2023 Drama League Awards winners: Annaleigh Ashford (‘Sweeney Todd’) takes Distinguished Performance
Winners of the 2023 Drama League Awards were announced on Friday, May 19, 2023, at an in-person ceremony, hosted by Emmy-winning reporter Frank Dilella at The Ziegfeld Ballroom. The Drama League Awards honor both Broadway and Off-Broadway productions from the 2022-2023 theater season.
“Leopoldstadt” asserted itself as the dominant play of the season, picking up the Best Play prize. Tom Stoppard’s drama has been perched atop Gold Derby’s Tony Awards odds since we launched the prediction center. With Tony favorite “Kimberly Akimbo” out of the running for Best Musical (the Drama League already considered that tuner for its Off-Broadway run), “Some Like it Hot” cruised to a win in that category. It prevailed over four of its fellow Tony nominees: “& Juliet,” “New York, New York,” and “Shucked.”
The Drama League bolstered the Tony prospects of “A Doll’s House” by bestowing it with the Best Revival of a Play prize. But the...
“Leopoldstadt” asserted itself as the dominant play of the season, picking up the Best Play prize. Tom Stoppard’s drama has been perched atop Gold Derby’s Tony Awards odds since we launched the prediction center. With Tony favorite “Kimberly Akimbo” out of the running for Best Musical (the Drama League already considered that tuner for its Off-Broadway run), “Some Like it Hot” cruised to a win in that category. It prevailed over four of its fellow Tony nominees: “& Juliet,” “New York, New York,” and “Shucked.”
The Drama League bolstered the Tony prospects of “A Doll’s House” by bestowing it with the Best Revival of a Play prize. But the...
- 5/20/2023
- by Sam Eckmann
- Gold Derby
The Broadway-bound comedy Fat Ham and Shakespeare in the Park’s Merry Wives are among this year’s recipients of the 66th Obie Awards honoring Off and Off-Off Broadway productions.
Presented by the American Theatre Wing, the Obies will be handed out Monday evening in a ceremony at Manhattan’s Terminal 5 venue. Sustained and Lifetime Achievement winners will accept their awards during the ceremony, while remarks of all other winners will premiere on the the American Theatre Wing’s YouTube channel.
The most recent Obies ceremony was virtual and premiered on the Wing’s YouTube channel on July 14, 2020.
“For this Obies, the judges reviewed over 400 productions over the last three seasons including digital and audio works made during the pandemic,” said Heather Hitchens, President & CEO, in a statement. “We look forward to finally gathering in person to celebrate the artistic excellence and resilience of the amazing artists and theatre companies...
Presented by the American Theatre Wing, the Obies will be handed out Monday evening in a ceremony at Manhattan’s Terminal 5 venue. Sustained and Lifetime Achievement winners will accept their awards during the ceremony, while remarks of all other winners will premiere on the the American Theatre Wing’s YouTube channel.
The most recent Obies ceremony was virtual and premiered on the Wing’s YouTube channel on July 14, 2020.
“For this Obies, the judges reviewed over 400 productions over the last three seasons including digital and audio works made during the pandemic,” said Heather Hitchens, President & CEO, in a statement. “We look forward to finally gathering in person to celebrate the artistic excellence and resilience of the amazing artists and theatre companies...
- 2/24/2023
- by Greg Evans
- Deadline Film + TV
Winners of the 2022 Lucille Lortel Awards for Outstanding Achievement Off-Broadway were announced in a ceremony on May 1, 2022, at NYU Skirball. New musicals “Kimberly Akimbo” and “Oratorio for Living Things” tied for the most wins, with three trophies each. The Lucille Lortel Awards are produced by the Off-Broadway League and Lucille Lortel Theatre, with additional support provided by Tdf.
The cast of Ars Nova’s “Oratorio For Living Things” took home the inaugural award for Outstanding Ensemble, while the Broadway-bound “Kimberly Akimbo” nabbed the two individual musical acting categories, with Lead Performance going to Victoria Clark and Featured Performance going to Bonnie Milligan.
Special honorees this year included Deirdre O’Connell (“Dana H.”), who was presented the Lifetime Achievement Award by Heidi Schreck; and David Henry Hwang, who was inducted onto the famed Playwrights’ Sidewalk by Jeanine Tesori.
