A toast, please, to the 170-plus artists and creative projects recognized in the nominations for the 2013 Austin Critics Table Awards. Earlier this month, a batch of the ink-stained wretches who cover the city's cultural scene devoted our monthly meeting of the minds (i.e., happy hour) to reviewing the work we'd seen between May 1, 2012, and April 30, 2013 (give or take a few days), and came up with what we considered the most exceptional achievements in dance, classical music, visual arts, and theatre.

Receiving the most attention on the list was the Hidden Room Theatre's marathon production of Rose Rage; its five-hour condensation of Shakespeare's Henry VI histories earned eight nominations, including Outstanding Production, Drama; Direction (for Beth Burns); and Ensemble Performance. Right behind it with seven noms was, coincidentally, the Shakespearean history that follows the Henry VI saga: Richard III, staged by the Texas State University Department of Theatre and Dance. It also won nods for Production, Drama and Direction (for Chuck Ney), plus a lead acting nomination for its Tricky Dick, Eugene Lee, and noms for the set and costume designs by Michelle Ney. The most recognized musical was Ragtime, produced by Zach Theatre to open its Topfer Theatre, also receiving seven nominations. Earning six nominations each were The Poison Squad, an ingenious devised drama by theatre collective the Duplicates; the comedy Under Construction, another madcap theatrical mash-up by Charles Mee directed by David Long for the Mary Moody Northen Theatre; and the Blue Lapis Light aerial dance work Heaven-Earth-One, which has been revived and can be seen on the Long Center Terrace – and above it – through Sunday, May 26.

Taking part in the Critics Table award process this year were the Austin American-Statesman's 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), Adam Roberts (theatre/classical music), Jonelle Seitz (dance), Dan Solomon (theatre), Natalie Zeldin (classical music), 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 an exceedingly informal ceremony at 7pm on Monday, June 3, at Cap City Com­edy Club, 8120 Research. As always, the public is welcome, and admission is free.

Theatre

Production, Drama

All My Sons, Palindrome Theatre

Colossal, UT/David Mark Cohen New Works Festival

The Edge of Peace, UT Dept. of Theatre & Dance

Neighborhood 3: Requisition of Doom, Poison Apple Initiative/Vestige Group

The Poison Squad, The Duplicates

Richard III, Texas State University Dept. of Theatre and Dance

Rose Rage, The Hidden Room Theatre

Production, Comedy

Accidental Death of an Anarchist, Palindrome Theatre

boom, Capital T Theatre

Dividing the Estate, Zach Theatre

The Importance of Being Earnest, Mary Moody Northen Theatre

Slip River, UT/David Mark Cohen New Works Festival

Under Construction, Mary Moody Northen Theatre

Production, Musical

Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson, Doctuh Mistuh Productions

Legally Blonde: The Musical, Summer Stock Austin

Ordinary Peephole: The Songs of Dick Price, The Dick Price Fan Club

Ragtime, Zach Theatre

The Sound of Music, Zilker Theatre Productions

Urinetown: The Musical, Texas State University Dept. of Theatre and Dance

Theatrical Event

Austin Is a Place (You Are Here), Theatre En Bloc

The Girl With Time in Her Eyes, The Hidden Room Theatre

Hot Nights series, The Exchange Artists

Lord Wensleydale's Last High Tea, Parallelogramophonograph

The Man Who Planted Trees, The Exchange Artists

Now Now Oh Now, Rude Mechanicals

Direction

Beth Burns, Rose Rage/Invisible, Inc.

Connor Hopkins, Toil and Trouble

David Long, Under Construction

Chuck Ney, Richard III

Austin Sheffield, All My Sons

Rachel Wiese, The Man Who Planted Trees

Acting in a Leading Role

Jill Blackwood, Xanadu/Ragtime/Goodnight Moon

Barbara Chisholm, The Importance of Being Earnest

Brock England, Rose Rage

Noel Gaulin, Accidental Death of an Anarchist/The Bear/Vodka, Fucking, and Television

Thomas Graves, Agnes and Alfred

Harvey Guion, All My Sons

Joey Hood, "I Am the Machine Gunner"

Hannah Kenah, Agnes and Alfred

Eugene Lee, Richard III

Mykal Monroe, Intimate Apparel

Cassadie Petersen, Neighborhood 3: Requisition of Doom

Matthew Radford, Rose Rage

Patty Rowell, Annie Get Your Gun

Kyle Scatliffe, Ragtime

Carrie Stephens, Betrayal

Acting in a Supporting Role

Joey Banks, Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson

Nathan Brockett, All My Sons

Beth Broderick, Just Outside Redemption

Fran Dorn, The Edge of Peace

Babs George, Mad Beat Hip & Gone

Ryan Hamilton, Just Outside Redemption

Jude Hickey, Vodka, Fucking, and Television

Robert Matney, Rose Rage

Nadine Mozon, Richard III

Laurence Pears, Rose Rage/Invisible, Inc.

