The “bitin’ pains” – that’s now how I’ll think of our local theatre awards after hearing their title mangled by the 2014 ceremony’s maladroit hosts, a pair of white-faced clowns from the land of stinky cheese. Unable to wrap their Gallic mouths around the name B. Iden Payne, the duo mooshed it around until it became an orthodontic affliction à la TMJ.
Zut alors!
Not to worry, mes amis, the malapropism was all in good fun, one of many efforts by Chris Gibson and Cami Alys, in their alter egos of Stefan LeCoq and Isabella Belle, to bring a little levity to Austin’s version of the Tonys. And it worked – their comical bits between the dispensation of awards kept the evening floating along like a red balloon. To be fair, though, the Paynes are pretty lighthearted these days. Most acceptance speeches now are heartfelt tributes to colleagues and the community, leavened with self-deprecating references to one’s vanity or some other equally stereotypical show-biz trait. You won’t catch much soapboxing or lashing out at the hometown thespians here. The Paynes truly are a pleasure.
Certainly they were on Monday night – and I’m not just saying that because a show that I was in took home the most awards. (That would be the Rude Mechs’ Fixing King John, which earned six honors.) The Rollins Studio Theatre was packed, and for every award, every nominee’s name seemed to bring forth a hearty round of applause and cheers. It was like everyone was rooting for everyone else. As happens some years, a handful of shows proved favorites among the Payne voters: The Who’s Tommy and Pinocchio, both from Zach Theatre, received three awards apiece, as did Doctuh Mistuh Productions‘ Silence! The Musical and The Hidden Room Theatre‘s Der Bestrafte Burdermord. Capital T Theatre‘s Detroit and There Is a Happiness That Morning Is scored a two awards each, and so did Zach’s Les Miz and the improv production Hurlyburly.
For my money, the highlight among the winners’ speeches came from Stephanie Delk in accepting the Stage Management Award for her work on the Penfold Theatre Company production, Red. She was actually working the awards as stage manager and had to be tricked into coming down from the booth before the award was handed out so she’d be backstage when her name was called. She related in a slow burn being told on the headset that someone was sick backstage, trooping down with a bucket and first-aid kit, asking where the ailing actor was, and having no one respond or look her in the eye. Every detail, delivered with the kind of no-nonsense gravity that stage managers use to put the fear of God in actors, scored huge laughs from the crowd. That’s the kind of night it was.
THEATRE FOR YOUTH
Production
Pinocchio, Zach Theatre
Director
Nat Miller, Pinocchio
Performer
Rommel Sulit, Pinocchio
Young Performer
Will Sendera, The Who’s Tommy
IMPROV THEATRE
Production
Hurlyburly, Institution Theatre
Direction
Jayme Ramsay and Marc Majcher, Hurlyburly
Rudy Kloptik Award for Outstanding Improvisational Troupe
Girls! Girls! Girls! Improvised Musicals
COMEDY
Production
Der Bestrafte Brudermord, The Hidden Room Theatre
Direction
Beth Burns, Der Bestrafte Brudermord
Lead Actor
Jason Phelps, There Is a Happiness That Morning Is
Lead Actress
Katherine Catmull, There Is a Happiness That Morning Is
Featured Actor
Craig Kanne, Pygmalion
Featured Actress
Eva McQuade, The Language Archive
DRAMA
Production
Fixing King John, Rude Mechs
Direction
Madge Darlington, Fixing King John
Lead Actor
E. Jason Liebrecht, Fixing King John
Lead Actress
Gricelda Silva, Pinkolandia
Featured Actor
Jeffery Mills, Fixing King John
Featured Actress
Barbara Chisholm, Fixing King John
MUSIC THEATRE
Production
Silence! The Musical, Doctuh Mistuh Productions
Direction
Michael McKelvey, Silence! The Musical
Lead Actor
Nicholas Rodriguez, Les Misérables
Lead Actress
Amy Downing, Silence! The Musical
Featured Actor
Andrew Cannata, Les Misérables
Featured Actress
Traci Lee, Les Misérables
GENERAL AND TECHNICAL
Original Script
Fixing King John, Kirk Lynn
Original Score
Stone Soup, Allen Robertson
Theatrical Event
We Play Chekhov, Breaking String Theatre
Set Design
Detroit, Ia Ensterä
Lighting Design
The Who’s Tommy, Jason Amato
Costume Design
The Who’s Tommy, Susan Branch Towne
Sound Design
Detroit, Lowell Bartholomee
Media Design
The Crapstall Street Boys, K. Eliot Haynes and Chris Owen
Puppetry
The Head, Trouble Puppet Theatre Company
Stage Management
Stephanie Delk, Red
Fight Choreography
Joseph Garlock, Bethany
Dance Choreography
The company, Cosmicomics
Ensemble Performance
Judd Farris and Jason Newman, Der Bestrafte Brudermord
Cast Performance
The Gospel at Colonus, Zach Theatre
DISTINGUISHED ACHIEVEMENT AWARD
Travis Bedard
SPECIAL RECOGNITION CERTIFICATES
Chet Fagerstrom
For outstanding young musician in Fiddler on the Roof, Trinity Street Players & Austin Jewish Repertory Theatre
Fusebox Festival
For bringing world theatre to Austin and sharing Austin theatre with the world
Scott Groh
For outstanding prop design and construction in Les Misérables, Pinocchio, and The Who’s Tommy, Zach Theatre
Michael Meigs
For reporting on the arts and fostering a regional perspective on his website, Central Texas Live Theatre
This article appears in Dan Patrick.