Find the nominees and recipients of the 2022 Lucille Lortal Awards below.
SEEAlfie Allen (‘Hangmen...
The cast of Ars Nova’s “Oratorio For Living Things” took home the inaugural award for Outstanding Ensemble, while the Broadway-bound “Kimberly Akimbo” nabbed the two individual musical acting categories, with Lead Performance going to Victoria Clark and Featured Performance going to Bonnie Milligan.
Special honorees this year included Deirdre O’Connell (“Dana H.”), who was presented the Lifetime Achievement Award by Heidi Schreck; and David Henry Hwang, who was inducted onto the famed Playwrights’ Sidewalk by Jeanine Tesori.
Find the nominees and recipients of the 2022 Lucille Lortal Awards below.
SEEAlfie Allen (‘Hangmen...
- 5/2/2022
- by Sam Eckmann
- Gold Derby
The 2022 Outer Critics Circle nominations were announced Tuesday. They honor the best of the 2021-2022 Broadway and Off-Broadway season. “The Lehman Trilogy” scored the most nominations with nine bids, followed closely by the Off-Broadway musicals “Harmony” and “Kimberly Akimbo,” which scored eight nominations apiece.
Special Achievement Awards will be presented to “How I Learned to Drive” stars Johanna Day, David Morse and Mary-Louise Parker, as well as “Lackawanna Blues” star Ruben Santiago-Hudson, to mark their outstanding returns to roles they originated two decades ago. Since these actors were eligible for the original runs of these shows, the Outer Critics Circle has opted to take them out of contention for this year’s awards.
SEE2022 Drama League Awards nominations unveiled; 43 performers contend for distinguished performance award
There are many additional Tony Awards hopefuls who were not eligible for this group’s nominations. The Outer Critics Circle announced that they would only...
Special Achievement Awards will be presented to “How I Learned to Drive” stars Johanna Day, David Morse and Mary-Louise Parker, as well as “Lackawanna Blues” star Ruben Santiago-Hudson, to mark their outstanding returns to roles they originated two decades ago. Since these actors were eligible for the original runs of these shows, the Outer Critics Circle has opted to take them out of contention for this year’s awards.
SEE2022 Drama League Awards nominations unveiled; 43 performers contend for distinguished performance award
There are many additional Tony Awards hopefuls who were not eligible for this group’s nominations. The Outer Critics Circle announced that they would only...
- 4/26/2022
- by Sam Eckmann
- Gold Derby
Nominations for the 37th Annual Lucille Lortel Awards for Outstanding Achievement Off-Broadway were announced April 7, 2022 by Lilli Cooper and Lea DeLaria, stars of Broadway’s “Potus.” The Lortel Awards were created in 1985 to honor outstanding achievement Off-Broadway. The Lucille Lortel Awards are produced by the Off-Broadway League and Lucille Lortel Theatre, with additional support provided by Tdf. Winners will be announced at a ceremony on May 1, at NYU Skirball.
Tony Award hopeful Deirdre O’Connell is the recipient of this year’s Lifetime Achievement Award. She won a Lortel Award for her riveting solo performance in “Dana H.” at the Vineyard Theatre last year. That production transferred to Broadway in the fall.
Acclaimed playwright David Henry Hwang is this year’s Playwrights’ Sidewalk Inductee. His name will be added to a star on the sidewalk outside the Lucille Lortel Theatre on Christopher Street, a permanent monument to Off-Broadway playwrights.
New musicals...
Tony Award hopeful Deirdre O’Connell is the recipient of this year’s Lifetime Achievement Award. She won a Lortel Award for her riveting solo performance in “Dana H.” at the Vineyard Theatre last year. That production transferred to Broadway in the fall.
Acclaimed playwright David Henry Hwang is this year’s Playwrights’ Sidewalk Inductee. His name will be added to a star on the sidewalk outside the Lucille Lortel Theatre on Christopher Street, a permanent monument to Off-Broadway playwrights.
New musicals...
- 4/8/2022
- by Sam Eckmann
- Gold Derby
Kimberly Akimbo, Assassins, Prayer for the French Republic and The Chinese Lady were among the Off Broadway productions receiving multiple nominations for this year’s Lucille Lortel Awards for Outstanding Achievement Off Broadway, announced today.