Sydney Roberts, Urinetown: The Musical

Cara Spradling, The Scarlet Letter

Marijane Vandivier, Dividing the Estate

Ensemble Performance

The Importance of Being Earnest, Mary Moody Northen Theatre

Ordinary Peephole: The Songs of Dick Price, The Dick Price Fan Club

The Poison Squad, The Duplicates

Rose Rage, The Hidden Room Theatre

Under Construction, Mary Moody Northen Theatre

The Women of Juarez, UT/David Mark Cohen New Works Festival

Music Direction

Jordon Cunningham, Legally Blonde: The Musical

Jennifer Davis & Howard Burkett, Rose Rage

Allen Robertson, Xanadu/Ragtime/Goodnight Moon

Lyova Rosanoff, Ordinary Peephole: The Songs of Dick Price

John Vander Gheynst and Dustin Struhall, The Sound of Music

Movement

Cassie Abate, Urinetown: The Musical

Andrea Beckham and Jeff Simon, Colossal

Nick Demos, Ragtime/White Christmas

Danny Herman & Rocker Verastique, Under Construction

Jennifer Young Mahlstedt, Goodnight Moon

Courtney Wissinger, The Sound of Music

David Mark Cohen New Play Award

Adam Sultan, Steve Moore and Zeb L. West

Colossal, Andrew Hinderaker

The Edge of Peace, Suzan Zeder

Just Outside Redemption, Dennis Bailey

Now Now Oh Now, Hannah Kenah

The Poison Squad, The Duplicates

Slip River, Abe Koogler, Katie Bender, and Gabrielle Reisman

The Women of Juarez, Isaac Gomez and Bianca Sulaica

Touring Show, Theatre

Butt Kapinski: We Are the Dark, Deanna Fleysher/The Institution Theater

Cue China (Elsewhere, Offshore), Ant Hampton/Fusebox Festival

Farfalle, Compagnia T.P.O./Scottish Rite Theater

Heather Woodbury's As the Globe Warms, Heather Woodbury/Vortex Repertory Company

Brian Stokes Mitchell, Zach Theatre

'Watch Me Fall', Action Hero/Fusebox Festival

West Side Terri, Jay Fraley & Rude Guerrilla Productions

Dance

Dance Concert

As Holy Sites Go/duet, Deborah Hay

Heaven-Earth-One, Blue Lapis Light

Saya Ikan/I Am a Fish/Ik Ben Een Vis + What Is Common, Julie Nathanielsz/The Meeting Point

Solo Symphony, Forklift Danceworks

The Taming of the Shrew, Ballet Austin

Short Work, Dance

"Home," Dance Repertory Theatre

"The Red Shoes," A'lante Flamenco Dance Ensemble

"Requiem for a Rose," Ballet Austin

"Somebody Else," Ellen Bartel

"Two to One," Tapestry Dance Company

"The Uncommitted," Dance Repertory Theatre

Choreographer

Ellen Bartel, "Somebody Else"

Cheryl Chaddick, Interior Landscape of the Emotional Mind

Jennifer Hart, "Wavemakers"

Deborah Hay, As Holy Sites Go/duet & No Time to Fly/Fire

Allison Orr, Solo Symphony

China Smith and Daniele Martin, "Strange Fruit"

Dancer

Olivia Chacón, "The Red Shoes"

Chris Hannon, Aphrodite Dances: Romeo Drive

Rebecca Johnson, "Requiem for a Rose"

Travis Knights, Time

Grace Morton, BAII@AVST

Matthew Shields, Time

Michelle Thompson, The Rite of Spring

Nicole Whiteside, Heaven-Earth-One

Jamie Lynn Witts, The Taming of the Shrew

Duet

Anuradha Naimpally & Purna Bajekal, Two Generations, One Tradition

Chris Hannon & Gina Patterson, "Ida"

David Justin & Oren Porterfield, "Unto Love"

Grace Morton & Benjamin Wetzel, "Luminaria"

