2018 B. Iden Payne Award Winners

In all the drama of Election Day, some of the drama of the day before was a bit overlooked – that would be the drama of the B. Iden Payne Theatre Awards. The 44th annual awards ceremony was held at the Austin Scottish Rite Theater Monday, and more than 30 shows from the 2017-18 season received awards, with three of them earning four awards apiece.

The Rude Mechs' third entry in its Fixing Shakespeare series, Fixing Troilus and Cressida was rewarded with the prize for outstanding comedy production, along with awards for director Alexandra Bassiakou Shaw, actor Jeff Mills, and the entire cast.

The UT Department of Theatre & Dance production of The Drowsy Chaperone was honored as the outstanding production of musical theatre, and it also garnered prizes for director Nick Mayo, leading man (in chair) Scott Shipman and, playing the titular chaperone, Emily McIntyre.

Another musical, the Austin original Rob1n by the Best of Austin Award-winning team of Damon Brown and Allen Robertson was named outstanding production of theatre for young audiences, with triple-threat Robertson also taking home awards for his original score, direction, and musical direction. Consider that also a big win for producing company Summer Stock Austin, which was also honored with awards for Ginger Morris' choreography for The Music Man and Joe Kelley's performance in Dirty Rotten Scoundrels.

Also making a strong showing was Jesus I. Valles, whose autobiographical solo show (Un)Documents won him awards for both his original script and his performance, as well as an award for the show's director, Rudy Ramirez.

The full list of awards follows:

Drama

Production
The Wolves, Hyde Park Theatre

Direction
Rudy Ramirez, (Un)Documents

Lead Actor
Jesus I. Valles, (Un)Documents

Lead Actress
Jennifer Coy Jennings, Wild Horses

Featured Actor
Delanté G. Keys, The Brothers Size

Featured Actress
Shonagh Smith, The Wolves

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Comedy

Production
Fixing Troilus and Cressida, Rude Mechanicals

Direction
Alexandra Bassiakou Shaw, Fixing Troilus and Cressida

Lead Actor
Adam Rodriguez, Cthulhu Beach Party

Lead Actress
Lee Eddy, Cry It Out

Featured Actor
Jeff Mills, Fixing Troilus and Cressida

Featured Actress
Amber Quick, The Secretary

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Improvisational Theatre

Production
Speak No More, Golden: Improvised Silent Stories

Direction
Bridget Brewer and Kaci Beeler, Orphans!

Design
Lindsey McGowen, Jay Mahavier, and Nichole Bennett, Death by Musical

Cast
Broad Ambition, Girls Girls Girls

Rudy Kloptik Award for Outstanding Improvisational Troupe
Fuck This Week

Ethel Hinkley Award for Outstanding New Improvisational Troupe
Y’all, We Asian

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Musical Theatre

Production
The Drowsy Chaperone, UT Department of Theatre & Dance

Direction
Nick Mayo, The Drowsy Chaperone

Lead Actor
Scott Shipman, The Drowsy Chaperone

Lead Actress
Corinna Browning, Ruddigore

Featured Actor
Joe Kelley, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels

Featured Actress
Emily McIntyre, The Drowsy Chaperone

Music Direction
Allen Robertson, Rob1n

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Theatre for Young Audiences

Production
Rob1n, Summer Stock Austin

Direction
Allen Robertson, Rob1n

Actor
Chase Brewer, The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe

Actress
Marina De Yoe-Pedraza, Las Aventuras de Enoughie: Un Cuento de Kindness

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Backstage

Set Design
Ann Marie Gordon and Griffon Ramsey, Performance Park

Lighting Design
Rachel Atkinson, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time

Costume Design
Jenny McNee, Booth’s Richard III

Sound Design
David Boss, The Woman in Black

Media Design
Stephanie Busing, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time

Properties Design
Indigo Rael, Storm Still

Makeup Design
Alonso Salas, Hail to the Queen

Puppetry
Polly Mermaid: Apocalypse Wow!, Glass Half Full Theatre

Stage Management
Catherine Anne Tucker, Singin’ in the Rain

Original Script
Jesus I. Valles, (Un)Documents

Original Score
Allen Robertson, Rob1n

Live Music Performance
Ammon Taylor, Orphans!

Dance Choreography
Ginger Morris, The Music Man

Stage Movement
Rocker Verastique, Lucky Stiff

Fight Choreography
Toby Minor, Booth’s Richard III

Ensemble Performance
Gricelda Silva, Marina De Yoe-Pedraza, Karina Dominguez, Kelly Hasandras and Sarah Danko, Polly Mermaid: Apocalypse Wow!

Small Cast Performance in Scripted Theatre
Jennifer Coy Jennings, Andréa Smith, and Amelia Turner, Storm Still

Large Cast Performance in Scripted Theatre
Catherine Grady, Crystal Bird Caviel, Cassie Reveles, Noel Gaulin, Derek Kolluri, Rommel Sulit, Kelli Bland, Lauren Lane, Jeff Mills, John Christopher, Vincent Tomasino, Mical Trejo, Fixing Troilus and Cressida

Young Performer
Javier Garcia, The Giver

Special Certificates

Theatrical Engineering
Raptors, Enron Raptor Independent Study students, led by Karen Maness and J.E. Johnson, ENRON, UT Department of Theatre & Dance

Dramaturgy
Eric Colleary, Beth Burns, Kate Meehan, Toby Minor, Amelia Turner, Howard Burkett, Booth’s Richard III, Hidden Room, Harry Ransom Center, and Austin Scottish Rite Theater
Crystal Bird Caviel, The Brothers Size, Capital T Theatre

Mask Design and Construction
Benjamin Taylor Ridgway and Jennifer Rose Davis, Rhinoceros, SEU Mary Moody Northen Theatre