Today's ceremony felt like we stepped back into the 50's. The OCC has to be the oldest group of award nominators and voters out there and their taste is certainly reflected in the voting and nominations. These are people who have memories of Ethel Merman and Cole Porter, names that may not be as meaningful to those of us under a certain age. I must say, I think Bernadette Peters and Sondheim are more my speed. But that's just me.
The awards are more intimate than the Lortel or Drama Desk awards. Only winners attend and there is no suspense as all winners are pre-announced. The highlight of the afternoon was Frank Langella's funny speech about backhanded compliments he receives from other actors. He mercifully deviated from the typical thank you speech. He ended it with a hysterical story about Lauren Bacall and Kirk Douglas, who obviously hated his performance in FORTUNE'S FOOL. Hard to imagine anyone hating Frank in anything, except maybe Dracula.
Raul Esparza also had a lovely speech. He spoke about being afraid of critics and critism but how necessary it is for the growth of an actor. He complimented John Doyle's direction, saying it was the first time he felt he had been truly "directed." I don't know what I was expecting - maybe because of his cold take on Bobby I thought he would be slightly arrogant and withdrawn but he seemed warm and truly sincere. I've just become a fan of his.
Jack O'Brien talked about the need for a national theatre here and mentioned creating a company where a group of amazing actors could come together and work and have a creative home. COAST was a very special, unique experience made possible by the extraordinary efforts of Lincoln Center but it shouldn't be - we should have a place where projects of this size happen because they have to and are good for the theatre. We all agreed.
Both Swoosie Kurtz and Charles Busch, old pros at hosting duties, were stellar. As they deviated from the script, they kept the proceedings going and kept us in stiches. Busch gave a shout out to costume designers, saying his career was practically built on costumes so he could truly appreciate their artistry.
Donna Murphy gave a nice speech and at the end noticed a caricature of Lotte Lenya right in front of her. A nice serendipitous moment!
Martha Plimpton was surprisingly intelligent and poised. She's done an amazing job of reinventing herself since her teen movie years.
Steven Sater got weepy talking about the journey of SA. Duncan Sheik complimented the OCC members for being so hip that they got his show.
Brian Stokes Mitchell was charming and wonderful. He gave a big plug to the Actor's Fund and clearly takes his Board duties very seriously there. Bravo to him for giving back like that. He made all of us feel like he was talking to each of us individually. What a gift he has for public speaking - even when his mic went out, he employed his the-ah-tur voice and we heard him just fine.
A.R. Gurney spoke as eloquently and elegantly as he writes. What a gentleman! He's such a gem.
The producer of JOURNEY'S END -Bill Haber? - talked about how it has been worth it and he'd do it again even with small houses. He felt it was important to ask the question the play asks - isn't there must be a better way to resolve conflict than with war? He got thunderous applause.
Walkers and canes seem to be out in full force. One slightly demented OCC member arrived late and talked really loudly distracting everyone in the nearby tables (where I was sitting.) She kept up her loud talking throughout the ceremony, upsetting many of the people at my table. After the lighting design speeches, she turned to Bob Boyett, who had the unfortunate luck of sitting next to her, and said "If you are a theatre person, you shouldn't be making bad speeches." What an ornery old loon. We heard her loud and clear and I wonder if the UTOPIA designers heard her. Now, the speeches weren't bad. These are just normal people not used to talking in front of crowds and they were nervous and humbled by the attention.
Marge Singer got up to present the last award for directing to Jack O'Brien and acted like the Queen. She clearly misses being in the spotlight and it shows - she could barely contain herself and just had to mention that when SHE hosted the event, she always had Wendy Wasserstein give the last award. There was no point to this statement other than to remind us yet again that she's the President Emeritus. Thank god they got her out and the nicer, more affable Simon Saltzman now acts as President and host.
The writing for Victoria Clark and John Lloyd Young was pretty cheesy and horrible. They were troopers but some of the jokes fell really flat. Whoever wrote that portion of the event should be ousted from the OCC.
Thursday, May 24, 2007
Wednesday, May 23, 2007
Awards season overdose
Awards season is almost over. And while I'm grateful for the attention being paid to worthy artists, I'll be more thankful that I won't have to sit through these award ceremonies for another year.
