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The Sondheim lyric about “something for everyone” pretty much sums up the much-anticipated nominations for the Syracuse New Times Syracuse Area Live Theater awards, with the ninth annual ceremony slated for May 20, thus giving the ladies ample time to shop for new frocks while the guys hustle their dusty tuxes to the dry cleaners.
While Syracuse Stage proves to be a juggernaut in all categories for the Professional Theater honors (Rachel Lampert of Ithaca’s Kitchen Theatre Company is the lone exception, for her guidance of Mary’s Wedding), the Community Theater category offers a veritable smorgasbord of possibilities. The long goodbye for stalwart player Bill Molesky, for example, continues with his final Syracuse-area turn in Covey Theater Company’s production of Yasmina Reza’s Art, which is up for a batch of other SALT awards, too.
War horses also reared their heads and were greeted with nods for Salt City Center for the Performing Arts’ Man of La Mancha, Appleseed Productions’ Arsenic and Old Lace and Encore Presentations’ The Bad Seed, the latter securing a nomination for actress Kasey McHale. And the wide-open Musical of the Year slot runs the gamut from Appleseed’s family-oriented A Year with Frog and Toad to Baldwinsville Theatre Guild’s ambitious Urinetown, plus the cultural extremes presented by Reefer Madness, Not Another Theater Company’s raunchy wild card, and the sassy sweetness of Rarely Done Productions’ The Marvelous Wonderettes.
Several workaholics have doubled their shots to snag a SALT. Actress Julia Berger is up for two separate turns, as Snow White in Rarely Done’s Disenchanted and as a key component of the Talent Company’s murder spoof Curtains! There are players who also assisted as choreographers, with Stephfond Brunson’s acting getting a nomination for Reefer Madness plus a SALT nod for his dance instruction of Baldwinsville’s Urinetown. Jimmy Wachter accomplishes a similar feat with his tour de farce in Rarely Done’s Judy’s Scary Little Christmas and his choreography for Disenchanted.
And it’s especially swell when community theater’s power couples receive SALT nominations for their efforts. Cathleen O’Brien, Bob Brown’s better half, earns consideration for her evocative Aldonza in Salt City Center’s Man of La Mancha, with Brown in the running for the Director of the Year/Musical prize. Longtime marrieds Michael O’Neill and Maureen Harrington are also in the SALT hunt, he for his performance in Covey Theatre’s Art and she for her quite revealing Mrs. Robinson in Covey’s The Graduate. Koo-koo-ka-choo, indeed.
The ninth annual Syracuse New Times SALT Awards will be
presented on Sunday, May 20, 7 p.m., at Eastwood’s Palace Theatre, 2384
James St. The theater’s lobby will hold a reception from 6 to 6:45 p.m.,
as well as an after-party at 9:30 p.m. Tickets are $20 in advance, $25
at the door. Order by mail using a check or credit card to: New Times
SALT Tickets, 1415 W. Genesee St., Syracuse 13204. For information,
contact Kathy Fischer at 422-7011, Ext. 110, or email to
kfischer@syracusenewtimes.com.
Professional Theater
Play of the Year: The Boys Next Door; The Clean House; The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe; The Miracle Worker; Radio Golf (Syracuse Stage).
Director of the Year: Paul Barnes, The Miracle Worker; Timothy Bond, Radio Golf; Linda Hartzell, The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe; Anthony Salatino, Rent (Syracuse Stage); Rachel Lampert, Mary’s Wedding (Kitchen Theatre Company).
Actress of the Year: Jacqueline Baum, The Miracle Worker; Marie Eife, The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe; Marie Kemp, The Boys Next Door; Anna O’Donoghue, The Miracle Worker; Kristen Sieh, The Turn of the Screw (Syracuse Stage).
Actor of the Year: Jordan Barbour, The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe; Richard Brooks, Radio Golf; Curzon Dobell, The Turn of the Screw; Sean Patrick Fawcett, The Boys Next Door; William Hall Jr., The Boys Next Door (Syracuse Stage).
Community Theater
Play of the Year: Art (Covey Theatre Company); The Graduate (Covey Theatre); Henry V x 7 (CNY Shakespeare); Lovers (Barbour Family); Wrong Window! (Talent Company).