Frank Shott & Jamie Lynn Witts, The Taming of the Shrew

Ros Warby & Jeanine Durning, As Holy Sites Go/duet

Ensemble, Dance

Ballet Austin, The Taming of the Shrew

Ballet Austin II, Snow White

Blue Lapis Light, Heaven-Earth-One

Kathy Dunn Hamrick Dance Company, Bountiful

Spank Dance Company. "Somebody Else"

Touring Show, Dance

Phone Homer, Michelle Ellsworth, Fusebox Festival/Women & Their Work

The Rite of Spring, Joffrey Ballet, Texas Performing Arts

Saya Ikan/I Am a Fish/Ik Ben Een Vis, Lily Kiara, Julie Nathanielsz/The Meeting Point

Design

Scenic Design

William Anderson, The Cataract

The Duplicates, The Poison Squad

Ia Ensterä, The 12th Labor/spacestation 1985/Bus Stop

Thomas Graves, Michelle Marchesseault, Leilah Stewart, et al., Now Now Oh Now

Michelle Ney, Richard III

Cliff Simon, Dividing the Estate/33 Variations

Costume Design

Kaitlyn Aylward, The Cataract

Emily Cawood, "Wavemakers"

T'Cie Mancuso, Under Construction/The Importance of Being Earnest

Michelle Ney, Richard III

Susan Branch Towne, The Sound of Music/Xanadu/Ragtime

Chin-Hua Yeh, Intimate Apparel

Lighting Design

Jason Amato, Heaven-Earth-One/Ragtime/Pride and Prejudice/The Elementals: Earth

The Duplicates, The Poison Squad

Natalie George, spacestation 1985

Michelle Hebeck, Dividing the Estate/Xanadu/Mad Beat Hip & Gone

Stephen Pruitt, Solo Symphony

Theatre En Bloc, Austin Is a Place (You Are Here)

Sound Design

Craig Brock, Ragtime

The Duplicates, The Poison Squad

Robert Fisher, Now Now Oh Now

William Meadows, Heaven-Earth-One

Buzz Moran, All My Sons/Under Construction/spacestation 1985

Miles Polaski, The Cataract

Video Design

Lowell Bartholomee, Vodka, Fucking, and Television

João Beira, Marta Ferraz, and Yago De Quay, "3D [Embodied]"

Colin Lowry, The Geometry of Proximity

Christopher Sousa-Wynn, Richard III

Lee Webster, "I Am the Machine Gunner"

Classical Music

Symphonic Performance

Beethoven: Overtures to Fidelio, Leonora; Delius: Prelude to Irmelin; Fitkin: Circuit; Lansky: Shapeshifters, Austin Symphony with Quattro Mani

Bernstein: Chichester Psalms, Austin Symphony with Conspirare

Brahms: Piano Concerto No. 1, Austin Symphony with Yefim Bronfman

Rachmaninoff: Piano Concerto No. 2/Nielsen: Symphony No. 3, Austin Symphony with Jon Nakamatsu

Shostakovich: Symphony No. 9, Austin Symphony

Stravinsky: The Rite of Spring, UT Symphony Orchestra

Chamber Performance

All-Beethoven Recital, Miró Quartet, Butler School of Music

Brant: Orbits, Steve Parker/80 trombones

Dufourt: Erewhon, line upon line percussion

String Quartet Smackdown, Golden Hornet Project

The Unknown, Les Frères Méduses with Will Fedkenheuer, Austin Classical Guitar Society

Turetsky: Reflections on Whittier and Ives, P. Kellach Waddle, Christopher Flores, Jessica Valls, Pat Harris

Xenakis: Pléïades/Persephassa, line upon line percussion, Meehan/Perkins Duo, and Timothy Briones

Yankee Baroque, La Follia Austin Baroque

Choral Performance

Once Below a Time, Texas Choral Consort

The Sacred Spirit of Russia, Conspirare

Signature Conspirare, Conspirare

SoundSpace: Post-Classical, One Ounce Opera

Vessel, Convergence

Opera

Les Enfants Terribles, UT Butler Opera Center

The Marriage of Figaro, Austin Lyric Opera

Singer

Jonathan Beyer, The Marriage of Figaro

Elena Calenos, The Marriage of Figaro

Sasha Cooke, Miró Quartet recital

Jan Cornelius, Faust

Jamie-Rose Guarrine, The Marriage of Figaro

Glenn Miller, The Sacred Spirit of Russia

Icy Simpson, I, Too

David Small, Once Below a Time

Jenifer Thyssen, Celtic Trinity

Hyung Yun, Faust

Original Composition/Score

And Then Came Tango, Paul Marbach

Concerto Laguna, Travis Weller

"15 Grand in a Paper Sack," Chris Black

"If I Were a Swan," Kevin Puts

"land of the living," Steven Snowden

"Sleep," Sarah Dutcher

Solo Symphony, Graham Reynolds

To Touch the Sky, Kevin Puts

Instrumentalist

Bruce Colson, Celtic Trinity

Leigh Mahoney, "La Maja Dolorosa," Tango Ballet (Fast Approaching, Swiftly Gone)

