NewsL.A. Ovation Awards Presented Jan. 17Who leads the nominations for the only statues exclusive to Los Angeles theatre?
By
Robert Viagas
January 17, 2017
The Ovation Awards
La Mirada Theatre for the Performing Arts leads the pack with 22 nominations for the 27th Annual L.A. STAGE Alliance Ovation Awards, which honor the best in Los Angeles-area live theatre.
Hosted by Alexandra Billings, the awards ceremony will take place January 17 at the Ahmanson Theatre at The Music Center in downtown Los Angeles. A reception in the Grand Hall of the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion will follow the ceremony.
La Mirada Theatre earned nods for their productions of American Idiot (7), First Date (7), Dreamgirls (4), and Empire (4). This year’s Ovation Awards eligibility period ran from August 31, 2015–August 28, 2016.
Center Theatre Group follows with 20 nominations for their productions of Endgame (10) and Women Laughing Alone with Salad (1) at the Kirk Douglas Theatre; Father Comes Home from the Wars, Parts 1, 2 & 3 (6) at the Mark Taper Forum; and Grey Gardens (2) and A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder (1) at the Ahmanson Theatre.
Geffen Playhouse received 18 nominations for their productions of Guards at the Taj (7), Barcelona (6), Outside Mullingar (2), These Paper Bullets! A Modish Ripoff of William Shakespeare’s Much Ado About Nothing (1), Big Sky (1), and one nomination in the Best Season category.
Ovation Honors, which recognize outstanding achievement in areas that are not among the standard list of nomination categories, were awarded to Gregory Nabours (Composition for a Play, The Sparrow at Coeurage Theatre Company); Edgar Landa (Fight Choreography, Son of Semele Ensemble’s That Pretty Pretty; or, The Rape Play); and Greg Ballora, Sean Cawelti, Christine Papalexis, Jack Pullman, and Brian White (Puppet Design, Wood Boy Dog Fish at Bootleg Theater).
There were a grand total of 214 nominations for 70 productions presented by 45 companies.
Founded in 1989, the L.A. STAGE Alliance Ovation Awards are the only peer-judged theatre awards in Los Angeles. Voters are Los Angeles theatre professionals chosen each year through an application process by the Ovation Rules Committee.
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