2012 Austin Critics Table Awards

Time flies when you're recognizing excellence. One minute, you and a half-dozen arts writers are handing out honors to local theatre artists in the Continental Club, and the next, a couple of decades have zoomed by, and your casual little awards party has become an institution – lauding exceptional achievements in dance, classical music, and the visual arts as well as drama. I don't know how the city's loose affiliation of arts writers – i.e., we get together for happy hour once a month – has managed it for this long, but the Austin Critics Table is marking its 20th year of commending outstanding work on the local arts scene. The list of nominations for its annual awards, which cover the period from May 1, 2011, to April 30, 2012, was assembled by the Austin American-Statesman's Michael Barnes (arts), Cate Blouke (theatre), Claire Canavan (theatre), Luke Quinton (classical music/visual arts), Claire Spera (dance), and Jeanne Claire van Ryzin (arts) and the Chronicle's Elizabeth Cobbe (theatre), Jillian Owens (theatre), Jonelle Seitz (dance), and Robert Faires (arts). They will present the awards, as well as induct the latest class of local legends into the Austin Arts Hall of Fame, during a ceremony at 7pm on Monday, June 4, at Cap City Com­edy Club, 8120 Research. We've added a band – the mighty, mighty Invincible Czars – and a PowerPoint, but it's still a pretty informal evening. As always, the public is welcome, and admission is free.

THEATRE

Production, Drama

Arcadia, Austin Shakespeare

Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, UT Dept. of Theatre & Dance

Housebreaking, Poison Apple Initiative

The Lion in Winter, Austin Playhouse

The Pavilion, Penfold Theatre Company

Riddley Walker, Trouble Puppet Theatre Company

Production, Comedy

The Aliens, Hyde Park Theatre

The Further Adventures of Hedda Gabler, Mary Moody Northen Theatre

Guest by Courtesy, Salvage Vanguard Theater

Men of Tortuga, Street Corner Arts

Messenger No. 4, Cambiare Productions

The Schooling of Bento Bonchev, Breaking String Theater

Production, Musical

The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, Soubrette Productions

Hairspray, Zach Theatre

I Love You Because, Penfold Theatre Company

Next to Normal, Zach Theatre

Oklahoma!, Texas State University Dept. of Theatre and Dance

[title of show], TexARTS

Theatrical Event

Bottled-in-Bond: The Decline and Fall of a Thug as Told in Five Drinks, Fusebox Festival: Digestible Feats

Jubilee, Rubber Repertory

The Orchid Flotilla, Glass Half Full Productions

Surprise Annie, Rubber Repertory

Sweet Betrayal, Fusebox Festival: Digestible Feats

Direction

Bastion Carboni, Housebreaking

Daria Davis, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde

Kaitlin Hopkins, Oklahoma!/Hair

Zell Miller III, For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide When the Rainbow Is Enuf

