Drammy Night 2008

Last night was the Drammy Night here in Portland. The Drammy's are Portland's answer to the Tony Awards; an evening for our local theater community to come together and celebrate the year thats passed, and honor the most outstanding work (in the judgement of the Drammy Committee) to be found on Portland stages.

This year's ceremony, held at The Crystal Ballroom, was MC'ed by celebrated Portland actors Vana and Eleanor O'Brien. In keeping with the festive attitude of the evening and Portland's reputation for quirkiness the O'Brien girls asked the award presenters to tell jokes before each presentation, and handed out brownies to the presenters (they also asked the presenters to throw the plates holding the brownies into the audience - a nod to two productions in Portland that "lost" a plate on the same night). The jokes were a mixed bag (though special mention should be given to Chris Murray's "Ode To A Followspot Annonymous Poster"), and the plates didn't catch much air as the ceremony went on... but all in all, it was a great night for the Portland community to come together and celebrate their work.

EDIT: Winn Goodbody was nice enough to post some photos from the ceremony... you can see them by clicking here.

So, after that rambling introduction, here's the info on who won what (apologies for misspelled names; I tried to get them all right, but sometimes even I can't read my chicken-scratched notes):

Young Performer: Eli Hirsch (Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing)

The Portland Civic Theater Guild's Mary Brandt Award: Robert Caulkins, Destiny Stegal

Vocal Direction: Alan D. Lytle (Plaid Tidings)

Music Direction: Alan D. Lytle (No Way To Treat A Lady)

Sound Design: Jen Raynak (Grace)

Actress In A Supporting Role: Brittany Burch (House - Not a dramatization of a TV show, but part of this pairing :). And even though the slide on stage said "Portland Center Stage," it was actually produced by Artists Repertory Theater. )

Puppeteering: The Cast of The Long Christmas Ride Home

Musical Performer In A Supporting Role: Michele Mariana (Cabaret)

Lighting Design: Dan Covey (Sometimes A Great Notion), Don Crossley (Einstein is a Dummy), Michael Mazzola (Grace)

The Portland Civic Theater Fellowships: Third Rail Repertory, Stumptown Stages

The Portland Civic Theater Guild Leslie O. Fulton Fellowships: Victoria Parker, Jen Raynak

Actor In A Supporting Role: Ken Albers (Twelfth Night), Brad Bellamy (Twelfth Night), Garfield Wedderburn (Streamers), Tyler Caffal (Garden)

Costume Design: Deborah Trout (Twelfth Night), Claudie Jean Fisher (The Clean House), Mary Rochon (Go, Dog. Go!)

Choreography: Mike Barbur (Good), Rober Guitron (The Wild Party), Jessica Wallenfels (Sometimes A Great Notion)

Musical Actress In A Lead Role: Erin Charles (The Wild Party)

Lifetime Achievement Award for Bob Hicks - The recently retired Oregonian theater critic was introduced by Gretchen Corbett, and was to all appearances stunned by the standing ovation he received. Portland arts and culture blog Artscatter has more on the lifetime achievement award. Check it out - http://www.artscatter.com/general/hail-bob-hicks/

Scenic Design: Tony Cisek (Sometimes A Great Notion), Sean O'Skea (No Way To Treat A Lady), William Bloodgood (Twelfth Night), Curt Enderle (Nobody Here But Us Chickens)

Musical Actor In A Lead Role: Todd Hermanson (The Wild Party), Joe Theissen (No Way To Treat A Lady)

Actress In A Lead Role: Luisa Sermol (9 Parts Of Desire)

Actor In A Lead Role: Brent Harris (The Beard of Avon), Bruce Burkhartsmeier (Shining City), Leif Norby (Grace), Darius Pierce (The Beard of Avon)

Director: Jane Jones (Twelfth Night), Slayden Scott Yarbrough (Grace), Sarah Jane Hardy (The Lesser Magoo)

Outstanding Production: Good, Grace, Twelfth Night

After the Drammy Awards were given out, Jen Raynak took the stage to present the PATA Spotlight Awards, honoring those in Portland "who do things for our community behind the scenes" (full disclosure time - I was actually up for one of the awards).

At Large: Bibi Walton

Crew Member: Samantha Curren

Stage Manager: Nicole Gladwin

Congratulations to all the winners, of both Drammies and Spotlight awards. As Darius Pierce said in his acceptance speech, Portland has a wonderful theatrical reputation... and it doesn't disappoint.

(Oh, who am I kidding. It's an awards presentation... of course SOMEONE is going to be disappointed... I prefer to keep this post positive, though. If you want to hear bitching, head over to Followspot.)

-Harold