Table Banquet

(l-r) Jill Blackwood, Irene White, and Amy Downing in 'In the Next Room, or The Vibrator Play' (Courtesy of Kirk Tuck)

After poring over the hundreds of stage productions, concerts, and art exhibitions mounted locally between May 1, 2013, and April 30, 2014, the members of the Austin Critics Table have agreed on the most outstanding work in dance, classical music, visual art, and theatre in the past year and announced the nominees for the 2014 Critics Table Awards.

Receiving the most attention on the list was the Zach Theatre production of Sarah Ruhl’s In the Next Room, or The Vibrator Play, with eight nominations. Receiving five nods apiece were the Mary Moody Northen Theatre’s staging of the Sondheim musical Merrily We Roll Along and the Rude Mechanicals’ premiere of Kirk Lynn’s Shakespearean reboot Fixing King John. (Since this author was a member of that show’s cast, this may be the most pertinent spot to note that members of the Table refrained from voting on any project in which they or an immediate family member took part.)

The most recent inductees into the Austin Arts Hall of Fame were also announced, and all three are arts collectives: Big Medium, Blue Genie Art Industries, and the Rude Mechanicals.

The induction of these local legends into the Hall of Fame will take place during the usual exceedingly informal ceremony on Monday, June 2, 7pm, at Cap City Comedy Club, 8120 Research. As always, the public is welcome, and admission is free.

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), and Jeanne Claire van Ryzin (arts), and the Chronicle's Elizabeth Cobbe (theatre), Caitlin Greenwood (visual arts), Seth Orion Schwaiger (visual arts), Jonelle Seitz (dance), Stacy Alexander Smith (theatre), Natalie Zeldin (classical music), and Robert Faires (arts).

THEATRE

Production, Drama

Fat Pig, Theatre En Bloc

Fixing King John, Rude Mechanicals

Pinkolandia, Salvage Vanguard Theater

Qualities of Starlight, Vortex Repertory Company

Somebody Called, Texas State University Department of Theatre and Dance

The Whale, A Chick & a Dude Productions

Production, Comedy

der Bestrafte Brudermord, The Hidden Room Theatre

In the Next Room, or The Vibrator Play, Zach Theatre

The Lieutenant of Inishmore, Capital T Theatre

There Is a Happiness That Morning Is, Capital T Theatre

This Wonderful Life, Zach Theatre

Tragedy: a tragedy, Hyde Park Theatre

Production, Musical

Anything Goes, Texas State University Department of Theatre and Dance

Assassins, Soubrette Productions

The Gospel at Colonus, Zach Theatre

Little Shop of Horrors, Zilker Theatre Productions

Merrily We Roll Along, Mary Moody Northen Theatre

Reefer Madness, Doctuh Mistuh Productions

Direction

Beth Burns, der Bestrafte Brudermord

Kaitlin Hopkins, Anything Goes

Derek Kolluri, Fat Pig

David Long, Tartuffe

Rudy Ramirez, Qualities of Starlight

Sarah Rasmussen, In the Next Room, or The Vibrator Play

Richard Robichaux, This Wonderful Life

Acting in a Leading Role

Jill Blackwood, In the Next Room, or The Vibrator Play

Martin Burke, This Wonderful Life

Sarah Marie Curry, Reefer Madness/Ordinary Days

Emily Erington, Gidion's Knot

Judd Farris, der Bestrafte Brudermord

Ryan Hamilton, Fat Pig

Molly Karrasch, Venus in Fur

Eugene Lee, The Gospel at Colonus

Jason Liebrecht, The Lieutenant of Inishmore/Fixing King John

Helen Merino, The Belle of Amherst

Jeff Mills, Three, or The Sound of the Great Existential Nothingness

Nicholas Rodriguez, Les Misérables

Gricelda Silva, Pinkolandia

Annie Wallace, Anything Goes

Shanon Weaver, The Whale

Acting in a Supporting Role

Brittany Allyson, Merrily We Roll Along

Andrew Cannata, Les Misérables/Assassins

Barbara Chisholm, Fixing King John

Ryan Crowder, Red

Gabe Diehl, The Spanish Tragedie

Amy Downing, In the Next Room, or The Vibrator Play

Vincent J. Hooper, The Gospel at Colonus

Traci Lee, Les Misérables

Julia Lorenz-Olson, Assassins

Tiffany Mann, One Night With Janis Joplin

Ben McLemore, The Spanish Tragedie

Robert Pellette, The Whipping Man

Ken Webster, There Is a Happiness That Morning Is

Irene White, In the Next Room, or The Vibrator Play

Johanna Whitmore, Othello

Ensemble Performance

Assassins, Soubrette Productions

Fixing King John, Rude Mechanicals

Merrily We Roll Along, Mary Moody Northen Theatre

Reefer Madness, Doctuh Mistuh Productions

The Secret Garden, Mary Moody Northen Theatre

Shipwrecked!, Penfold Theatre Company

Music Direction

Greg Bolin, Anything Goes

Susan Finnegan, Merrily We Roll Along

Jeffrey Jones-Ragona, Princess Ida

Michael McKelvey, Reefer Madness/Swing!

