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| Barrymore Awards (Philadelphia) | |
| Posted by: AC126748 08:05 am EDT 10/31/17 | |
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| Last night at the Merriam Theatre, Theatre Philadelphia held the annual Barrymore Awards, honoring the best in Philadelphia theater. I know there are some locals who read the board, so I thought you might be interested in the outcome. The winners were: Outstanding Overall Production of a Play: The Seagull, EgoPo Classic Theater Outstanding Overall Production of a Musical: Lizzie, 11th Hour Theatre Company Independence Foundation Award for Outstanding New Play/Musical: How to Use a Knife by Will Snider, InterAct Theatre Company Outstanding Direction of a Play: Blanka Zizka, When the Rain Stops Falling, The Wilma Theater Outstanding Direction of a Musical: Kate Galvin, Lizzie, 11th Hour Theatre Company Outstanding Leading Actor in a Play: (TIE) Jered McLenigan, Constellations, The Wilma Theater AND Matteo Scammell, The Legend of Georgia McBride, Arden Theatre Company Charlotte Cushman Award for Outstanding Leading Actress in a Play: Patrese D. McClain, The Mountaintop, People’s Light Outstanding Leading Actor in a Musical: Alex Bechtel, The Light Princess, Arden Theatre Company Outstanding Leading Actress in a Musical: Alex Keiper, Lizzie, 11th Hour Theatre Company Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Play: David Bardeen, Grand Concourse, Theatre Horizon Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Play: Hillary Parker, You for Me for You, InterAct Theatre Company Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Musical: Caroline Dooner, Gypsy, Arden Theatre Company Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Musical: Doug Hara, A New Brain, Theatre Horizon Outstanding Scenic Design: Thom Weaver, The Seagull, EgoPo Classic Theater Outstanding Costume Design: Rebecca Kanach, Peaceable Kingdom, Orbiter 3 Earl Girls Award for Outstanding Lighting Design: Yi Zhao, When the Rain Stops Falling, The Wilma Theater Clear Sound Award for Outstanding Sound Design: Christopher Colucci, When the Rain Stops Falling, The Wilma Theater Outstanding Original Music: Alex Bechtel and Anthony Lawton, The Light Princess, Arden Theatre Company Outstanding Choreography/Movement: Michael Cosenza, Antihero, Tribe of Fools Outstanding Music Direction: Dan Kazemi, Lizzie, 11th Hour Theatre Company Temple University Award for Outstanding Ensemble a Play: When the Rain Stops Falling, The Wilma Theater Outstanding Ensemble in a Musical: Lizzie, 11th Hour Theatre Company In addition to awarding excellence in performance and production, the Barrymore Awards granted $77,500 to artists and organizations for these awards supported by local philanthropists: Virginia Brown Martin Philadelphia Award ($25,000 to recipient, $2,500 to each finalist): Peaceable Kingdom by Mary Tuomanen, Orbiter 3. F. Otto Haas Award for Emerging Philadelphia Theatre Artist ($15,000 to recipient, $2,000 to each finalist): Mary Tuomanen June and Steve Wolfson Award for Evolving Theatre Company ($10,000): EgoPo Classic Theatre Victory Foundation Award for Outstanding Theatre Education Program ($7,500): Curio Theatre Company Penelope Reed, director emeritus of Hedgerow Theatre Company in Rose Valley, Pa., received the Lifetime Achievement Award. |
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| re: Barrymore Awards (Philadelphia) | |
| Posted by: mikem 01:02 pm EDT 10/31/17 | |
| In reply to: Barrymore Awards (Philadelphia) - AC126748 08:05 am EDT 10/31/17 | |
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| Thanks for sharing this . There were some great performances in Philadelphia this past year. I am pretty shocked at Caroline Dooner's win for Gypsy, though. She's a good actress, but I thought she completely missed the boat in her interpretation. I liked Gypsy, overall; I thought it was gutsy to have Rose seem so "small" in most of the show, although it made for a good contrast when she really let it all out at the end of each act, and I think the concept worked. Although the prologue didn't, at all. When the Rain Stops Falling had very strong design elements, but I'm a little surprised it was the big winner on the play side of things. I liked the show, although it had a poorly conceived publicity campaign, which seemed to revolve all around climate change. That was missing the boat, too. |
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| re: Barrymore Awards (Philadelphia) | |
| Posted by: AC126748 01:17 pm EDT 10/31/17 | |
| In reply to: re: Barrymore Awards (Philadelphia) - mikem 01:02 pm EDT 10/31/17 | |
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| I disagree about Caroline Dooner -- I thought she was the strongest Louise/Gypsy I'd ever seen. Her performance was so self-aware and vulnerable and, ultimately, heartbreaking. It felt of a piece with the character. I didn't like much else about the production, so I was glad to see that it didn't sweep the musical categories. I hated WHEN THE RAIN STOPS FALLING and was surprised when it got 13 nominations -- based on that, I assumed it would be the big winner of the night. Blanka's direction was weak -- did any of the character every actually TALK to each other?? -- and it mostly felt like a melodrama masquerading as an issues play. If you live locally, I'm sure you know there's a lot of love for the Wilma, particularly in the artistic community, so it doesn't surprise me when they do well at an awards ceremony largely determined by their peers. |
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| re: Barrymore Awards (Philadelphia) | |
| Posted by: mikem 06:48 pm EDT 10/31/17 | |
| In reply to: re: Barrymore Awards (Philadelphia) - AC126748 01:17 pm EDT 10/31/17 | |
