Dying, Southern Repertory Theatre

Flynn De Marco earned a nomination for Best Actor in a Musical in Hedwig and the Angry Inch, one of six nominations for Running With Scissors.

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR -- PLAY

Bob Edes Jr., As Bees in Honey Drown, Brava, and Spiritual Gifts, Dalt Wonk

Ricky Graham, When Ya Smilin', The Producers Circle

Glen Gomez, Morning's at Seven, Rivertown Repertory Theatre

BEST ACTRESS -- PLAY

Mary Burns, An Evening With Betsy, Andrew Jackson Alumni Theatre Association & Nunez Community College

Charlotte Schully, Spiritual Gifts, Dalt Wonk

Francine Segal, As Bees in Honey Drown, Brava

BEST ACTOR -- PLAY

Jerry Lee Leighton, True West, Big Shoulders Theatre Company

Gavin Mahlie, Richard II, The Shakespeare Festival at Tulane

Sean Patterson, When Ya Smilin', The Producers Circle

BEST ACTRESS -- MUSICAL

Will Rogers Follies, starring Jimmy Murphy, scored one of Tulane Summer Lyric Theatre's three nominations.

Troi Bechet, Lady Day at Emerson's Bar & Grill, Southern Repertory Theatre & Voices in the Dark