Allen Robertson, One Night With Janis Joplin/Les Misérables

Dustin Struhall, Ordinary Days

Movement

Cassie Abate, Anything Goes

Divya Dinakar, Om Shanti – Once Upon a Time in Bollywood

Danny Herman & Rocker Verastique, The Secret Garden

Ginger Morris, Pippin

Vincent Sandoval, Swing!

Courtney Wissinger, Little Shop of Horrors

David Mark Cohen New Play Award

Fixing King John, Kirk Lynn

Holier Than Thou, Bastion Carboni

Qualities of Starlight, Gabriel Jason Dean

Still Now, Katie Bender

Three, or The Sound of the Great Existential Nothingness, Timothy Braun

Touring Show, Theatre

Megan Hilty, Zach Theatre

Jomama Jones: Radiate!, Salvage Vanguard Theater

Memphis, Texas Performing Arts

Othello, Actors From the London Stage

El Rumor del Incendio, Lagartijas Tiradas Al Sol/Fusebox Festival

The Strange Undoing of Prudencia Hart, National Theatre of Scotland/Texas Performing Arts

DANCE

Dance Concert

The Bowie Project: A Rock & Roll Soundpainting, Ariel Dance Theatre

Gold Show/Rose Show, Heloise Gold & Julie Nathanielsz

Loterialandia, Aztlan Dance Company

Morose Beauty, Nicole Roerick Collective

PowerUP, Forklift Danceworks

Prophecies, A'lante Flamenco

The Undoing of Nonet, Kathy Dunn Hamrick Dance Company

Short Work

"Chambers," Ariel Dance Theatre

"Dovetail," Ballet Austin

"Familiar Cadence," All Things Animate

"Hazy Eyes," Ellen Bartel Dance Collective

"Resonance," Ariel Dance Theatre/Heloise Gold

"Some People Are This," All Things Animate

Choreographer

Ellen Bartel, "Hazy Eyes"/"Bike Rehearsal"/I Begin Where I Grieve

Heloise Gold, "Resonance"/"Dream Birds"

Kathy Dunn Hamrick, The Big Small/The Undoing of Nonet

Gabrielle Lamb, "Dovetail"

Stephen Mills, "CARBON53"

Julie Nathanielsz, "Yo, Genesis"

Dancer

Lisa Del Rosario, "Familiar Cadence"/"Chambers"/"Grit"

Alyson Dolan, The Big Small/The Undoing of Nonet/The Bowie Project: A Rock & Roll Soundpainting/"Grit"

Rebecca Johnson, A Midsummer Night's Dream/Giselle

Aara Krumpe, A Midsummer Night's Dream/"Ya Me Fue"

Angie Obermeyer, "Chambers"/"Hazy Eyes"/Basement Butoh

Heather Quiring, The Big Small

Jaime Lynn Witts, A Midsummer Night's Dream

Ensemble

Ariel Dance Theatre, Heart

A'lante Flamenco, Prophecies

Ballet Austin, A Midsummer Night's Dream/The Glass Project/New American Talent/Dance

Dance Repertory Theatre, Fall for Dance/Kinesthetic Imperative

Dance to Empower, Silence to Power

Kathy Dunn Hamrick Dance Company/Circuitous Dance/Kate Warren, Double Step

DESIGN

Scenic Design

Moria Sine Clinton, In the Next Room, or The Vibrator Play

Patrick and Holly Crowley, Fat Pig

Ia Enstarä, Three, or The Sound of the Great Existential Nothingness/Assassins

Holly Highfill, The Nutcracker

David Utley, Red

Costume Design

Moria Sine Clinton, In the Next Room, or The Vibrator Play

Jennifer Davis, der Bestrafte Brudermord

Magdalena Jarkowiec, “Some People Are This”/“Chambers”

Judanna Lynn, The Nutcracker

Susan Branch Towne, The Secret Garden

Lighting Design

Jason Amato, Little Shop of Horrors/The Belle of Amherst

Joel Britt, Somebody Called

Kathryn Eader, The Secret Garden/Tosca/Merrily We Roll Along

Michelle Habeck, In the Next Room, or The Vibrator Play/The Gospel at Colonus

Stephen Pruitt, Gold Show/Rose Show/Heart/The Undoing of Nonet/The Crapstall Street Boys/PowerUP

Tony Tucci, The Nutcracker/The Glass Project/New American Talent/Dance

Sound Design

K. Eliot Haynes, The Crapstall Street Boys

Julie Nathanielsz, Rose Show

Steven Snowden, This Place

Andrea Ariel, Rolf Sturm, Adam Sultan and Leese Walker, The Bowie Project: A Rock & Roll Soundpainting

CLASSICAL MUSIC

Symphonic Performance

Dennehy: That the Night Come, Fast Forward Orchestra with Kathryn Findlen

Puts: How Wild the Sea, UT Symphony Orchestra with Miró Quartet

Revueltas: Redes, Austin Symphony Orchestra

Chamber Performance

The Beethoven Cycle: Concert 3, Miró Quartet, Butler School of Music

Reich: Music for Pieces of Wood/Soper: In the Reign of Harad IV/Xenakis: Okho, line upon line percussion

