Winners of the 38th annual Elliot Norton Awards, honoring excellence on Boston-area stages, were announced May 11; as previously announced, the event was moved to a virtual ceremony in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic.
Huntington Theatre Company earned four awards for three of its productions. Dan McCabe's The Purists, directed by Billy Porter, won Outstanding Production in Large Theater tier, with the cast's Analisa Velez winning Outstanding Actress. The venue's staging of Sweat won Outstanding Ensemble, and its Indecent (a co-production with Center Theatre Group) picked up an Outstanding Visiting Production accolade.
Meanwhile, from the other side of the Charles River, the American Repertory Theater took home three wins, including awards for Moby-Dick director Rachel Chavkin and the musical's full design team. The regional theatre's engagement of Six earned Outstanding Visiting Musical Ensemble for its six leading queens, who have gone on to reprise their performances on Broadway.
Additional winners include David Byrne's American Utopia, Ben Levi Ross for his work in the Dear Evan Hansen tour, and playwright Will Power for his new work Detroit Red.
As previously announced, this year's Elliot Norton Prize for Sustained Excellence was given posthumously to veteran Boston actor Johnny Lee Davenport, and a special citation was given to Shear Madness, which ended its 40-year run earlier this year.
See the full list of winners below.
Outstanding Musical Production
Parade, Moonbox Productions
Outstanding Production, Large Theater
The Purists, Huntington Theatre Company
Outstanding Production, Midsize Theater
Cloud 9, The Nora at Central Square Theater
Outstanding Production, Small or Fringe Company
The Stone, Arlekin Players Theatre
Outstanding Solo Performance
Billy Meleady, the smuggler, Boston Playwrights’ Theatre
Outstanding Direction, Large Theater
Rachel Chavkin, Moby-Dick, American Repertory Theater
Outstanding Direction, Midsize Theater
Lee Mikeska Gardner, Cloud 9, The Nora at Central Square Theater
Outstanding Direction, Small or Fringe Theater
Igor Golyak, The Stone, Arlekin Players Theatre
Outstanding Musical Performance by an Actor
Aaron Patterson, Parade, Moonbox Productions
Outstanding Musical Performance by an Actress
Katrina Z Pavao, Little Shop of Horrors, Lyric Stage Company of Boston
Outstanding Actor, Large Theater
Eric Berryman, Detroit Red, ArtsEmerson
Outstanding Actor, Midsize Theater (In Memory of Gabriel Kuttner)
Kadahj Bennett, Pass Over, SpeakEasy Stage Company and The Front Porch Arts Collective
Outstanding Actor, Small or Fringe Theater
Nael Nacer, The Return, Israeli Stage
Outstanding Actress, Large Theater
Analisa Velez, The Purists, Huntington Theatre Company
Outstanding Actress, Midsize Theater
Paula Plum, The Children, SpeakEasy Stage Company
Outstanding Actress, Small or Fringe Theater
Darya Denisova, The Stone, Arlekin Players Theatre
Outstanding Ensemble, Large Theater
Sweat, Huntington Theatre Company
Outstanding Ensemble, Midsize Theater (In Memory of Margarita Damaris Martínez)
black odyssey boston, Underground Railway at Central Square Theater and The Front Porch Arts Collective
Outstanding Ensemble, Small or Fringe Theater
The Strange Undoing of Prudencia Hart, Apollinaire Theatre Company
Outstanding New Script
Detroit Red by Will Power, ArtsEmerson
Outstanding Design, Large Theater
Moby-Dick, American Repertory Theater
Scenic design by Mimi Lien, costume design by Brenda Abbandandolo, lighting design by Bradley King, sound design by Hidenori Nakajo, puppet design by Eric F. Avery, wig, hair, and make-up design by Rachel Padula-Shufelt
Outstanding Design, Midsize Theater
Vanity Fair, Underground Railway at Central Square Theater
Scenic design by David R. Gammons, costume design by Leslie Held, lighting design by Jeff Adelberg, sound design by David Wilson, properties coordinated by Ciara McAloon
Outstanding Design, Small or Fringe Theater
The Seagull, Arlekin Players Theatre
Scenic design by Nikolay Simonov, costume design by Nastya Bugaeva, lighting design by Jeff Adelberg
Outstanding Musical Direction
Catherine Stornetta, Parade, Moonbox Productions
Outstanding Choreography
Ilyse Robbins, Swan Lake in Blue, Greater Boston Stage Company
Outstanding Visiting Production, Non-Musical
Indecent, Huntington Theatre Company
Outstanding Visiting Production, Musical
American Utopia, Ambassador Theatre Group
Outstanding Visiting Musical Performance
Ben Levi Ross, Dear Evan Hansen, Broadway In Boston
Outstanding Visiting Musical Ensemble
Six, American Repertory Theater (Adrianna Hicks, Andrea Macasaet, Abby Mueller, Brittney Mack, Courtney Mack, and Anna Uzele)
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