https://www.austinchronicle.com/arts/1999-09-17/73844/
Let's not pretend that this is an objective report. I served on the Nominating Committee, I was a nominee (as was my wife), I chaired the committee that put together this year's ceremony, and I emceed the dad-gum thing for, I think, the ninth time. However, I think I can at least say that the roughly three-hour ceremony came off without a disaster. And that the featured entertainment which included Boyd Vance and Scott Schroeder performing a duet of "Wilkommen" from Cabaret; Tamara Beland and Lyova Rosanoff of Esther's Follies performing an ode to self-pleasure; Jeff Ellinger performing a mock Shakespearean soliloquy; Mick D'Arcy and Jo Beth Henderson relating a brief history of VORTEX Repertory Company in song; Lowell Bartholomee, Kara Bliss, John Howrey, and Shirley Reynolds singing "Old Friends" from Merrily We Roll Along; and Rob Nash performing an excerpt from Junior Blues were well-received.
The evening was most rewarding for two companies: VORTEX, which shared in honors for five awards, plus a Nominating Committee Special Award for its production of The X & Y Trilogy; and Zilker Theatre Productions, which saw its production of Big River win five awards a big comeback for the Summer Musical after several seasons of living in the shadow of two local musical powerhouses, Austin Musical Theatre and the Zachary Scott Theatre Center. The evening also saw a trio of double winners: actress Sharron Bower, honored for her work in AMT's Fiddler on the Roof and UT's Misalliance; actor Martin Burke, recognized for his work in Zach's Angels in America, Part Two: Perestroika and Sneck Up!'s Twelfth Night; and departing ACoT Executive Director Ann Ciccolella for her direction of Austin Theatreworks' Tales From Shakespeare and First Stage's My Children! My Africa!
J. Richard Smith (Big River)
Quintessential Austin Production Award for Refraction Arts Project's staging of The Visit, for its integration of theatrical elements from masks and puppetry to original music and bravura acting to an environmental presentation in an outdoor setting that mark a kind of theatre in sync with the city's adventuresome character;
O Brave New World Award to both Salvage Vanguard Theater and Rude Mechanicals, for their ventures, in previous years but especially in this season, into new theatrical territory, discovering subjects, artists, and methods of theatrical expression that expand our sense of the possibilities in our art, its continued relevance in our world, and its meaning in our lives.
Copyright © 2024 Austin Chronicle Corporation. All rights reserved.