Sonate en TriOme, line upon line percussion

SoundSpace: Downtown NYC 1960, Blanton Museum of Art SoundSpace

Snowden: Steam Man of the Prairies, Sunil Gadgil and Carla McElhaney, Revel Solstice Festival

Telemania!, Texas Early Music Project

Choral Performance

Bach Plus: Elegant Craft, Ardent Expression, Conspirare

Brahms: A German Requiem, Texas Choral Consort

Lessons and Carols From King's, Ensemble VIII

Mozart Requiem Undead, Texas Choral Consort/Convergence/Golden Hornet Project

Path of Miracles, Conspirare

Opera

Tosca, Austin Lyric Opera

A Woman in Morocco, UT Butler Opera Center

Singer

Cameron Beauchamp, Mozart Requiem Undead

Mardi Byers, Tosca

Paul D'Arcy, Mozart Requiem Undead

Kathryn Findlen, That the Night Come

Gitanjali Mathur, Mozart Requiem Undead

Laura Mercado-Wright, Mozart Requiem Undead

Scott Piper, Tosca

Suzanne Ramo, Brahms: A German Requiem

Kathlene Ritch, Path of Miracles

David Small, Brahms: A German Requiem

Wayne Tigges, Tosca

Original Composition/Score

"Black-Eyed Suzy," Donald Grantham

How Wild the Sea, Kevin Puts

Lightscape, Joel Love

Mozart Requiem Undead, Petra Haden, Glenn Kotche, Paul Miller, Kate Moore, Adrian Quesada, Graham Reynolds, Todd Reynolds, Caroline Shaw, Justin Sherburn, and Peter Stopschinski

Steam Man of the Prairies, Steven Snowden

Instrumentalist

Brian Lewis, McLean: Elements

Anton Nel, Edward Burlingame Hill selections

Roberto Riggio, Mozart Requiem Undead

Michelle Schumann, "Angel of My Nature"

Ensemble

Conspirare

Ensemble VIII

line upon line percussion

Miró Quartet

VISUAL ART

"Charles Long," Heather Pesanti, curator; The Contemporary Austin

"Contemporary Photographic Practice and the Archive," Lakes Were Rivers, curator; Ransom Center

"Converging Lines: Eva Hesse and Sol LeWitt," Veronica Roberts, curator; Blanton Museum of Art

"Radical Transformation: Magnum Photos Into the Digital Age," Jessica S. McDonald, curator; Ransom Center

"Texas Furniture From Ima Hogg's Winedale Collection," Lonn Taylor, curator; Bullock Texas State History Museum

Solo Gallery Exhibition

"1,000 Years From Now, Now, Now, Now, Now: Claude van Lingen," Co-Lab Projects

"Christa Blackwood: Silver & Ink," Photo Methode Gallery

"Eric Zimmerman: West of the Hudson," Texas State University Galleries

"Jessica Mathews: Stepping Into Water," Red Space

"New Works by Miguel Aragón," Tiny Park Gallery

"Not How It Happened: Joel Ross and Jason Creps," Tiny Park Gallery

"Wura-Natasha Ogunji: Your heart is clean," MASS Gallery

Group Gallery Exhibition

"Field Collision: David Culpepper, Rebecca Marino, Andrew McCloskey," Flex Space

"MPath," Mary Mikel Stump, curator; Texas State University Galleries

“New and Greatest Hits: Texas Biennial 2005-2011,” Michael Duncan and Virginia Rutledge, curators, Big Medium

"O Stone Be Not So," MASS Gallery

"Something Lost," Phil LaDeau, curator; Co-Lab Projects N Space

"Wally," MASS Gallery

"Young Latino Artists 18: Con/Juntos," Michael Anthony Garcia, curator; Mexic-Arte Museum

Work of Art: Independent or Public Project

Albedo, Mason Leland and Joel Nolan, Boggy Creek greenbelt\

Girls Gone West, Ily Acheson-Snow, Karina Eckmeier, Maia Schall, Allie Underwood, and Chantal Wnuk, UT Visual Arts Center

I See You/You See Me, Autumn Ewalt, Gaines Creek Park

Puesta en abismo, Miguel Monroy and Leslie Moody Castro, Co-Lab Projects

Thirst, Women & Their Work, Beili Liu, Emily Little, Norma Yancey, Cassie Bergstrom, Lady Bird Lake

Work of Art: Installation

Common Crossings, Marianne Vitale, The Contemporary Austin, Laguna Gloria

Homestretchbody, Justin Cooper, testsite

Raised Laguna Gloria Discussion Platform, Liam Gillick, The Contemporary Austin, Laguna Gloria

"Michael Sieben: It Will All Happen Again," UT Visual Arts Center

Gallery, Body of Work

Art.Science.Gallery

Lora Reynolds Gallery

MASS Gallery

Texas State University Galleries

Tiny Park Gallery