THE 20th ANNUAL TICKETHOLDER AWARDS, 2010 – Part Two 

[ Read Part 1 ]

Here’s the second part of my 20th edition of my TicketHolder Awards and again I lament I cannot in all faith include my colleagues who joined me to create the world premiere of Moby Pomerance’s brilliant The Good Book of Pedantry and Wonder at the Boston Court Performing Arts Center this spring and summer, but at least now I can congratulate the amazing Brian Sidney Bembridge for his Ovation Award win last Monday for Best Set Design for the production. Well, well deserved, Mr. B and the whole team who fashioned one of the most spectacular spaces on which I have ever had the privilege to perform. I was honored to be a castmember of such a spectacular production, not to mention Terry Duddy and Ted Ott’s inventive ever-extended environmental The House of Besarab, in which I began appearing in the fall of 2009 and kept right on staking that nasty ol’ Count Dracula as Dr. Van Helsing nightly well into 2010.

I was thankful to be able to honor two dear friends in Part One, Taylor Gilbert and Alice Ripley, who were awarded, respectively, Best Actress in a Play and in a Musical, and here I am excited to blow trumpets for another pair of amazingly talented pals, giving dual solo nods to Larry Fishburne and Stephanie Zimbalist, two important people in my life who have both provided wonderful support to me in the past years. I am also still thrilled that my muse Peter Musante and his incredible performing partner Summer Shapiro brought their multiple award-winning performance piece Legs and All here to the Powerhouse this fall after receiving kudos and standing ovations in its debut last year at the San Francisco Fringe Festival and earlier this year off-off-Broadway, where Peter’s day (night?) job continues as a third of the Blue Man Group, although he is currently on a break from Astor Place while traveling the country on BMG’s first national tour.

I also am pleased to offer some overlooked recognition to Josh Strickland, Broadway’s Tarzan, for his spectacular job as the resident crooner in the flimsy tits-and-ass revue Peepshow in Las Vegas. That Strickland could be so good and keep a straight face working opposite former Playmate and Girls Next Door castmember Holly Madison is alone worthy of an award, even if he wasn’t a knockout performer regardless.

As I begin the New Year having joined the faculty at the west coast campus of the New York Film Academy at Universal Studios, I am looking forward to what lies ahead for us all in the coming year. Above all, may it be peaceful, profitable, finally provide equal rights to everyone and, if we’re all lucky, see one former Governor of Alaska holster her guns and maybe even suffer from permanent laryngitis. 

Laurence Fishburne, Thurgood, Geffen Playhouse

 

Stephanie Zimbalist, Tea at Five, Falcon Theatre

Will Bradley, The Twentieth-Century Way, Theatre @ Boston Court; Camelot, Pasadena Playhouse; Bell, Book and Candle, Colony Theatre

RUNNERS-UP: Jeffrey Dolenar, Kiss Me, Kate, Glendale Centre Theatre; Coby Getzug, The Lieutenant of Inishmore, CTG, Taper; Quinton Lopez, Sick, Playwrights Arena / Latino Theatre Co; John Pinto Jr., South Pacific, CTG/Ahmanson; Matthew Thompson, A Prayer for My Daughter, Crown City

 

Julia Cho, The Language Archive, South Coast Repertory

RUNNERS-UP: Thomas Babe, A Prayer for My Daughter, Crown City; Neil Bartram (Lyrics) and Brian Hill (Book), The Story of My Life, Lillian; Christopher Hampton, Tales from Hollywood, Odyssey Theatre Ensemble; Tom Jacobson, The Twentieth-Century Way, Boston Court; David Jette, Wednesday Night at the Home of Michel Leiris: a Reading of the Play ‘Desire Caught by the Tail’ by the Painter Pablo Picasso; Rajiv Joseph, Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo, Taper; Martin McDonagh, The Lieutenant of Inishmore, CTG, Taper; Eric Patterson, Sick, Playwrights Arena / Latino Theatre Company; JT Rogers, Madagascar / White People, Road; Susan Rubin, Above the Line, Indecent Exposure at the Bootleg; Bernardo Solano, Langston & Nicolás, Towne Street Theatre; George Stevens Jr., Thurgood, Geffen; Michael Vukadinovich, Trog & Clay, LA Theatre Ensemble; Brian Yorkey, Next to Normal, CTG, Ahmanson