Musical of the Year: Man of La Mancha (Salt City Center for the Performing Arts); The Marvelous Wonderettes (Rarely Done Productions); Reefer Madness (Not Another Theater Company); 13 (Gifford Family Theatre); Urinetown (Baldwinsville Theatre Guild); A Year with Frog and Toad (Appleseed Productions).
Leading Actress in a Musical: Julia Berger, Disenchanted (Rarely Done); Christine Lightcap, Curtains! (Talent Company); Cathleen O’Brien, Man of La Mancha (Salt City Center); Jennifer Pearson, Urinetown (Baldwinsville Theatre Guild); Rita Worlock, Nuncrackers (Encore Presentations).
Supporting Actress in a Musical: Jodie Baum, Urinetown (Baldwinsville Theatre Guild); Julia Berger, Curtains! (Talent Company); Kathy Egloff, Into the Woods (Not Another Theater Company); Aubry Panek, The Marvelous Wonderettes (Rarely Done); Maria Pedro, Curtains! (Talent Company); Sara Weiler, The Marvelous Wonderettes (Rarely Done).
Leading Actor in a Musical: Dan Bostick, A Year with Toad and Frog (Appleseed); Bill Coughlin, Curtains! (Talent Company); Ben Standford, A Year with Toad and Frog (Appleseed); Josh Taylor, Urinetown (Baldwinsville Theater Guild); Jimmy Wachter, Judy’s Scary Little Christmas (Rarely Done); Henry Wilson, Jesus Christ Superstar (Salt City Center).
Supporting Actor in a Musical: Bill Ali, Man of La Mancha (Salt City Center); Stephfond Brunson, Reefer Madness (Not Another Theatre Company); Jimmy Curtin, Curtains! (Talent Company); Alex Graham, A Year with Toad and Frog (Appleseed); Garrett Heater, Judy’s Scary Little Christmas (Rarely Done); Casey Ryan, Curtains! (Talent Company).
Leading Actress in a Play: Binaifer Dabu, Shadowlands (Appleseed); Anne Fitzgerald, Arsenic and Old Lace (Appleseed); Katharine Gibson, The Romanovs (Covey Theatre); Maureen Harrington, The Graduate (Covey Theatre); Kathleen Kennedy, The Crucible (Appleseed); Kasey McHale, The Bad Seed (Encore Presentations).
Supporting Actress in a Play: Amy Blumer, The Romanovs (Covey Theatre); Anne Fitzgerald, Tonight at 8:30 (Appleseed); Katheryn Guyette, The Graduate (Covey Theatre); Kimberly Panek, The Graduate (Covey Theatre); Lauren Pisano, Henry V x 7 (CNY Shakespeare); Korrie Strodel, Wrong Window! (Talent Company).
Leading Actor in a Play: Rob Fonda, The Graduate (Covey Theatre); Trevor Hill, Othello (Baldwinsville Theatre Guild); Josh Mele, Art (Covey Theatre); Tom Minion, Shadowlands (Appleseed); Robb Sharpe, Exonerated (Rarely Done); David Witanowski, The Romanovs (Covey Theatre).
Supporting Actor in a Play: Maxwel Anderson, Othello (Baldwinsville Theatre Guild); David Minikhiem, Exonerated (Rarely Done); Bill Molesky, Art (Covey Theatre); Michael O’Neill, Art (Covey Theatre); Joe Pierce, A Few Good Men (Not Another Theatre Company); Jon Wilson, Wrong Window! (Talent Company).
Director of the Year/Play: Matt Chiorini, Garrett Heater, Katie Lemos Brown, Christine Lightcap, Dan Tursi, William Edward White.
Director of the Year/Musical: Steve Braddock, Bob Brown, Colin Keating, Deborah Taylor & Heather Jensen, Dan Tursi.
Musical Director of the Year: Nadine Cole, Roy George, Colin Keating, Josh Smith, Frederick Willard, Dan Williams.
Summer Season
Production of the Season: Anything Goes (Merry-Go-Round Playhouse), Chicago (Cortland Repertory Theatre), 42nd Street, Hairspray (Merry-Go-Round); Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, Souvenir (Cortland Repertory).