Artina McCall, I, Too

Terry Muir, Heaven-Earth-One

Rick Rowley, Schumann: Fantasie in C Major

Michelle Schumann, A Charlie Brown Christmas/Mozart: Piano Concerto No. 14

Leah Zacharias, Concerto Laguna

Ensemble

Ensemble VIII

line upon line percussion

Miró Quartet

New Music Co-op

Tosca String Quartet

Touring, Classical

Laura Claycomb with Keith Weber, UT Butler School of Music

Daniel Hope & Friends: Music from Terezín, Texas Performing Arts

Pierrot Lunaire, eighth blackbird, Texas Performing Arts

Anna Vidovic, Austin Classical Guitar Society

Visual Art

Museum Exhibition

"I Have Seen the Future: Norman Bel Geddes Designs America," Donald Albrecht, curator;

Harry Ransom Center

"The Rules of Basketball," Regine Basha, curator; Blanton Museum of Art

"Through the Eyes of Texas: Masterworks From Alumni Collections," Annette DiMeo Carlozzi, curator;

Blanton Museum of Art

"Young Latino Artists Exhibition 17: Grafficanos," James Huizar, curator; Mexic-Arte Museum

Solo Gallery Exhibition

"Ana Fernandez: Real Estates and Other Fictions," Women & Their Work

"Katie Maratta," Gallery Shoal Creek

"Kelly O'Connor: Last Resort," Women & Their Work

"Kevin McNamee-Tweed: Rocks," Big Medium

"Miguel Aragón: Fractured Memories, Assembled Trauma," Mexic-Arte Museum

"Rigoberto A.Gonzalez: Baroque on the Border," Mexican American Cultural Center

Group Gallery Exhibition

"Artifact," Tiny Park Gallery

"Collection Selections: De-Luxe," Kimberli Gant, curator; AMOA-Arthouse

"Future-Perfect-in-Past-Tense," GrayDUCK Gallery

"Hybrid Forms," Rachel Adams, curator; AMOA-Arthouse

"A Nation of Fear," Center Space, UT Visual Arts Center

"New Century Modern," Michael Conroy & Mary Mikal Stump, curators; Texas State University Galleries

"Tamed Territory," GrayDUCK Gallery

Work of Art: Independent or Public Project

Alley Cat Project, MASS Gallery

"Armageddon Outta Here," Ink Tank

Changarrito, Mexic-Arte Museum

"A Clean, Well-Lighted Place," Texas Biennial

"Public Access," MASS Gallery

TRANSfiguration, Rino Pizzi, et al.

20 Ft. Wide, Dan Cheetham & Michelle Tarsney for Art Alliance Austin

Work of Art: One of a Kind

Event Horizon, Leticia Bajuyo, Women & Their Work

Future Perfect, Ann Tarantino, AMOA-Arthouse

Hecho Farm, Cruz Ortiz, UT Visual Arts Center

A Survey of Open Space, Peat Duggins, Fusebox Festival

Variable Landscape, Joseph Phillips, Tiny Park

Work of Art: Installation

"Beili Liu: Amass," Texas State University Galleries

Binary Branch, Jamie Panzer, AMOA-Arthouse

"Colby Bird: House Lamps," Texas State Univ. Galleries

11 Week Interval, Jeff Williams, AMOA-Arthouse

"Nagualia," Jules Buck Jones and Morgan Coy, Co-Lab Projects

Portico, Michael A. Garcia, Austin City Hall

"W. Tucker: to stand in a boat that floats," Texas State University. Galleries

Artist

Sonya Berg

Leah Haney

Beili Liu

Rino Pizzi

W. Tucker

Jeff Williams

Touring Show, Art

"Andy Coolquitt: Attainable Excellence," AMOA-Arthouse

"Arnold Newman: Masterclass," Ransom Center

"Nick Cave: Hide in Plain Sight," AMOA-Arthouse

Austin Critics Table Awards 2013