BOSTON: The Boston Theater Critics Association presented the 33rd annual Elliot Norton Awards Monday night, May 11th, at the Citi Shubert Theatre. The biggest theatre winner of the night was American Repertory Theater, which took home 7 awards. The biggest production winners were tied, with three awards each for Jonathan Bernstein’s The Shape She Makes, about a precocious 11-year-old at A.R.T., and Lyric Stage‘s production of Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine’s Into the Woods.
The evening was hosted by Joyce Kulhawik, and the guest of honor was actress and comedian Lea DeLaria, whose stage credits include the 1998 Broadway revival of On the Town and the 2000 revival of The Rocky Horror Show. DeLaria is best known for her role as Big Boo in the Netflix series “Orange Is the New Black.”
The awards are divided into three tiers: for large, midsize and small/fringe theatres. In addition to the competitive awards, Ryan Landry won the Elliot Norton Prize for Sustained Excellence. Landry is a playwright, director, performer and founder of the fringe theatre company Gold Dust Orphans.
The Boston Theater Critics Association is made up of 10 Boston-area theatre critics and journalists. The awards is named after the Boston-based theatre critic who wrote more than 6,000 reviews in his 48-year-long career; he died in 2003 at the age of 100.
The complete list of winners is below:
VISITING PRODUCTION
Bedlam’s Saint Joan by George Bernard Shaw (Bedlam, presented by Underground Railway Theater)
PRODUCTION (LARGE RESIDENT THEATRE)
The Shape She Makes, Jonathan Bernstein (American Repertory Theater)
PRODUCTION (MIDSIZE THEATRE)
God’s Ear by Jenny Schwartz (Actors’ Shakespeare Project)
PRODUCTION (SMALL THEATRE)
Albatross by Matthew Spangler and Benjamin Evet (The Poets’ Theatre)
PRODUCTION (FRINGE THEATRE)
Stupid F***ing Bird by Aaron Posner (Apollinaire Theatre Company)
ACTOR (LARGE THEATRE)
Tom Nelis, The Tempest (American Repertory Theater in association with The Smith Center for the Performing Arts)
ACTOR (MIDSIZE THEATRE)
Nael Nacer, Intimate Apparel (Lyric Stage Company of Boston)
ACTOR (SMALL/FRINGE THEATRE)
Victor L. Shopov, Bent (Zeitgeist Stage Company)
ACTRESS (LARGE THEATRE)
Finnerty Steeves, The Shape She Makes (American Repertory Theater)
ACTRESS (MIDSIZE THEATRE)
Tamara Hickey, God’s Ear (Actors’ Shakespeare Project)
ACTOR (SMALL/FRINGE THEATRE)
Lee Mikeska Gardner, Emilie: La Marquise du Châtelet Defends Her Life Tonight (Nora Theatre Company)
MUSICAL PRODUCTION
Into the Woods (Lyric Stage Company of Boston)
MUSICAL PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR
Steven Bargonetti, Father Comes Home From The Wars (American Repertory Theater and Public Theater)
MUSICAL PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS
Aimee Doherty, Into the Woods (Lyric Stage Company of Boston) and Far From Heaven (SpeakEasy Stage Company)
DIRECTOR (LARGE THEATRE)
Teller and Aaron Posner, The Tempest (American Repertory Theater in association with the Smith Center for the Performing Arts)
DIRECTOR (MIDSIZE THEATRE)
Spiro Veloudos, Into the Woods (Lyric Stage Company of Boston)
DIRECTOR (SMALL/FRINGE THEATRE)
Natsu Onoda Power, Astro Boy and the God of Comics (Company One)
NEW SCRIPT
Father Comes Home From The Wars, by Suzan-Lori Parks (American Repertory Theater and Public Theater)
SOLO PERFORMANCE
Benjamin Evett, Albatross (Mike Seiden and the Poets’ Theatre)
CHOREOGRAPHY
Susan Misner, The Shape She Makes (American Repertory Theater)
DESIGN (LARGE THEATRE)
The Second Girl: scenic and costume design by Santo Loquasto, lighting by James F. Ingalls, sound by Ben Emerson (Huntington Theatre Company)
DESIGN (MIDSIZE, SMALL AND FRINGE THEATRE)
Astro Boy and the God of Comics: scenic design by Natsu Onoda Power, projections by Jared Mezzocchi, lighting by Justin Paice, costumes by Tyler Kinney, sound by Kelsey Jarboe, props by Megan F. Kinneen (Company One)
ENSEMBLE (LARGE THEATRE)
The Colored Museum (Huntington Theatre Company)
ENSEMBLE (MIDSIZE, SMALL OR FRINGE THEATRE)
Bedlam’s Saint Joan (Bedlam, presented by Underground Railway Theater)
ELLIOT NORTON PRIZE FOR SUSTAINED EXCELLENCE
Ryan Landry
