Ovation Prognostications

Who will take home the girl in blue?

by Les Spindle

 

Last year we took a stab at informally polling a completely unscientific cross-section of experts and participants in the local theatre scene to place our bets on likely winners of the annual Ovations awards. Lo and behold, our predictions were about 90 percent accurate. With a grateful nod to a game group of anonymous participants, the following are our brave forecasts for next week’s annual awards bash honoring Fall 2003–Fall 2004 shows. Miss Cleo, eat your heart out.

World Premiere Play: If our pundits are correct, Athol Fugard’s Exits and Entrances (Fountain Theatre), will enter the Orpheum Theatre hopefully and exit victoriously. If a second play shares the glory, it will be L. Trey Wilson’s critical triumph Stage Directions (Ensemble Studio Theatre—L.A.). World Premiere Musical: By almost unanimous agreement, Joy Gregory and Gunnar Madsen’s fact-based musical The Shaggs: The Philosophy of the World (produced by Powerhouse Theatre) will rock big time, with nothing else coming close. Lead Actor in a Play: In a very close race, past winner Morlan Higgins will take home another trophy, for Exits and Entrances. Clarence Williams III is almost as much of a shoo-in for I Just Stopped By To See the Man (Geffen Playhouse). Lead Actress in a Play: The clear leader is the widely admired Viola Davis in Mark Taper Forum’s Intimate Apparel. If there are additional winners in this category, the strongest contenders are Linda Edmond in Homebody/Kabul (Mark Taper Forum), Marilyn Fox in Orpheus Descending (Pacific Resident Theatre), and Karen Kondazian in Master Class (Fountain and Odyssey Theatres). Lead Actor in a Musical: It appears David Engel’s three-year reign in this category will be challenged by Wade McCollum in his gender-bending turn in Hedwig and the Angry Inch (Celebration Theatre). Forecaster votes were almost unanimous. But don’t completely count out Engel’s own cross-dressing portrayal as ZaZa in Musical Theatre West’s La Cage Aux Folles; some of our forecasters picked him, and this was a widely praised performance. Lead Actress in a Musical: Yvette Freeman starred in Dinah Was (International City Theatre), but as far as our predictors are concerned, Yvette is. Featured Actor in a Play: By a wide margin, Corey Stoll in Intimate Apparel appears to be the fave; there is also support for Joseph Fuqua in Rubicon Theatre’s All My Sons. Featured Actor in a Play: Looks like a dead-heat race between Mariette Hartley in Enchanted April (Pasadena Playhouse) and Marilyn McIntyre in The Credeaux Canvas (Victory Theatre Center). Featured Actor in a Musical: Jeffrey Rockwell clearly charmed our pundits in the gumshoe musical Gunmetal Blues (Colony Theatre), with Mark Eckstein in Swing! (Civic Light Opera of South Bay Cities) nipping at his heels. Featured Actress in a Musical: If there’s one 100 percent sure thing, it’s that Amy Pietz has danced her way to an Ovation in Reprise’s Company. Solo Performance: By a landslide, it’s Clinton Leupp in Miss Coco Peru is Undaunted (L.A. Gay and Lesbian Center). There’s a possible second nod in this category for Sandra Tsing Loh in Sugar Plum Fairy (Geffen Playhouse). Interestingly, one observer opined that if Jonna Tamases had entered in this category, for Jonna’s Body, Please Hold (Odyssey Theatre), rather than in Lead Actress, she would have been unbeatable. Ensemble Performance: Our poll places Rubicon’s Sondheim revue Side by Side by Sondheim as surest bet, with Stage Directions a close second. Director of a Play: Stephen Sachs, it’s your day in the sun, for Exits and Entrances, but expect to share the honors with Daniel Sullivan, for Intimate Apparel. Director of a Musical: Baz Luhrmann’s stunning staging of La Bohème (Ahmanson Theatre) impressed our forecasters the most, with no close competitors. Production From a Touring Company: As the song goes, “Beat the drums … for here comes Thoroughly Modern Millie” (Ahmanson Theatre). Play (Smaller Theatre): The unanimous class act appears to be Master Class. Play (Larger Theatre): ’Tis a tie--Arthur Miller’s classic The Price (A Noise Within) and the Taper’s Intimate Apparel. Musical (Smaller Theatre): Hedwig shouldn’t be too angry, as he leads by far more than an inch. If he shares the wealth, it will be with Troubadour Theatre’s Fleetwood Macbeth. Musical (Larger Theatre): Baz’s La Bohème will triumph again, sharing the victory with the rapturously reviewed Hot Mikado (Musical Theatre West).

The 15th Annual Ovation Awards, directed by Brian Kite and produced by Nancy Adler, will be presented on Mon., Nov. 15, at 7:30 p.m. at the Orpheum Theatre, 842 S. Broadway, downtown L.A. $40-150. www.ticketmaster.com.