Culture Flash!

Crowns

• On Monday, Sept. 26, the Austin Circle of Theaters handed out its annual B. Iden Payne Awards, honoring outstanding achievements in local theatre from August 2004 through July 2005, at the Parish. Austin's favorite comic, Kerry Awn, handled the hosting duties, with ample assistance from Carol Channing, Cher, and Paris Hilton, as channeled by Stuart Moulton. The most-honored show was Zachary Scott Theatre Center's Crowns, which received four awards, including outstanding musical production. Austin Shakespeare Festival was the big winner in the comedy category, with five of the division's six awards going to its productions of A Midsummer Night's Dream and The Dog in the Manger. (And in addition to the recognition he received for co-directing Midsummer with Ian Manners, ASF Artistic Director Guy Roberts was given an award for his performance as Iago in Othello.) Vortex Repertory Company took home six awards, including outstanding production of a drama for Wake for the Dark Poet: The Artonin Artaud Project (which was directed by none other than Chronicle Arts writer Heather Barfield Cole). In the field of theatre for youth, Pollyanna Theatre Company led the way with five awards, including three for Trail of Tears, a co-production with Ballet Austin featuring choreography by BA's Gina Patterson (which was honored with a Payne). Zach Artistic Director Dave Steakley, whose theatre snagged a total of eight awards, was given the annual Special Recognition Award for Outstanding Achievement in Austin Theatre. The Payne Awards Nominations Committee also dispensed special certificates, now dubbed Standing Ovations, to Melissa Vogt and Betsy McCann for their ensemble performance in Wake for the Dark Poet and Ann Marie Gordon for her large puppet designs for the same show. For the full list of winners, visit www.acotonline.org/Pages/Paynes.html.

• Actor Dirk van Allen has been named the recipient of Actors' Equity Association's 2005 Lucy Jordan Award, given annually to an Equity member in the Western Region who demonstrates a lifetime commitment to the theatre and especially to helping other theatre artists. Van Allen has been a familiar face to Austin audiences for more than 20 years, appearing in productions at Capitol City Playhouse, Zachary Scott Theatre Center, St. Edward's University, Live Oak Theatre, and Austin Playhouse, and it has earned him recognition from the Austin Critics Table and B. Iden Payne Awards, as well as a place in the Chronicle's list of Austin theatre's 40 Most Valuable Players. He may be seen currently in A Man for All Seasons, opening Sept. 30 at Austin Playhouse. He will receive the award at the Equity membership meeting in Los Angeles on Oct. 7.