 

Luis Alfaro, Oedipus El Rey, Theatre @ Boston Court

RUNNERS-UP: Patrick Barlow, The 39 Steps, Ahmanson; Jonathan Brielle, Nightmare Alley, Geffen Playhouse; Janus Cerone and Glenn Slater, Leap of Faith, CTG, Ahmanson; Prince Gomolvilas, Mysterious Skin, East West Players; Jack Viertel, Harps and Angels, CTG, Taper

Gordon Edelstein, The Glass Menagerie, Center Theatre Group, Mark Taper Forum

Jon Lawrence Rivera, Oedipus El Rey, Theatre @ Boston Court

RUNNERS-UP: Maria Aitken, The 39 Steps, Ahmanson; Alan Alarr, A Prayer for My Daughter, Crown City; Mark Brokaw, The Language Archive, South Coast Rep; Douglas Clayton, White People, Road; Tim Dang, Mysterious Skin, East West Players; Nancy Cheryll Davis, Langston & Nicolás, Towne Street Theatre; Brendon Fox, Madagascar, Road; Moises Kaufman, Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo, Taper; Chase McKenna, Romeo and Juliet, HALT; Michael Michetti, The Twentieth-Century Way, Boston Court; Wilson Milam, The Lieutenant of Inishmore, CTG, Taper; Damaso Rodriguez, Blithe Spirit, A Noise Within; Diane Rodriguez, Sick, Playwrights Arena / Latino Theatre Company; David Robinson, The Unexpected Man, Lounge; Jenny Sullivan, Tea at Five, Falcon

 

Michael Greif, Next to Normal, Center Theatre Group, Ahmanson Theatre

 

RUNNERS-UP: Rob Ashford, Leap of Faith, CTG, Ahmanson; Gil Cates, Nightmare Alley, Geffen Playhouse; Nick DeGruccio, The Story of My Life, Lillian; Daniel Henning, See What I Wanna See, Blank; Arthur Laurents, West Side Story, Pantages; Jon Lawrence Rivera, Jacques Brel Is…, Colony; Bartlett Sher, South Pacific, CTG, Ahmanson; Jerry Zaks, Harps and Angels, CTG, Taper 

 

Jonathan Brielle, Nightmare Alley, Geffen Playhouse

 

RUNNERS-UP: Neil Bartram, The Story of My Life, Lillian; Alan Menken and Glenn Slater, Leap of Faith, CTG, Ahmanson; Dane Diamond, Langston & Nicolás, Towne Street Theatre; Tom Kitt and Brian Yorkey, Next to Normal, CTG, Ahmanson; Michael John LaChiusa, See What I Wanna See, Blank; Mark Sparling, Extropia, Collaborator at King King 

 

David O, See What I Wanna See, Blank Theatre 

 

RUNNERS-UP: Brent Crayon, Jacques Brel Is…, Colony; Brent-Alan Huffman, Leap of Faith, CTG, Ahmanson; Michael Paternostro, The Story of My Life, Lillian; Michael Roth, Harps and Angels, CTG, Taper; Mark Sparling, Extropia, Collaborator at King King; Gerald Sternbach, Nightmare Alley, Geffen Playhouse 

 

Rob Ashford, Leap of Faith, Center Theatre Group, Ahmanson Theatre

RUNNERS-UP: Kay Cole, Nightmare Alley, Geffen Playhouse; Christopher Gattelli, South Pacific, CTG/Ahmanson; Mark Knowles, Kiss Me, Kate, GCT

 

Neil Patel, The Language Archive, South Coast Repertory

RUNNERS UP: John Arone, Nightmare Alley, Geffen Playhouse; Nathaniel Bellamy, Langston & Nicolás, Towne Street Theatre; John H. Binkley, Oedipus El Rey, Boston Court; Kurt Boetcher, Blithe Spirit, A Noise Within; Helen Harwell, Madagascar / White People, Road; Laura Fine Hawkes, The Lieutenant of Inishmore, CTG, Taper; Alan E. Muraoka, Mysterious Skin, East West Players; Neil Prince, Tea at Five, Falcon; Mark Wendland, Next to Normal, CTG, Ahmanson; Sybil Wickersheimer, Lascivious Something, Circle X at [Inside] the Ford