Among the innovations in this year’s 37th Annual Lortel Awards are the first non-gendered performance categories, and the first-ever Lortel for Outstanding Ensemble. In the new Ensemble category, the inaugural nominees are the casts of English, Oratorio For Living Things, and Twilight: Los Angeles, 1992.
Kimberly Akimbo and Oratorio For Living Things scored the most nominations, with six each, while Black No More and On Sugarland received five. Assassins, Prayer for the French Republic and The Chinese Lady each have four nominations.
The awards will be handed out on Sunday, May 1, at NYU Skirball in Manhattan. The Lucille Lortel Awards are produced by the Off-Broadway League and Lucille Lortel Theatre, with additional support provided by Tdf.
Among the innovations in this year’s 37th Annual Lortel Awards are the first non-gendered performance categories, and the first-ever Lortel for Outstanding Ensemble. In the new Ensemble category, the inaugural nominees are the casts of English, Oratorio For Living Things, and Twilight: Los Angeles, 1992.
Kimberly Akimbo and Oratorio For Living Things scored the most nominations, with six each, while Black No More and On Sugarland received five. Assassins, Prayer for the French Republic and The Chinese Lady each have four nominations.
The awards will be handed out on Sunday, May 1, at NYU Skirball in Manhattan. The Lucille Lortel Awards are produced by the Off-Broadway League and Lucille Lortel Theatre, with additional support provided by Tdf.
- 4/7/2022
- by Greg Evans
- Deadline Film + TV
Director Saheem Ali and the very fine designers of the Manhattan Theater Club have created a magical setting for Donja R. Love’s “Sugar in our Wounds,” a romantic drama (the first in a trilogy) about two male slaves who find love in each other’s arms as the American Civil War rages. Regrettably, once he makes a big business of bringing the two lovers together, the playwright has little else to say about slavery, the South or the war.
But let’s hear it for the Tree! The centerpiece of Arnulfo Maldonado’s austerely gorgeous set is a tree of heroic proportions. The roots of this colossus can’t be contained in the earth and its topmost limbs stretch far out of sight. Legend has it that this is a hanging tree, but with delicate mosses dangling like lace handkerchiefs, you can’t really see the blood of history dripping from its boughs.
But let’s hear it for the Tree! The centerpiece of Arnulfo Maldonado’s austerely gorgeous set is a tree of heroic proportions. The roots of this colossus can’t be contained in the earth and its topmost limbs stretch far out of sight. Legend has it that this is a hanging tree, but with delicate mosses dangling like lace handkerchiefs, you can’t really see the blood of history dripping from its boughs.
- 6/21/2018
- by Marilyn Stasio
- Variety Film + TV
This debut feature scores major points for its stylistic audaciousness alone. Forgoing sex, violence, mayhem and indeed even a defined plot, "A Day in Black and White" explores race relations in America through that rarest of commodities in today's American (even indie) cinema -- conversation.
A sort of "My Dinner With Andre" as influenced by Spike Lee, this uneven but provocative film marks the emergence of a new talent in writer-director Desmond Hall. The feature was recently showcased at the Nantucket (Mass.) Film Festival, where, because of the festival's emphasis on screenwriting, it was a particularly apt selection.
The director's playfulness is most apparent in a well-shot scene in which a black teenager is seen running desperately down a New York City street carrying a bag, with two white teenagers in hot pursuit. The resolution of the situation is not what one would expect, and it garners a delighted reaction from the audience.
The film largely consists of a series of conversations between mostly undefined characters who talk about various aspects of race relations. Setting the talks in motion is an impending speech about race that is to be delivered by a young black man (Harold Perrineau of TV's "Oz") at his schoolteacher girlfriend's high school. He asks a white friend (Anthony DeSando) for advice, and soon the pair are involved in a free-wheeling conversation that touches on, among other things: the lack of black quarterbacks in the NFL, gangster rap, the word "nigger" and, of course, O.J.
