| WINNERS ANNOUNCED FOR THE 63RD ANNUAL OBIE AWARDS | |
| Last Edit: Official_Press_Release 10:23 pm EDT 05/21/18 | |
| Posted by: Official_Press_Release 10:18 pm EDT 05/21/18 | |
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| WINNERS ANNOUNCED FOR THE 63RD ANNUAL OBIE AWARDS New York, NY (May 21, 2018) —The American Theatre Wing (Heather Hitchens, President and CEO) and The Village Voice (Peter Barbey, President and CEO) are thrilled to announce the winners of the 63rd Annual Obie Awards®. Rajiv Joseph’s Describe the Night, produced by Atlantic Theater Company, received the Obie Award for Best New American Play, which is accompanied by a $1,000 prize. Legendary Tony Award®-nominated and three-time Obie Award-winning actress Kathleen Chalfant received a special Obie Award for Lifetime Achievement. Emmy and Obie-winning actor John Leguizamo hosted this year’s ceremony, which was held at Terminal 5 (610 West 56th Street). A complete list of the awards is listed below. This year’s presenters included New York City nightlife celeb Pixie Aventura, The Village Voice President and CEO Peter Barbey, two-time Tony Award and Obie Award winner Matthew Broderick, Lilli Cooper, Chair of the Obie Judges Michael Feingold, Academy Award® and two-time Tony Award® nominee Andrew Garfield, Gideon Glick, American Theatre Wing President and CEO Heather Hitchens, Tony Award and three-time Obie Award winner David Henry Hwang, six-time Tony Award winner Natasha Katz, Emmy Award nominee Lucy Liu, six-time Tony Award winner William Ivey Long, Tony Award nominee Beth Malone, Tony Award nominee and Obie Award winner Arian Moayed, Tony Award nominee and Obie Award winner David Morse, Tony Award nominee and Obie Award winner Itamar Moses, Tony Award nominee Oliver Platt, Tony Award nominee Emilio Sosa, Tony Award and Obie Award winner Rebecca Taichman, and Tony Award winner David Zinn. The evening’s festivities, which were live-streamed on the official Obie Awards Twitter account www.twitter.com/ObieAwards, also included an opening number featuring Obies host John Leguizamo. In addition, special performances were given by Stephen Trask who performed “Wig in a Box” honoring the 20th Anniversary of Hedwig and the Angry Inch; Laura Benanti who led an off-Broadway musical trivia segment; and Laura Osnes who performed “What Matters Most” as part of the In Memoriam. The Obie Awards Band was led by P. Jason Yarcho, and featured the vocals of Brie Cassil, Lisa Ramey, and Yvette Rovira. Best New American Play ($1,000 prize) Rajiv Joseph, Describe the Night (Atlantic Theater Company) Playwriting Aleshea Harris, Is God Is (Soho Rep) Amy Herzog, Mary Jane (New York Theatre Workshop) Abe Koogler, Fulfillment Center (Manhattan Theatre Club) Dominique Morisseau, Pipeline (Lincoln Center Theater) Directing Jesse Berger, The Government Inspector (Red Bull Theater) Anne Kauffman, Mary Jane (New York Theatre Workshop) Taibi Magar, Is God Is (Soho Rep) Performance Sean Carvajal & Edi Gathegi, Jesus Hopped the ‘A’ Train (Signature Theatre Company) Carrie Coon, Mary Jane (New York Theatre Workshop) Alfie Fuller & Dame-Jasmine Hughes, Is God Is (Soho Rep) Denise Gough, People, Places & Things (National Theatre/Headlong/St. Ann’s Warehouse) Will Swenson, Jerry Springer – The Opera (The New Group) Chukwudi Iwuji, The Low Road (The Public Theater) Robert Sean Leonard, At Home at the Zoo (Signature Theatre Company) Jessica Hecht, Admissions (Lincoln Center Theater) Ben Edelman, Admissions (Lincoln Center Theater) Billy Crudup, Harry Clarke (Vineyard Theatre/Audible) Design Lap Chi Chu, Sustained Excellence of Lighting Design Sarah Laux, Costume Design, Jerry Springer – The Opera (The New Group) The Design Team, He Brought Her Heart Back in a Box (Theatre for a New Audience) Christopher Barreca (Set Design), Justin Ellington (Sound Design), Donald Holder (Lighting Design), Montana Levi Blanco (Costume Design), Austin Switser (Video Design) Special Citations Ariane Mnouchkine & Theatre du Soleil, A Room in India (Park Avenue Armory) The Cast and Creative Team, Yerma (Park Avenue Armory) Simon Stone (Director), Lizzie Clachan (Set Design), Alice Babidge (Costume Design), James Farncombe (Lighting Design), Stefan Gregory (Sound Design); Maureen Beattie, Brendan Cowell, John MacMillan, Billie Piper, Charlotte Randle, Thalissa Teixeira (Cast) David Greenspan, Jack Cummings III, & Transport Group, Strange Interlude (Transport Group) The Ross Wetzsteon Award ($3,000 prize) Ma-Yi Theater Company Obie Grants ($6,000 prize each) Pan-Asian Repertory Theatre York Theatre Company, for its Musicals in Mufti Series Lifetime Achievement Award Kathleen Chalfant The Obie Award judges panel for this season were chaired by longtime Village Voice critic Michael Feingold, and included Entertainment Weekly theater critic Melissa