 

E.B. Brooks, Blithe Spirit, A Noise Within

 

RUNNERS-UP: Marcy Froehlich, Tea at Five, Falcon; Christina Haatainen Jones, Nightmare Alley, Geffen Playhouse; William Ivey Long, Leap of Faith, CTG, Ahmanson; Rachel Myers, The Language Archive, South Coast Rep; Martin Pakledinaz, The Glass Menagerie, Taper; Dana Peterson, See What I Wanna See, Blank; Nancy Renee, Langston & Nicolás, Towne Street Theatre; Stephanie Kerley Schwartz, Harps and Angels, CTG, Taper 

Daniel Ionazzi, Nightmare Alley, Geffen Playhouse

 

RUNNERS-UP: Kevin Adams, The 39 Steps, Ahmanson; Nathaniel Bellamy, Langston & Nicolás, Towne Street Theatre; Adam Blumenthal, Jacques Brel Is…, Colony; Tim Dietlein, Kiss Me, Kate, GCT; Christian Epps, Madagascar / White People, Road; Brian Gale, The Lieutenant of Inishmore, CTG, Taper; Donald Holder, Leap of Faith, CTG, Ahmanson; J. Kent Inasy, Tea at Five, Falcon; David Lander, Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo, Taper; Mark McCullough, The Language Archive, South Coast Rep; Tom Ontiveros, Lascivious Something, Circle X at [Inside] the Ford; Jeremy Pivnik, Oedipus El Rey, Boston Court; Jeremy Pivnik, See What I Wanna See, Blank; James P. Taylor, Blithe Spirit, A Noise Within; Steven Young, The Story of My Life, Lillian

John Zalewski, Lascivious Something, Circle X at [Inside] the Ford

RUNNERS-UP: Steven Cahill, The Language Archive, South Coast Rep; Drew Dalzell, The Story of My Life, Lillian; Forrest Gardner / 3AMSOUND, Langston & Nicolás, Towne Street Theatre; Brian Hsieh, Nightmare Alley, Geffen Playhouse; David B. Marling, Madagascar / White People, Road; Cricket S. Myers, Jacques Brel Is…, Colony; Cricket S. Myers, The Lieutenant of Inishmore, CTG, Taper; Doug Newell / Zipline Sound, Blithe Spirit, A Noise Within; Robert Oriel, Oedipus El Rey, Boston Court; Mic Pool, The 39 Steps, Ahmanson; John Shivers, Leap of Faith, CTG, Ahmanson

 

Edgar Landa, Oedipus El Rey, Theatre @ Boston Court

 

Marc I. Rosenthal, Harps and Angels, Center Theatre Group, Mark Taper Forum

RUNNERS-UP: Adam Flemming, Tales from Hollywood, Odyssey Theatre Ensemble; Elaine J. McCarthy, Thurgood, Geffen

 

 Dancing Ensemble, West Side Story, Pantages Theatre

Josh Strickland, Peepshow, Planet Hollywood, Las Vegas

Summer Shapiro and Peter Musante, Legs and All, LA Theatre Ensemble, Powerhouse Theatre

Viva Elvis!, Cirque du Soleil, Aria Hotel, Las Vegas

 

 

Joey McKneely, recreation of Jerome Robbins’ original choreography for West Side Story, Pantages; Matthew W. Mungle and Waldo Warshaw, Special Effects and Special Prosthetic Effects, The Lieutenant of Inishmore, CTG, Taper; Monica Lisa Sabedra, Wigs, Hair and Make-up, Blithe Spirit, A Noise Within; Toby Sedgwick and Christopher Bayes, Movement, The 39 Steps, Ahmanson

 

This may not be theatrically oriented, but still, it’s just too good not to share for posterity: Overheard at dinner at Aroma from a group of six extremely loud lawyers outshouting one another about who among them attended the most cultural events (and how much tickets cost) and who had the most lavish European vacations (and how much they spent on them): “The clients who drive me craziest are the innocent ones… Damn, they NEVER leave you alone!”

[ Read Part 1 ]