For immediate release
For more information, contact:
David Timberline, 804-560-4589; [email protected]
Theatre awards to feature new categories, special recognitions
Second annual “Artsies” to be held at Empire Theatre on October 18th
Richmond, VA – The Richmond Theatre Critics Circle (RTCC) has announced the nominees for
the Second Annual RTCC “Artsies” Awards for the 2008-09 season, including several new
nomination categories and several special recognitions. The group, which was organized to
recognize excellence in professional theater produced in the Richmond area, will hold an awards
gala at 7:00 P.M. on Sunday, October 18th at the Empire Theatre with local NBC newscaster
Aaron Gilchrist acting as Master of Ceremonies. Nominations for the Awards are listed below.
“We really hope to kick it up to the next level with this year’s awards,” asserts RTCC’s newest
member, John Porter, theatre critic for WCVE Public Radio. “A bigger venue, more star power,
and an expanded number of nominees should help us build on the tremendous success of last
year’s inaugural event.”
RTCC has made nominations in twenty categories, adding recognition for Best Ensemble Acting,
Outstanding Achievement in Sound Design, and Outstanding Achievement in Hair or Makeup
Design. The Liz Marks award in recognition of extraordinary ongoing contribution to the
Richmond-area theater scene will be presented to the families of Buddy Callahan and Lou Rubin,
two of the co-founders of the Swift Creek Mill Theatre.
“There were so many exceptional productions this year, it was very hard to narrow many of the
categories down,” adds Mary Burruss, an RTCC co-founder and theater critic for Style Weekly
magazine, citing the seven nominees included in the category for Outstanding Achievement in
Set Design. RTCC is also giving special recognition for outstanding Fight Choreography to
Vanessa Passini for her work on Richmond Shakespeare’s “Henry V” and for Outstanding
Dialect Direction to Amanda Durst as part of the Barkdale Theatre’s production of “The Clean
House.”
Winners in each of the categories will be announced at a black-tie gala awards ceremony that
will feature performances from the nominated musical productions. The ceremony is being
sponsored in part by the C.F. Sauer Company, with media sponsorship provided by the
Richmond Times-Dispatch.
All proceeds from the awards ceremony will go to support the Richmond Theatre Artists Fund, a
fund established by the Richmond Alliance of Professional Theatres to help those in the
Richmond theater community who fall on hard times due to illness, injury or extenuating
circumstances. Members of the RTCC include Mary Burruss (Style Weekly magazine), Susan
Haubenstock (Richmond Times-Dispatch), Julinda Lewis (Richmond Times-Dispatch), John
Porter (WCVE), David Timberline (Style Weekly magazine), and Joan Tupponce
(Richmond.com).
The award ceremony is open to the public. Tickets for the event are $10 and can be purchased
from the Theatre IV box office by calling 344-8040.
Nominations for the Second Annual Richmond Theatre Critics Circle Awards
for the 2008–2009 theater season
Category
Best Musical
Nominee
Altar Boyz
Annie
The Great American Trailer
Park Musical
Thoroughly Modern Millie
tick, tick…Boom!
Firehouse Theatre Project
Barksdale Theatre
Stage 1 Theatre Company
Best Direction - Musical
Robin Arthur
Patti D'Beck
Chase Kniffen
Chase Kniffen
Tom Width
Annie
Thoroughly Modern Millie
Children's Letters to God
tick, tick…Boom!
Altar Boyz
Theatre IV
Barksdale Theatre
Stage 1 Theatre Company
Stage 1 Theatre Company
Swift Creek Mill Theatre
Best Actor - Musical
Brett Ambler
Gordon Bass
Zak Resnick
Christopher Stewart
Stage 1 Theatre Company
Theatre IV
Barksdale Theatre
Stage 1 Theatre Company
Paul Valley
tick, tick…Boom!
Annie
Thoroughly Modern Millie
Summer of '42
The Great American Trailer
Park Musical
Best Actress - Musical
Kim Jones Clark
Audra Honaker
Maggie Marlin
Robyn O'Neill / Angela Shipley
Joy Williams
The Great American Trailer
Park Musical
tick, tick…Boom!
