Playwright Edward Albee, choreographer Matthew Bourne, composer Michael John LaChiusa and two designers named Cricket (Gorey Stories' Sloat and Floyd Collins' Myers) were among the winners at the March 13 ceremony.

Jason Graae (Grand Hotel, Fully Committed) — who was awarded a special Theatrical Community Spirit Award — performed and co-hosted with Back Stage West critic Wenzel Jones at the 37th Annual L.A.D.C.C. Awards which honor excellence in Los Angeles and Orange County theatre for the year 2005.

Jay Johnson (Jay Johnson: The Two and Only!) was among the presenters which also included Alan Vincent and Vicky Evans (star and restaging/artistic tour manager of Matthew Bourne's Swan Lake), last year's award winners Morlan Higgins (Exits and Entrances), William Dennis Hurley (Exits and Entrances) and writer L. Trey Wilson (Stage Directions) as well as previous multiple winners songwriting team Jim Brochu and Steve Schalchlin (The Big Voice and The Last Session), director Jessica Kubzansky (Toys in the Attic) and Tim Dang (artistic director of East West Players).

Awards will be given in fifteen categories and six special awards will also be bestowed to theatre artists for outstanding achievements.

The winners (marked in *bold) for the 2005 Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle Awards are as follows (some categories had multiple winners) : PRODUCTION

 

*The Drowsy Chaperone, Center Theatre Group

 

 

*The Goat or, Who is Sylvia?, Center Theatre Group

 

 

*Pera Palas, The Theatre@Boston Court & Antaeus Company

 

 

Play Without Words, Center Theatre Group

 

 

Stuff Happens, Center Theatre Group

 

 

The Paris Letter, Center Theatre Group

 

 

*The Wild Party, Blank Theatre Company

 

 

*Yellowman, Bennett Bradley and The Fountain Theatre T.H. McCULLOH AWARD FOR REVIVAL

 

 

*Happy End, Pacific Resident Theatre

 

 

*Mother Courage and Her Children, Antaeus Theatre Company

 

 

On The Town, Reprise! Broadway’s Best

 

 

Private Lives, Pasadena Playhouse DIRECTION

 

 

*Michael Michetti, Pera Palas

 

 

*Casey Nicholaw, The Drowsy Chaperone

 

 

Stefan Novinski and Hassan Christopher, J.O.B. The Hip-Hopera, Stella Adler Theatre

 

 

Warner Shook, The Goat or, Who is Sylvia?

 

 

Pat Towne, Gorey Stories, Sacred Fools Theater MUSICAL DIRECTION

 

 

Graham Jackson, Gorey Stories

 

 

*David O,The Wild Party

 

 

Phil Reno, The Drowsy Chaperone

 

 

Gerald Sternbach, On the Town WRITING

 

 

*Edward Albee, The Goat or, Who is Sylvia?

 

 

David Hare, Stuff Happens

 

 

Bob Martin and Don McKellar, The Drowsy Chaperone

 

 

Dael Orlandersmith, Yellowman ADAPTATION/TRANSLATION

 

 

Joanne Gordon, Love, Bukowski, California Repertory Company

 

 

*KOAN Ensemble, Kafka Thing, Odyssey Theatre

 

 

Simon Levy, What I Heard About Iraq, The Fountain Theatre MUSICAL SCORE

 

 

David Aldrich, Gorey Stories

 

 

*Michael John LaChiusa, The Wild Party

 

 

Lisa Lambert and Greg Morrison, The Drowsy Chaperone LEAD PERFORMANCE

 

 

Michael Arden, Pippin, Reprise! Broadway’s Best

 

 

*Chris Butler, Yellowman

 

 

*Deidrie N. Henry, Yellowman

 

 

Beth Hogan, Kafka Thing

 

 

*Brian Kerwin, The Goat or, Who is Sylvia?

 

 

*Bob Martin, The Drowsy Chaperone

 

 

Lisa Tharps, Medea

 

 

Trieu D. Tran, Equus, East/West Players FEATURED PERFORMANCE

 

 

*Frank Ashmore, National Pastime, Fremont Centre Theatre

 

 

*Nathan Lee Graham, The Wild Party

 

 

*Daren A. Herbert, The Wild Party

 

 

*Beth Leavel, The Drowsy Chaperone

 

 

*Bets Malone, On the Town

 

 

Jeff Marlow, Medea

 

 

Kirsten Potter, Honour, Matrix Theatre Company ENSEMBLE PERFORMANCE

 

 

*Gorey Stories

 

 

Kafka Thing

 

 

Love, Bukowski

 

 

*Pera Palas SCENIC DESIGN

 

 

*Evan A. Bartoletti, Floyd Collins, West Coast Ensemble

 

 

*Tom Buderwitz, Pera Palas

 

 

*David Gallo, The Drowsy Chaperone LIGHTING DESIGN

 

 

Mike Durst, Kafka Thing

 

 

*Cricket Sloat, Gorey Stories

 

 

Steven Young, J.O.B. The Hip-Hopera COSTUME DESIGN, HAIR, WIGS & MAKEUP

 

 

*Ann Closs-Farley (costumes, hair, wigs & makeup), Gorey Stories

 

 

Mary Vogt (costumes), Private Lives

 

 

Gerald Altenburg (hair, wigs & make-up), The School for Scandal, CTG SOUND DESIGN

 

 

*Cricket Meyers, Floyd Collins

 

 

Kurt Thum, Kafka Thing

 

 

John Zalewski, Flow My Tears, the Policeman Said, EvidEnce Room CHOREOGRAPHY

 

 

*Matthew Bourne and the company, Play Without Words, CTG

 

 

Hassan Christopher, J.O.B. The Hip-Hopera

 

 

Lee Martino, On the Town The 2005 special award recipients are as follows:

The Margaret Harford Award
(for sustained excellence in theater)
Musical Theatre Guild.

The Ted Schmitt Award
(for world premiere of an outstanding new play)
Jon Robin Baitz for The Paris Letter

The Bob Z Award
(for career achievement in set design)
Donna Marquet

The Angstrom Award (for career achievement in lighting design)
Jeremy Pivnick

The Polly Warfield Award (for an excellent season in a small to mid-size theater)
California Repertory Company

The Joel Hirschhorn Award
(for outstanding achievement in musical theatre)
Eric Anderson

Productions with multiple awards include:
The Drowsy Chaperone - 5
The Wild Party - 5
Pera Palas - 4
The Goat or, Who is Sylvia? - 3
Gorey Stories - 3
Yellowman - 3
Floyd Collins - 2

The ceremony took place at the El Portal Theatre, located at 5269 Lankershim Blvd. in North Hollywood, CA. For more information, visit www.ladramacriticscircle.com.