The 2014-15 Austin Critics Table Awards
Top honors to Salvage Vanguard's Thr3e Zisters, LOLA Austin's La Femme Bohème, and Texas State's Kiss Me, Kate
By Robert Faires, Fri., June 5, 2015
It was four for Thr3e at the Austin Critics Table Awards on Monday night, with Salvage Vanguard Theater's Thr3e Zisters receiving four prizes from the group of area arts writers.
That irreverent riff on Chekhov earned the most love in the Table's 23rd presentation of honors for notable artistic achievements, but close behind were LOLA Austin's La Femme Bohème and Texas State University Department of Theatre and Dance's Kiss Me, Kate with three awards each. Nine projects took home two prizes each: Ballet Austin's Belle Redux; Zach Theatre's Cenicienta; Half & Half Productions' Chicago; Hyde Park Theatre's The Christians; Theatre en Bloc's Cock; Physical Plant Theater's Everything Is Established; the Austin Classical Guitar/Conspirare/Texas Performing Arts collaboration How Little You Are; Performa/Dance's Ignite: Three Works; and Trouble Puppet Theatre's The Wars of Heaven, Part I. In all, the Critics Table distributed honors in 39 categories, as well as welcoming three more local creatives – Fidencio Duran, Heloise Gold, and Allen Robertson – into the Austin Arts Hall of Fame.
Critics participating in this year's awards – covering the period from May 1, 2014, to April 30, 2015 – were the Austin American-Statesman's Cate Blouke (theatre), Claire Canavan (theatre), Luke Quinton (classical music/visual art), Claire Spera (dance), and Jeanne Claire van Ryzin (arts); and the Chronicle's Elizabeth Cobbe (theatre), Caitlin Greenwood (visual art), Adam Roberts (theatre/classical music), Elissa Russell (theatre), Seth Orion Schwaiger (visual art), Jonelle Seitz (dance), Natalie Zeldin (classical music), and Robert Faires (arts).
Theatre
PRODUCTION, DRAMA
Cock, Theatre en Bloc
PRODUCTION, COMEDY (TIE)
Everything Is Established, Physical Plant Theater
Thr3e Zisters, Salvage Vanguard Theater
PRODUCTION, MUSICAL
Kiss Me, Kate, Texas State University Department of Theatre and Dance
DIRECTION
Derek Kolluri, Cock/Jacob's Ladder
Yuri Umov, Thr3e Zisters
ACTING IN A LEADING ROLE
Jacques Coliman, Bright Now Beyond
Leslie Hollingsworth, Chicago (Half & Half)
Marc Pouhé, Cyrano de Bergerac/The Mountaintop/The Taming of the Shrew
Gricelda Silva, Changelings/Simple Sundries/Cenicienta
ACTING IN A SUPPORTING ROLE
Melvin Abston, All the Way
Joey Hood, The Christians
Jessica Hughes, The Christians
ENSEMBLE PERFORMANCE
Everything Is Established, Physical Plant Theater
MUSIC DIRECTION
John Vander Gheynst, Chicago (Half & Half)
MOVEMENT
Cassie Abate, Kiss Me, Kate
DAVID MARK COHEN NEW PLAY AWARD (TIE)
Am I White?, Adrienne Dawes
Cenicienta, Rupert Reyes and Caroline Reck
Dance
DANCE CONCERT
Ignite: Three Works, Performa/Dance
SHORT WORK
"On Truth and Love," Performa/Dance
CHOREOGRAPHER
Nicholas Kepley, Season of Innocence
DANCER
Siobhan Cooke, Soul/Sole Connections
Michelle Thompson, Belle Redux
DUET
Alyson Dolan & Jack Anthony Dunlap II, Briefs: An Episodic Adventure
ENSEMBLE
A'lante Flamenco Dance Ensemble, Desplazados
TOURING SHOW
Otro Teatro, Luciana Achugar, Fusebox Festival
Design
SCENIC DESIGN
Ia Ensterä, We Play Chekhov/Detroit/The Tempest/Thr3e Zisters
COSTUME DESIGN
Michael Raiford, Belle Redux/Kiss Me, Kate
LIGHTING DESIGN
Natalie George, The Tuning Project/Gold Show Rose Show/Feast of My Heart/Thr3e Zisters/1,000 Forest Gorillas in Kansas
SOUND DESIGN
K. Eliot Haynes, Once There Were Six Seasons/The Wars of Heaven, Part I
Visual Art
MUSEUM EXHIBITION
"Do Ho Suh," The Contemporary Austin
SOLO GALLERY EXHIBITION (TIE)
"Contamination | Pollination: Elizabeth McDonald," Pump Project
"Dave Culpepper: Wake Me When It's Quitting Time," Co-Lab Projects
GROUP GALLERY EXHIBITION
"Gently Fried," Los Outsiders, curators; Emma S. Barrientos Mexican American Cultural Center
WORK OF ART: INDEPENDENT OR PUBLIC PROJECT
AHOM, Museum of Human Achievement
ARTIST OF THE YEAR
Margo Sawyer
GALLERY, BODY OF WORK
Women & Their Work
Classical Music
CLASSICAL PERFORMANCE
Austin Symphony Orchestra with Alison Balsom
CHAMBER PERFORMANCE
La Femme Bohème, LOLA Austin
CHORAL PERFORMANCE
Muhly: How Little You Are, Austin Classical Guitar/Conspirare/Texas Performing Arts
SINGER
Emily Breedlove, La Femme Bohème
Julie Taylor, La Femme Bohème
Nick Zammit, Bach vs. Handel Smackdown
ORIGINAL COMPOSITION/SCORE (TIE)
How Little You Are, Nico Muhly
The Wars of Heaven, Part I, Justin Sherburn
INSTRUMENTALIST
Sandy Yamamoto, Franck: Sonata in A Major
ENSEMBLE
Conspirare
Special Citations
JOHN BUSTIN AWARD FOR CONSPICUOUS VERSATILITY
Ia Ensterä
W.H. "DEACON" CRAIN AWARD FOR OUTSTANDING STUDENT WORK
Elizabeth Brady, Texas State University
Patrick Shaw, University of Texas
FLIGHT OF FANCY AWARD
Landmarks and Nancy Rubins for Monochrome
MAKING BAD AWARD
Long Center for the support and development of David Krabb's Bad Kid
THAT'S ENTERTAINMENT AWARD
Greater Austin High School Musical Theatre Awards