As the film progresses, we are introduced to other characters, including a pair of black women Lisa Louise Langford, Jozie Hill) at a cafe who talk about black women who "act white"; a white cabby (Joseph Siravo) who discusses interracial dating with a black female cook (Stephanie Berry) he's attracted to; a black teenager (Sharif Rashed) who visits his white father (Tibor Feldman) at work, interrupting his argument over affirmative action with two colleagues, (Lonette McKee, DeSando); and a militant black man (Ron C. Jones) who debates the speechmaker on what it means to be black.
Ultimately, the film's lack of a narrative deprives it of any momentum, and Hall's dialogue -- though generally believable and well-written -- lacks the true depth or wit that would lift the film to another level.
But "A Day in Black and White" is invigorating for its courage in abandoning formulas and for not condescending to the audience. The acting is fine all around, with the performers more than up to the challenge of delivering the extensive dialogue.
Tech credits for the low-budget exercise are fine, and Spike Lee fans will get a kick out the scene spoofing that director's distinctive camera movements.
A DAY IN BLACK AND WHITE
Director-screenplay: Desmond Hall
Producer: Jon Gold
Director of photography: Peter Konczal
Editor: John Laskas, Colby Parker Jr.
Music: Loris Holland
Production designer: Catherine Wint
Color/stereo
Cast:
Afro-Centric Man: Ron C. Jones
Black Man: Harold Perrineau
White Man: Anthony DeSando
Black Woman No. 1: Lisa Louise Langford
Black Woman No. 2: Jozie Hill
White Cabby: Joseph Siravo
Black Cook: Stephanie Berry
Black Woman in Office: Lonette McKee
Running time -- 86 minutes
No MPAA rating...
A sort of "My Dinner With Andre" as influenced by Spike Lee, this uneven but provocative film marks the emergence of a new talent in writer-director Desmond Hall. The feature was recently showcased at the Nantucket (Mass.) Film Festival, where, because of the festival's emphasis on screenwriting, it was a particularly apt selection.
The director's playfulness is most apparent in a well-shot scene in which a black teenager is seen running desperately down a New York City street carrying a bag, with two white teenagers in hot pursuit. The resolution of the situation is not what one would expect, and it garners a delighted reaction from the audience.
The film largely consists of a series of conversations between mostly undefined characters who talk about various aspects of race relations. Setting the talks in motion is an impending speech about race that is to be delivered by a young black man (Harold Perrineau of TV's "Oz") at his schoolteacher girlfriend's high school. He asks a white friend (Anthony DeSando) for advice, and soon the pair are involved in a free-wheeling conversation that touches on, among other things: the lack of black quarterbacks in the NFL, gangster rap, the word "nigger" and, of course, O.J.
As the film progresses, we are introduced to other characters, including a pair of black women Lisa Louise Langford, Jozie Hill) at a cafe who talk about black women who "act white"; a white cabby (Joseph Siravo) who discusses interracial dating with a black female cook (Stephanie Berry) he's attracted to; a black teenager (Sharif Rashed) who visits his white father (Tibor Feldman) at work, interrupting his argument over affirmative action with two colleagues, (Lonette McKee, DeSando); and a militant black man (Ron C. Jones) who debates the speechmaker on what it means to be black.
Ultimately, the film's lack of a narrative deprives it of any momentum, and Hall's dialogue -- though generally believable and well-written -- lacks the true depth or wit that would lift the film to another level.
But "A Day in Black and White" is invigorating for its courage in abandoning formulas and for not condescending to the audience. The acting is fine all around, with the performers more than up to the challenge of delivering the extensive dialogue.
Tech credits for the low-budget exercise are fine, and Spike Lee fans will get a kick out the scene spoofing that director's distinctive camera movements.
A DAY IN BLACK AND WHITE
Director-screenplay: Desmond Hall
Producer: Jon Gold
Director of photography: Peter Konczal
Editor: John Laskas, Colby Parker Jr.
Music: Loris Holland
Production designer: Catherine Wint
Color/stereo
Cast:
Afro-Centric Man: Ron C. Jones
Black Man: Harold Perrineau
White Man: Anthony DeSando
Black Woman No. 1: Lisa Louise Langford
Black Woman No. 2: Jozie Hill
White Cabby: Joseph Siravo
Black Cook: Stephanie Berry
Black Woman in Office: Lonette McKee
Running time -- 86 minutes
No MPAA rating...
- 7/22/1999
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
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