Actress of the Season: Rin Allen, Chicago (Cortland Repertory); Lena Mary Amato, Hairspray (Merry-Go-Round); Julie Cardia, Anything Goes (Merry-Go-Round); Julie Kavanaugh, 42nd Street (Merry-Go-Round); April Woodall, Souvenir (Cortland Repertory).
Actor of the Season: Christopher Carl, 42nd Street (Merry-Go-Round); Austin VanDyke Colby, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat (Cortland Repertory); Todd Lattimore, Anything Goes (Merry-Go-Round); Kerby Thompson, Chicago (Cortland Repertory); Nicholas Wilder, Rumors (Cortland Repertory); Darryl Winslow, Hairspray (Merry-Go-Round).
Awards Open To All
Best Original New Production: Deadline: Kent Clark, Mild Mannered Reporter (Acme Mystery Company); Fiddler on the Loose (Acme Mystery); Reach (Encore Presentations); Take All My Loves (Studio 24); The Romanovs (Covey Theatre).
Non-performing Person of the Year: Barbara Bova, Steve Braddock, Navroz Dabu, Tim Hahn, Dan Randall, Barbara Toman.
Choreographer: Jodi Bova-Mele, Click, Clack, Moo: Cows that Type (Gifford Family Theater); Stephfond Brunson, Urinetown (Baldwinsville Theatre Guild); Tara Huss Davis, Jesus Christ Superstar (Salt City Center); Taryn Herman, A Year with Frog and Toad (Appleseed); Shannon Tompkins, Curtains! (Talent Company); Jimmy Wachter, Disenchanted (Rarely Done).
Costumer: Shirley Blakeley, Click, Clack, Moo: Cows That Type (Gifford Family Theatre); Garrett Heater, The Romanovs (Covey Theatre); Jeanette Reyner, Curtains! (Talent Company); Debra Ritchey, The Marvelous Wonderettes (Rarely Done); Barbara Toman, Arsenic and Old Lace (Appleseed).
Lifetime Achievement
(Currently Active)
Steve Braddock, Sharee Lemos, Cynthia Shippers, Robert Steingraber, Dan Stevens, Karen Procopio.
Hall of Fame
(No Longer Active)
Armand Magnarelli, Holly Wilson, Sheila Shattuck, Millie Sovik, Phil Swender, Mark Wright.
Once again SALT proves they can't look past their own nose, or out of their backyard if you like. The snub of the Auburn Players production of DOG SEES GOD this fall is astounding. It was by far the best Syracuse area communit production this fall. Especially considering that it appeared to feature all professional young actors moonlighting on a very important piece of theatre. Way to stay relevant SALT :(
to agree with the person below, once again these are too predictable and people who deserve awards for an actually well-done show?? are not nominated-- and those who are?? won't win. CNY theater is strictly-- political--lying--rotten--NOT FAMOUS AS MUCH AS YOU THINK YOU ARE OLD LADY!!!-- politics. Lame! so unfortunate that there are some people up on this list who have--zero--talent
CNY Shakespeare is a fully professional company, with its entire acting and production team paid for their work. As such, it misplaced in the Community Theater categories for SALT Awards.
I agree with some of these comments however, compared to what the SALTS were a few years ago it is good to see some new names on these lists. Those names should not be lumped in with everyone elses. They worked hard and are very talented. It refreshing to see new names of people and companies on here. It's unfair that these comments are out of spite (or so it appears). There are companies out there (CNY Shakespeare, Encore Presentations, Covey Theatre) trying to make a difference and promote new talents. So it's not all the same people and winners. As for the Aburn Players, did you submit your shows? Did you even contact SALT Awards to let them know that you want to submit? Did any of the committee members get a chance to come out and see any of your shows? Did you have enough publicity for the shows? I know that I haven't seen anything on your shows? So, before getting angry ask yourself these questions. With so many shows going on its hard to get out to see everything. As for CNY Shakespeare, if you were put into the wrong category contact them and tell them so or better yet when you submit your shows make sure that it says so on the sheets that you are a professional company, (By the way, congratulations on the nomination). I am not critizing anyone or trying to start anything I just think that people should see both sides of a situation is all.