Sell/Buy/Date, Come From Away, and School Girls Among L.A. Drama Critics Circle Winners | Playbill

Los Angeles News Sell/Buy/Date, Come From Away, and School Girls Among L.A. Drama Critics Circle Winners Check out the winners from the 50th annual ceremony, celebrating the best of the West Coast theatre.
Sarah Jones in Sell/Buy/Date Joan Marcus

The Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle celebrated the winners of the 2018 LADCC Awards April 8, celebrating the best of last season's theatre during a ceremony at the Pasadena Playhouse.

There were four recipients of the 2018 Production award: Cambodian Rock Band (South Coast Repertory), Come From Away (Center Theatre Group/Ahmanson Theatre), Cry It Out (Echo Theater Company), and Sell/Buy/Date (Geffen Playhouse/Los Angeles LGBT Center).

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Matthew Murphy

The L.A. production of Come From Away received a total of four awards, with nods also going to the ensemble, to Irene Sankoff and David Hein for their score, and to musical director Ian Eisendrath.

Sarah Jones' acclaimed monologue play about the sex industry, Sell/Buy/Date, seen Off-Broadway ahead of its engagement at L.A's Geffen Playhouse, received three awards: for Production, Solo Performance, and Writing.

Celebration Theatre’s Cabaret took home the most awards for a single production, with six, including a nod for Revival. Antaeus Theatre Company received the most awards, with three of its productions winning a combined seven trophies.

Other winners for the evening include MaameYaa Boafo, who won for her performance in the Center Theatre Group production of School Girls; Or, the African Mean Girls Play (as Paulina, the same role she played twice Off-Broadway); and Tom Hanks, for his performance as Falstaff in in The Shakespeare Center of Los Angeles production of Henry IV.

Lauren Yee, whose play with music Cambodian Rock Band was awarded a Production Award, is the recipient of the Ted Schmitt Award for the world premiere of an outstanding new play.

The complete list of award recipients is as follows:

Production

Cambodian Rock Band (South Coast Repertory)
Come From Away (Center Theatre Group/Ahmanson Theatre)
Cry It Out (Echo Theater Company)
Sell/Buy/Date (Geffen Playhouse/Los Angeles LGBT Center)

McCulloh Revival

Cabaret (Celebration Theatre)
Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead (A Noise Within)
The Little Foxes (Antaeus Theatre Company)

Lead Performance

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MaameYaa Boafo Joseph Marzullo/WENN

MaameYaa Boafo, School Girls; Or, the African Mean Girls Play (Center Theatre Group/Kirk Douglas Theatre)
Tom Hanks, Henry IV (The Shakespeare Center of Los Angeles)
Kasey Mahaffy, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead (A Noise Within)
Alex Nee, Cabaret (Celebration Theatre)
Conrad Ricamora, Soft Power (Center Theatre Group/Ahmanson Theatre)

Featured Performance

Rob Nagle, The Little Foxes (Antaeus Theatre Company)
Daisuke Tsuji, Cambodian Rock Band (South Coast Repertory)

Ensemble Performance
Come From Away (Center Theatre Group/Ahmanson Theatre)
The Little Foxes (Antaeus Theatre Company)

Solo Performance

Sarah Jones, Sell/Buy/Date (Geffen Playhouse/Los Angeles LGBT Center)

Writing

Sarah Jones, Sell/Buy/Date (Geffen Playhouse/Los Angeles LGBT Center)
Molly Smith Metzler, Cry It Out (Echo Theater Company)

Writing Adaptation
Patrick Marber, Three Days in the Country (Antaeus Theatre Company)

Musical Score

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Irene Sankoff and David Hein Marc J. Franklin

Irene Sankoff and David Hein, Come From Away (Center Theatre Group/Ahmanson Theatre)

Musical Direction

Ian Eisendrath, Come From Away (Center Theatre Group/Ahmanson Theatre)
Anthony Zediker, Cabaret (Celebration Theatre)

Choreography

Janet Roston, Cabaret (Celebration Theatre)

Direction

Jennifer Chang, Vietgone (East West Players)
Geoff Elliott, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead (A Noise Within)

Set Design

Stephen Gifford, Cabaret (Celebration Theatre)
John Iacovelli, The Little Foxes (Antaeus Theatre Company)

Lighting Design

Matthew Brian Denman, Cabaret (Celebration Theatre)
Andrew Schmedake, Native Son (Antaeus Theatre Company)

Costume Design

Allison Dillard, BLISS (or Emily Post is Dead!) (Moving Arts at Atwater Village Theatre)
Allison Dillard, Priscilla, Queen of the Desert (Celebration Theatre)

Sound Design

Jeff Gardner, Native Son (Antaeus Theatre Company)
Joshua D. Reid, A Christmas Carol (Geffen Playhouse)

CGI/Projection

Kaitlyn Pietras and Jason H. Thompson, Vietgone (East West Players)

Specialty

Thomas Isao Morinaka and Aaron Aoki for Fight Choreography, Vietgone (East West Players)
Jim Steinmeyer for Illusions, Stagecraft, and Magic Carpet, Aladdin (Hollywood Pantages Theatre)

The LADCC special award recipients were as follows:

The Margaret Harford Award for sustained excellence in theatre was awarded to Sacred Fools Theater Company

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Lauren Yee

The Polly Warfield Award for an excellent season in a small to mid-size theatre was awarded to Echo Theater Company

The Ted Schmitt Award for the world premiere of an outstanding new play was awarded to Lauren Yee for Cambodian Rock Band, originally produced by South Coast Repertory

The Kinetic Lighting Award for distinguished achievement in theatrical design was awarded to sound designer Robert Oriol

The Joel Hirschhorn Award for distinguished achievement in musical theatre was awarded to La Mirada Theatre for the Performing Arts & McCoy Rigby Entertainment

The Milton Katselas Award for distinguished achievement in direction was awarded to Cameron Watson

The Gordon Davidson Award for distinguished contribution to the Los Angeles theatrical community was awarded to Native Voices at the Autry

The Theater Angel Award for distinguished service to Los Angeles theatre was awarded to Yvonne Bell

The Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle was founded in 1969. The 2018 membership consisted of: Frances Baum Nicholson; Paul Birchall; Katie Buenneke; Erin Conley; Ellen Dostal; Lovell Estell III; Shirle Gottlieb; Margaret Gray; Hoyt Hilsman; Harker Jones; Deborah Klugman; Jenny Lower; Dany Margolies; Myron Meisel; Terry Morgan; Steven Leigh Morris; Melinda Schupmann; Jonas Schwartz-Owen; Don Shirley; Les Spindle; Rob Stevens; and Neal Weaver.

 
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