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


Artist of the Year Margo Sawyer (Photos by John Anderson)

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).



John Vander Gheynst

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



Michelle Thompson

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



Ia Ensterä

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



Emily Breedlove (l) and Julie Taylor

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

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KEYWORDS FOR THIS STORY

Austin Critics Table Awards, Austin Arts Hall of Fame, Thr3e Zisters, Salvage Vanguard Theater, Kiss Me, Kate, Texas State University Department of Theatre and Dance, Le Femme Bohème, LOLA Austin, Ia Ensterä, Margo Sawyer

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