LORTELS - Personally, I think these awards are great. There is a true camraderie amongst the off-Broadway theatre community, especially the non-profits. The artists honored are almost always very worthy of their nominations and there seem to be less politics involved in deciding them than the other awards. The nominators take their duties really seriously and I find that when their list comes out, I rarely disagree with their choices.
DRAMA DESK - A big party, this year's ceremony felt more excruciating than usual, mostly thanks to Kristin Chenowith going on and on. It's fun to see the off-Broadway artists mingled in with the Broadway ones, but in most cases, the powerhouse shows always win, so it's not much of a competition.
OBIES - The OBIES used to be fun. At the old location at Webster Hall, the bar was kept open so it felt like a big irreverent party all night. Now in a nicer space, NYU's Skirball Center, the ceremony feels a bit boring and like every other awards show. I do love the fact that they don't announce categories and that they can make up categories at whim. It's also great to see all the smaller theatre companies getting some attention. I don't miss sitting on a folding chair but it would be nice to keep the party going, especially as this year, the ceremony went on for 2 hours and 40 minutes, a very long time to be sitting through a program without an intermission. Some of their choices seemed odd to me - I like Michael Friedman's music just fine, but he's quite young and has yet to have a really big triumph in his career so the "sustained excellence" OBIE seemed strange. Seating this year was general admission and that didn't work well. Finding seats took forever and I'm not sure what the point of that was, except to be controversial and "downtown."
OUTER CRITICS - They don't even do a proper ceremony - they just have dinner with the pre-announced winners at Sardi's, presumably for their members to hobnob with stars. I'm going as the guest of a member. It's my first time going to this, so I'll report back after tomorrow. Looking at lists of past winners, it seems like they always give awards to the biggest stars they can. This year, they are giving a special award to Angela Lansbury even though the show asked not to be considered for awards.
I was reading about the Boston area awards and they seem to have an interesting system. They give awards at three levels - for large, mid-size and small companies. What a concept! If the Drama Desk and Outer Critics had such a system, the set designer for a big Broadway show wouldn't be pitted against the one who designs for a 99 seat house. It also allows for more winners and spreads the wealth a lot more.
LORTELS - Personally, I think these awards are great. There is a true camraderie amongst the off-Broadway theatre community, especially the non-profits. The artists honored are almost always very worthy of their nominations and there seem to be less politics involved in deciding them than the other awards. The nominators take their duties really seriously and I find that when their list comes out, I rarely disagree with their choices.
DRAMA DESK - A big party, this year's ceremony felt more excruciating than usual, mostly thanks to Kristin Chenowith going on and on. It's fun to see the off-Broadway artists mingled in with the Broadway ones, but in most cases, the powerhouse shows always win, so it's not much of a competition.
OBIES - The OBIES used to be fun. At the old location at Webster Hall, the bar was kept open so it felt like a big irreverent party all night. Now in a nicer space, NYU's Skirball Center, the ceremony feels a bit boring and like every other awards show. I do love the fact that they don't announce categories and that they can make up categories at whim. It's also great to see all the smaller theatre companies getting some attention. I don't miss sitting on a folding chair but it would be nice to keep the party going, especially as this year, the ceremony went on for 2 hours and 40 minutes, a very long time to be sitting through a program without an intermission. Some of their choices seemed odd to me - I like Michael Friedman's music just fine, but he's quite young and has yet to have a really big triumph in his career so the "sustained excellence" OBIE seemed strange. Seating this year was general admission and that didn't work well. Finding seats took forever and I'm not sure what the point of that was, except to be controversial and "downtown."
OUTER CRITICS - They don't even do a proper ceremony - they just have dinner with the pre-announced winners at Sardi's, presumably for their members to hobnob with stars. I'm going as the guest of a member. It's my first time going to this, so I'll report back after tomorrow. Looking at lists of past winners, it seems like they always give awards to the biggest stars they can. This year, they are giving a special award to Angela Lansbury even though the show asked not to be considered for awards.
I was reading about the Boston area awards and they seem to have an interesting system. They give awards at three levels - for large, mid-size and small companies. What a concept! If the Drama Desk and Outer Critics had such a system, the set designer for a big Broadway show wouldn't be pitted against the one who designs for a 99 seat house. It also allows for more winners and spreads the wealth a lot more.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)