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| That's interesting that you and I have a similar take on Caroline Dooner's interpretation, but one of us liked it and one of us didn't. I agree that she seemed very self-aware, and for me, that didn't fit my conception of Louise's character. I personally found it hard to reconcile that her Louise would go along with her crazy mother and the somewhat ridiculous Baby June act for so long. I guess I prefer my Louise to be more naïve until the strip. I agree completely that Blanka's direction of When the Rain Stops Falling was not award-worthy. And I think you are right that the play is all about relationships and family, and the whole climate change part is just kind of tacked over the whole thing. I enjoyed the production for what it was, and I can understand the awards for lighting and sound, but I wouldn't have given it awards for the rest. The Wilma has done some great work, but I didn't love When the Rain Stops Falling or Constellations last season (although I don't have an issue with Jered McLenigan's win for that show). I'm very curious to see how Passing Strange comes out. I think the Barrymores have had a lot of trouble wrestling with the idea of how to cover a gazillion productions by judges who don't necessarily have a gazillion hours of free time. I'm not sure what system they're using now, but the one where they had each judge give each element a numerical score didn't work at all IMO. Some judges apparently really loved some shows, and their inflated scores meant that the same show won over and over. |
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| re: Barrymore Awards (Philadelphia) | |
| Last Edit: AC126748 07:23 pm EDT 10/31/17 | |
| Posted by: AC126748 07:21 pm EDT 10/31/17 | |
| In reply to: re: Barrymore Awards (Philadelphia) - mikem 06:48 pm EDT 10/31/17 | |
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| Full disclosure: I am a judge for the current (2017-2018) season, and I was a nominator for the 2016-2017 season. I'm also a theater critic in Philadelphia, so I tend to see pretty much everything in the city from self-produced Fringe shows to the major productions at WST, Arden, Wilma, etc. The system has largely remained unchanged: 8 nominators are assigned to see each eligible production in previews, and their votes determine whether it moves to the judging stage. If it moves to the judges, we are told to see it and may do so at any time for the remainder of the run. Based on my records, 16 productions have been "Barrymore recommended" to date this season, and I have seen all so far. Of course, not every judge sees every show in a given season, but we all make the effort to see as many as we can. Judges are not permitted to vote for shows they worked on, or shows they didn't see. (In fact, at judges' meetings, judges are required to leave the room if a show they worked on is being discussed). This past year, I know that Theatre Philadelphia increased the number of nominators from 50 to 60 (the number of judges remained the same: 12), and made a more conscious effort towards diversity and representation. I hope this helps in demystifying the process a little. |
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| re: Barrymore Awards (Philadelphia) | |
| Posted by: mikem 11:47 pm EDT 10/31/17 | |
| In reply to: re: Barrymore Awards (Philadelphia) - AC126748 07:21 pm EDT 10/31/17 | |
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| Thanks for explaining the process! This sounds like a good system. Is it hard for them to find judges? That's a big commitment. How many Barrymore Recommended shows are there each season? The system I was thinking of was one where the nominators' scores were also used in the final decisions, which didn't seem fair. I thought that was true at some point, but maybe I misunderstood the process. |
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| re: Barrymore Awards (Philadelphia) | |
| Posted by: AC126748 08:05 am EDT 11/01/17 | |
| In reply to: re: Barrymore Awards (Philadelphia) - mikem 11:47 pm EDT 10/31/17 | |
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| I believe the number of Barrymore Recommended shows for 2016-2017 was around 85. There were around 130 eligible shows over the course of the season. I imagine the number of recommended shows will be similar this season, though there's no guarantee. I'm not sure how difficult it is to find judges -- they don't seem to have any problem finding nominators, and as I said, they even increased the number of nominators this year by 10. Speaking as someone who's been a nominator -- once a show is Barrymore Recommended, the nominator's job is done. Our scores have no bearing on the judging process. We just decide whether to move the production forward or not. It may have been different in the past, but not since I have been involved in the last couple of years. |
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| re: Barrymore Awards (Philadelphia) | |
| Posted by: mikem 10:18 am EDT 11/01/17 | |
| In reply to: re: Barrymore Awards (Philadelphia) - AC126748 08:05 am EDT 11/01/17 | |
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| Thanks again for all the great information. That's a big commitment to see 85 shows (in addition to whatever other shows you'd want to see), so my hats off to you for doing that! Looking back, it looks like back in 2011, there were 66 judges who each were supposed to see 15 - 25 of 147 potential show nominees. Each show was seen by 8 judges. They were also the nominators, and their scores were used to determine the nominees as well as the winners. In 2011, one show won 8 awards, and that is what I was thinking of. The current process is much, much better. |
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