Tony's Schmony's

Forget Broadway... tonight was the 31st annual Drammy Awards!

Ok, ok... so maybe those of you who don't live in Portland are more interested in the year's best on the "Great White Way..." If you live in Portland and attend live theater in our fair city (and weren't following me on Twitter as I "live tweeted" - until the service went down, that is...) you might want to know who won the awards tonight! Here's a run-down of the event:

The Crystal Ballroom was packed, as it is every year on Drammy night. Steve Smith kicked things off by welcoming everyone to the ceremony, and then handed things over to the Master of Ceremonies for the evening, Michael O'Connell. O'Connell's opening was reminiscent of Stephen Colbert's "The Word" segment on his nightly show; as Michael went through some of the high points of the past season (such as Portland Playhouse's explosion onto the theater scene) and the low points (like the closing of IFCC; Adrienne Flagg got a special round of applause from the room for her running of the facility) the screen behind him displayed commentary on what he was saying - to hilarious effect. Finally, closing with "Tonight we celebrate our hard work, and we celebrate each other," Michael handed things over to the awards presenters, and we were off!

(In case you're unaware of the way the Drammies work, the committee presents up to four awards per category. The number of awards varies from year to year, as do the number and types of categories. The Drammy Committee doesn't present “best of” awards, but rather awards for “outstanding” achievement; they believe identifying “outstanding” theatre – rather than simply the best of what was offered – better promotes excellence while preserving the integrity, value and meaningfulness of the award. You can find out more about the principles behind the awards by clicking here)

Margaret Chapman started things off by presenting the Portland Civic Theatre Guild's Youth Scholarships - awards of $750 to two young actors to help them continue their theatre education. The awards were given to Rafe Larson & Madeline Rogers.

Outstanding Performance by a Young Performer: Lea Zawada for Pinnocchio (NW Childrens Theater)

Outstanding Achievement in Lighting Design: Diane Ferry Williams for Snow Falling on Cedars (Portland Center Stage)

Outstanding Achievement in Sound Design: Richard E. Moore for 4.48 Psychosis (defunkt theater)

Outstanding Supporting Actor (4 winners):

David Margulies for The Chosen (Portland Center Stage)
Kevin Jones for Radio Golf (Portland Playhouse / BaseRoots)

Spencer Conway for Fool For Love (CoHo)
Victor Mack for Radio Golf (Portland Playhouse / BaseRoots)

Kimberly Howard couldn't make the prsentation by the Oregon Cultural Trust, so Tim DuRoche stepped up instead to remind us that anyone - with any means - can make a donation to a cultural organization and a matching gift to the Cultural Trust - which results in a tax CREDIT for the amount of the matching gift. A great way to support Oregon arts and culture, and help yourself at tax-time!

Outstanding Original Music: Ashia Grzesik for The Gray Sisters (Third Rail Rep)

Outstanding Original Score: McKinley For Gracie and the Atom (Artists Rep)

Outstanding Original Script (2 winners):

Joseph Sousa for Teeth of the Sons (Re-Theater Instument)

Hunt Holman for Willow Jade (Portland Playhouse)

Outstanding Supporting Actress (2 winners):

Laura Faye Smith for The Trip To Bountiful (Profile Theater)
Amy Newman for God's Ear (Theatre Vertigo)

Andrew Edwards then presented the Lifetime Achievement Award to Lakewood Theater's very own Kay Vega. I can't begin to ecapsulate all that was said here... but she deserved all the praise she received!

Outstanding Supporting Performer in a Musical (3 winners):

Danny Rothman for Ragtime
(Portland Center Stage)

Debbie Hunter for A Little Night Music (Mock's Crest) *

Amy Beth Frankel for Dirty Rotten Scoundrels (Broadway Rose)

*A little side-note here: in her acceptance speech, Debbie mentioned that Roger Doyle, the man behind Mock's Crest Productions, has been diagnosed with ALS, and A Little Night Music will likely be his final show as conductor for the production company.

Outstanding Costume Design (4 winners):
Darrin Puffar for A Little Night Music (Mock's Crest)
Mary Rochon for Pinnocchio (NW Children's Theater)
Rachelle Waldie for East of the Sun , West of the Moon (Shaking The Tree)
Sarah Gahagan for both El Quijote (Miracle Theater)

and Trojan Woman (Classic Greek Theater)

At this point, Matt Haynes and Bruce Hostetler presented the PATA Spotlight Awards for outstanding achievement by the people who work behind the scenes.

Stage Manager: Carol Ann Wohlmut

Crew: Kenichi Hillis

Production Management: Annalise Albright

Matt also took a moment to acknowlege the hard work of Jen Raynak, PATA's former President, in bringing professional standards to the organization.

Outstanding Choreography: Jessica Wallenfels for Gracie and the Atom (Artists Rep)

Outstanding Musical Actor: Gavin Gregory for Ragtime (Portland Center Stage)

Outstanding Musical Director (2 winners):

Rick Lewis for Ragtime (Portland Center Stage)

Kurt Crowley for Forbidden Broadway (Broadway Rose)

Outstanding Scenic Design (2 winners):

Mark Haacke for El Quijote (Miracle Theater)

Tim Stapleton for This Lime Tree Bower (CoHo / Our Shoes Are Red)

Outstanding Ensemble: the cast of 4.48 Pyschosis (defunkt theater)

Outstanding Producer (the first time this award has been handed out): Greg Tamblyn for Disney's Beauty and the Beast (Pixie-dust Productions)

Outstanding Director (2 winners):

Grace Carter for 4.48 Psychosis (defunkt theater)

Chris Coleman for Ragtime (Portland Center Stage)

At this point Sue-Ellen Christianson presented the Portland Civic Theater Guild's awards to theaters for infrastructure - two grants of $1500 went to Live On Stage for the purchase of new sound equipment, and to Miracle Theater for the purchase of sound and communications equipment. Sue-Ellen also presented the Guild's Leslie O. Fulton award - two grants of $5000 went to Sarah Lean Foster to pay for her to study and teach for six months, and to Tim Krause for a trip to a theater conference in Chile.

Outstanding Actress (4 winners):

Malanya Helene for Hopeless (Brooklyn Bay)

Maureen Porter for The Gray Sisters (Third Rail Rep)

Valerie Stevens for The Gray Sisters (Third Rail Rep)

Heidi Hunter for Kindertransport (Jewish Theater Collaborative)

Outstanding Actor (3 winners):

Joseph Sousa for Teeth of the Son (Re-Theater Instrument)

Dennis Kelly for This Lime Tree Bower (CoHo / Our Shoes Are Red)

Michael O'Connell for The Lying Kind (Third Rail Rep)

Outstanding Production (2 winners):

4.48 Psychosis (defunkt theater)

Ragtime (Portland Center Stage)

So... there ya go! A good time was had by all - especially the winners :) No, really, we all had a good time.

Now that Followspot is gone, I'll expect you all to be snarky amongst yourselves...

-Harold