Andrea Skola, Men of Tortuga

Dave Steakley, Hairspray/Next to Normal/The Laramie Project

Ken Webster, The Aliens

Acting in a Leading Role

Liz Beckham, Arcadia

Jill Blackwood, The Further Adventures of Hedda Gabler

Andrew Cannata, I Love You Because/Dirty Rotten Scoundrels

Jon Cook, The Aliens

Babs George, Ghosts

Jude Hickey, The Aliens

Eugene Lee, The Book of Grace

Claire Ludwig, A Room With a View

Meredith McCall, Next to Normal

Sam Mercer, Housebreaking

Nadine Mozon, The Book of Grace

Robert Pierson, B. Beaver Animation

Matt Radford, Uncle Vanya

Caroline Reck, The Orchid Flotilla

Nikki Zook, The Children's Hour

Acting in a Supporting Role

Kim Adams, Ghosts/The Pavilion

Brian Coughlin, Hairspray

Michael Dalmon, Arcadia

Shelby Davenport, Arcadia

Emily Everidge, Uncle Vanya

Jamie Goodwin, Next to Normal

Joey Hood, The Aliens

Jarrett King, The Further Adventures of Hedda Gabler

Tom Parker, A Room With a View

Jason Phelps, Spring Awakening

Kelli Schultz, Next to Normal

Michael Slefinger, Big Love

Janis Stinson, Hairspray

Breanna Stogner, Down the Drain

Rommel Sulit, Big Love/Men of Tortuga/Bacha Bazi (Boy Play)/The Dragon Play

Ensemble Performance

69 Love Scenes, Gnap! Theatre Productions

Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, UT Dept. of Theatre & Dance

For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide When the Rainbow Is Enuf, UpRise! Productions/Vortex Repertory Co.

God of Carnage, Zach Theatre

I Love You Because, Penfold Theatre

Jubilee, Rubber Repertory

David Mark Cohen New Play Award

360 (round dance), Steven Dietz

Bacha Bazi (Boy Play), Gabriel Jason Dean

Guest by Courtesy, Hannah Kenah

Messenger No. 4, Will Hollis Snider

River City, Diana Grisanti

Static, Tom Horan

Music Direction

Greg Bolin, Oklahoma!/Hair, Texas State University Dept. of Theatre and Dance

Susan Finnegan, The Spitfire Grill

Austin Haller, [title of show]

Allen Robertson, Hairspray/Next to Normal

Movement

Quetta Carpenter, Love's Labours Lost, UT Dept. of Theatre & Dance

Matt Hislope and company, Jubilee

Robin Lewis. Hairspray

Amanda Mayi Moss & Sade Jones, For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide When the Rainbow Is Enuf

Melinda Rebman & Zenobia Taylor, The Dudleys: A Family Game

Tom Truss, Hair, Texas State University Dept. of Theatre and Dance

Touring Show, Theatre

Poste Restante, The Secret Agents, Trouble Puppet Theatre Company

Super Night Shot, Gob Squad, Fusebox Festival

The Tempest, Actors From the London Stage

When a Priest Marries a Witch, Fusebox Festival

DANCE

Dance Concert

Aphrodite Dances: Chocolate, Voice Dance Company

April Fools, Tapestry Dance Company

Catalyst, UT Dance Repertory Theatre

Hansel and Gretel, Ballet Austin II

Light/The Holocaust & Humanity Project, Ballet Austin

The Magic Flute, Ballet Austin

The Materiality of Impermanence, Sharon Marroquin

Short Work

"Poet's Love," Ready|Set|Go!

"solo solo," Ready|Set|Go!

"Tango Vesre," UT Dept. of Theatre & Dance

"Watch the Gap," UT Dept. of Theatre & Dance

"Wolftanzt," Ballet Austin

Choreographer

David Justin, "Oblivion's Ink"

Viktor Kabaniaev, "Phrases"

Sharon Marroquin, The Materiality of Impermanence

Tapestry Dance Company with Acia Gray, April Fools/Of Mice and Music: A Jazz Nutcracker

Nelly van Bommel, Hansel and Gretel

Dancer

Sarah Britton, "Valse Fantaisie"

Errin Delperdang, "solo solo"

Juan Pablo Flores, "Breathing"/"Engulfing Addiction"

Rebecca Johnson, The Mozart Project

Travis Knights, April Fools

Sharon Marroquin, The Materiality of Impermanence

Alvin Rangel, "Tango Vesre"

Matt Shields, April Fools

Christopher Swaim, The Mozart Project

Michelle Thompson, "things that keep me from myself"

Ensemble

Ballet Austin men, "The Last Just"

Ballet Austin II, Hansel and Gretel

Ellen Bartel, Mari Akita, and Adam Sultan, Program C: Butoh (Big Range Dance Festival)

Blue Lapis Light, Devotion

The cast, The Materiality of Impermanence

University of Texas dancers, "Minus 16"