Rose Bernardo, Obie-winning projection designer Wendall K. Harrington, Broadway News theater critic Charles Isherwood, Tony Award-nominated and Obie-winning costume designer Toni-Leslie James, dancer-actress-director Sondra Lee, Tony Award-nominated and Obie-winning actor Arian Moayed, and Obie-winning actress Ching Valdes-Aran. The production team for the 2018 Obie Awards included J. Jason Daunter (Artistic Supervisor), Eric Cornell (Line Producer), P. Jason Yarcho (Musical Supervisor), Natasha Katz (Lighting Designer), Kai Harada (Sound Designer), Antje Ellermann (Scenic Designer), and Adam J. Thompson (Video Designer). Sponsors of the 2018 Obie Awards were Nickelodeon, PRG, Athletics, Serino Coyne, and Festival Napa Valley. For more information, visit www.ObieAwards.com. ABOUT THE OBIE AWARDS The Village Voice created the Obie Awards, at the suggestion of then editor Jerry Tallmer, soon after the publication's own inception in 1955, to encourage the newly burgeoning Off Broadway theater movement and to acknowledge its achievements. The Obies are structured with informal categories, to recognize artists and productions worthy of distinction in each theatrical year. Over the decades, the Obie Awards have played a major role in the Voice’s long history of championing work of innovative and exceptional quality Off and Off-Off Broadway. The Village Voice put the new downtown theater movement on the map with its in-depth coverage, becoming a forum for conflicting viewpoints which helped generate excitement over new works and new approaches to theater-making. The Obies have become a theatrical tradition, a meaningful way to acknowledge the best artistic achievements of downtown theater. The list of actors, writers, directors, and designers who have received Obies at pivotal moments in their careers is a virtual who's who of contemporary theater. While the categories of the awards have continued to change almost annually, the creative spirit remains the same. The Obie Awards salute a theatrical movement that's as important, and as vibrant, today as it was in 1955. ABOUT THE AMERICAN THEATRE WING One hundred years ago, on the eve of America’s entry into World War I, seven suffragettes—all women of the theatre—came together to form The Stage Women’s War Relief. A century later, the spirit and vision behind the founding of American Theatre Wing remains a touchstone for all we do. The Wing continues to champion bravery, with a focus on developing the next generation of brave artists. We envision an American Theatre that is as vital, multi-faceted, and diverse as the American people. The Wing’s programs span the nation to invest in the growth and evolution of American Theatre. We provide theatre education opportunities for underserved students through the Andrew Lloyd Webber Initiative, develop the next generation of theatre professionals through the SpringboardNYC, Theatre Intern Network, and SwingSeats programs, incubate innovative theatre across the country through the National Theatre Company Grants, support emerging musical theatre songwriters through the Musical Theatre Songwriting Challenge (co-presented with the NEA) and the Jonathan Larson® Grants, and illuminate the creative process through the Emmy-nominated “Working in the Theatre” documentary series. In addition to founding the Tony Awards® which are co-presented with The Broadway League, the American Theatre Wing co-presents the Obie Awards®, Off Broadway’s Highest Honor, with The Village Voice. Visitors to AmericanTheatreWing.org can gain inspiration and insight into the artistic process through the Wing’s extensive media collection, and learn more about its programming for students, aspiring and working professionals, and audiences. Follow the Wing on Twitter and Instagram @TheWing, and on Facebook.com/TheAmericanTheatreWing. ABOUT THE VILLAGE VOICE Founded in 1955 by a small group led by Norman Mailer, The Village Voice is the nation's first alternative newsweekly. The winner of three Pulitzers, it built a reputation for itself as an aggressive interrogator of ‘the powers that be’ as well as a reliable resource for finding and promoting cutting edge arts and culture. Over the years it has been a home to a wide range of writers and artists, including e.e. Cummings, Katherine Anne Porter, Ezra Pound and James Baldwin plus photographer Fred McDarrah, Sylvia Plachy, cartoonist Lynda Barry, investigative journalists Wayne Barrett and Tom Robbins, music writer Robert Christgau and film writer J. Hoberman among many others. Today, The Voice maintains its iconic progressive brand with its digital platform, a true showcase of content ranging from cultural journalism, political commentary to high-impact imagery. For more information, visit www.villagevoice.com |
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