Touring Show, Dance

Fame, LeeSaar The Company, Fusebox Festival

Gloria's Cause, Dayna Hansen, Fusebox Festival

Les Ballets de Trockadero, Long Center

Max, Batsheva Dance Company, Texas Performing Arts

DESIGN

Scenic Design

Rowan Doyle, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde

Ia Ensterä, Uncle Vanya/Down the Drain/Ghosts/The Schooling of Bento Bonchev/The 21 Would-Be Lives of Phineas Hamm/Messenger No. 4/The Aliens/The Materiality of Impermanence

Ann Marie Gordon, Sarah Silver Hands

Michael Raiford, Hairspray/Spring Awakening/God of Carnage

Chris H. Yoo, 360 (round dance)

Costume Design

Yao Chen, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde

Julia Chinnock Howze, Uncle Vanya

Rachel McGinnis, The 21 Would-Be Lives of Phineas Hamm

Austin Rausch, The Further Adventures of Hedda Gabler

Susan Branch Towne, The Magic Flute/Hairspray

Proletina Veltchev, Love's Labours Lost, UT Dept. of Theatre & Dance

Lighting Design

Jason Amato, Devotion/Hairspray/Sarah Silver Hands/Next to Normal/Arcadia

Kathryn Eader, The Further Adventures of Hedda Gabler

Kate Leahy, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde

Stephen Pruitt, The Materiality of Impermanence/April Fools

Steven Shirey, Ghosts/The Schooling of Bento Bonchev/Jubilee

Cheng-Wei Teng, Love's Labours Lost, UT Department of Theatre & Dance

Sound Design

K. Eliot Haynes, Riddley Walker

Sam Kokajko, Hairspray

Jeffery Mills, Civilization (All You Can Eat)

Buzz Moran, The Further Adventures of Hedda Gabler/Ghosts

Brian Schneider, The Pavilion

Video Design

João Beira, "Too & For" (Catalyst)

David Bengali, Angela Hill, Josh Lampman, David Mauro, Dan Monceaux, Camilo Munar & Jake Witten, and Jordan Rein, The Dudleys: A Family Game

Scott Hathaway, Devotion

Jeff Kurihara, "Broken Pieces"/"Just for the Night" (New York Stories)

Todd V. Wolfson, The Materiality of Impermanence

CLASSICAL

Chamber Performance

Austin Pictures, Miró Quartet and Jorge Caballero, Austin Classical Guitar Society

Barber, Dvorak: String Quartets/Elgar: Quintet for Piano and Stings, Miró Quartet with Anton Nel, Butler School of Music

Cage: Musicircus, Steve Parker, et al., Blanton Museum of Art

Glass: String Quartet No. 5/Puts: Credo, Miró Quartet, Austin Chamber Music Festival

The Return of Bach's Herd of Harsichords, La Follia Austin Baroque

Willow Spence, Travis Weller, et al, Fusebox Festival

Choral Performance

El Siglo Oro, Ensemble VIII

Rossini: Petite Messe Solennelle, Austin Civic Chorus

Samuel Barber: American Romantic, Conspirare

Tenebrae – Shadows of France, Ensemble VIII

Singer

Elizabeth Caballero, Turandot

Bruce Cain, Petite Messe Solenelle

Mela Daley, Petite Messe Solenelle

Kathryn Findlen, Petite Messe Solenelle

David Farwig, Samuel Barber: American Romantic

Lyubov Petrova, Lucia di Lammermoor

Nichola Simpson, Petite Messe Solenelle

Marin Trautman, "City Called Heaven," A Heart's Harvest

Original Composition/Score

"For So Long It's Not True," Steven Snowden

"I apologize Julius, for judging you," Brent Fariss

"Murmur," Jacob Hamrick, Kathy Dunn Hamrick Dance

"Musa," Ian Dicke

"My Parents' Phone Number," Ethan F. Greene

"Short Ride in a Used '98 Honda," Eli Fieldsteel

"Shovelhead," Steven Snowden

Willow Spence, Travis Weller

Instrumentalist

Daniel Ching, violin, Puts: Credo

Sarunas Jankauskus, clarinet, Cage: Sonata for Clarinet

Carla McElhaney, piano, Petite Messe Solenelle

Anton Nel, piano, Miró Quartet with Anton Nel

Bion Tsang, cello, Bion Tsang with the Austin Symphony

Keith Womer, harpsichord, The Return of Bach's Herd of Harsichords

Ensemble

Bel Cuore Quartet

Line Upon Line

Miró Quartet

New Music Co-op

VISUAL ART

Museum Exhibition

"Art on the Green," Austin Museum of Art-Arthouse, curator: Andrea Mellard

"Buster Graybill: Progeny of Tush Hog," Austin Museum of Art-Arthouse, curator: Andrea Mellard

"Go West! Representations of the American Frontier," Blanton Museum of Art, curator: Risa Puleo

"The Greenwich Village Bookshop Door: A Portal to Bohemia, 1920-1925," Ransom Center

"Thought Cloud: YLA 16," Mexic-Arte Museum, curator: Alexander Freeman

Solo Gallery Exhibition

"Dust Spreads Contempt: Colby Bird," Lora Reynolds Gallery

"Jill Magid: Failed States," Austin Museum of Art-Arthouse

"Jonathan Faber: Idle," Champion Gallery

"Lauren Woods: Notes of a Native Daughter," Women & Their Work

"Margaret Meehan: Hystrionics and the Forgotten Arm," Women & Their Work

"Narratives," Martin Sztyk, Big Medium

Group Gallery Exhibition

"Candy Cornbread," Grayduck Gallery

"Heir Today, Gone Tomorrow," Mexican American Cultural Center, curators: Los Outsiders

"(Im)possibilities," UT Visual Arts Center, curator: C.C. Marsh

"Land-grabber," Pump Project Art Complex

"New Works: The Mona Lisa Project," Austin Museum of Art

"This Is As With It As It Is," Lora Reynolds Gallery

"Wild Kingdom," Texas State University Galleries

Work of Art: Independent or Public Project

Bastrop Inside Out, Leon Alesi and Sam Martin

EZ Egos & Effigies, Adreon Henry

Last New Year, Ink Tank Lab

Marfita, Josh T. Franco, Alison Kuo, Joshua Saunders

The Pay Phone Revival Project, curator: Bridget Quinn

Unsilent Night, Fast Forward Austin

Work of Art: One of a Kind

Haircuts by Children, East Austin Studio Tour/Fusebox Festival/Peacock Salon

Loop, "Art on the Green," Legge Lewis Legge

Music of the Spheres, Ezra Masch, UT Visual Arts Center

Parmageddon, "Art on the Green," Ink Tank Lab

School Night, "Art on the Green," Okay Mountain

Suspended After Image, Diana Al-Hadid, UT Visual Arts Center

Work of Art: Installation

The Development of Actuality, Robert Jackson Harrington, Co-Lab

National Register, Carlos Rosales-Silva, Arthouse

Quantify Me, Laurie Frick, Women & Their Work

"seeing times are not hidden," Line Upon Line/Norma Yancey and Emily Little, Architecture in Music/Music in Architecture

When I Was 16, I Saw the White Buffalo, Christie Blizard, Women & Their Work

Artist

Miguel Aragon

Laurie Frick

Jules Buck Jones

Wura-Natasha Ogunji

Bridget Quinn

Carlos Rosales-Silva

Touring Show, Art

"31K: Project For Peace," Mexic-Arte Museum

"The Anxiety of Photography," Austin Museum of Art-Arthouse

"El Anatsui: When Last I Wrote to You About Africa," Blanton Museum of Art

"Good Design: Stories by Herman Miller," Austin Museum of Art

Courtesy of Kirk R. Tuck