Thoroughly Modern Millie
Side Show
Annie
Best Supporting Actor
- Musical
Timothy Ford
Chris Hester
Thoroughly Modern Millie Barksdale Theatre
The Great American Trailer Firehouse Theatre Project
Park Musical
Christopher Hlusko
Drew Seigla
Sean Williams
Thoroughly Modern Millie
Summer of '42
Altar Boyz
Ellie Atwood
Nancy McMahon
Summer of '42
Stage 1 Theatre Company
The Great American Trailer Firehouse Theatre Project
Park Musical
Linda Poser
Maggie Roop
Ali Thibodeau
Thoroughly Modern Millie
Annie
Thoroughly Modern Millie
Barksdale Theatre
Theatre IV
Barksdale Theatre
Sandy Dacus
Paul Deiss
Paul Deiss
Jimmy Hicks
Tony Williams
tick, tick…Boom!
Altar Boyz
Thoroughly Modern Millie
Children's Letters to God
Summer of '42
Stage 1 Theatre Company
Swift Creek Mill Theatre
Barksdale Theatre
Stage 1 Theatre Company
Stage 1 Theatre Company
Best Supporting Actress
- Musical
Best Musical Direction
Show / Company
Swift Creek Mill Theatre
Theatre IV
Company
Firehouse Theatre Project
Firehouse Theatre Project
Stage 1 Theatre Company
Barksdale Theatre
Swift Creek Mill Theatre
Theatre IV
Barksdale Theatre
Stage 1 Theatre Company
Swift Creek Mill Theatre
Best Choreography
Robin Arthur
Patti D'Beck
Mickey Nugent
Annie
Thoroughly Modern Millie
Altar Boyz
Best Play
Children of a Lesser God
The Clean House
Eurydice
True West
Well
Barksdale Theatre
Barksdale Theatre
Firehouse Theatre Project
Henley Street Theatre Co
Barksdale Theatre
Best Direction
Steve Perigard
Bruce Miller
Bo Wilson
Rusty Wilson
Keri Wormald
The Clean House
Children of a Lesser God
True West
Eurydice
Well
Barksdale Theatre
Barksdale Theatre
Henley Street Theatre Co
Firehouse Theatre Project
Barksdale Theatre
Best Actor - Play
David Clark
Tony Foley
Joe Inscoe
Landon Nagel
Scott Wichmann
True West
True West
Eurydice
Children of a Lesser God
Richard III
Henley Street Theatre Co
Henley Street Theatre Co
Firehouse Theatre Project
Barksdale Theatre
Henley Street Theatre Co
Best Actress - Play
Robin Arthur
Bianca Bryan
Laine Satterfield
Erica Siegel
Jody Strickler
The Clean House
The Clean House
Eurydice
Children of a Lesser God
Well
Barksdale Theatre
Barksdale Theatre
Firehouse Theatre Project
Barksdale Theatre
Barksdale Theatre
Best Ensemble Acting
A Midsummer Night's Dream
Altar Boyz
Children's Letters to God
The Great American Trailer
Park Musical
Driving Miss Daisy
Richmond Shakespeare
Swift Creek Mill Theatre
Stage 1 Theatre Company
Best Actor in a Supporting Larry Cook
Role - Play
Brandon Crowder
Firehouse Theatre Project
Barksdale Theatre
Eurydice
One Flew Over the
Cuckoo's Nest
Firehouse Theatre Project
Henley Street Theatre Co
Barksdale Theatre
Swift Creek Mill Theatre
Steve Moore
Children of a Lesser God
Arsenic & Old Lace
One Flew Over the
Cuckoo's Nest
Jolene Carroll / Jackie Jones
Elise Boyd
Jan Guarino
Marta Rainer
Stefani Zabner
Arsenic & Old Lace
Inspecting Carol
The Clean House
Rabbit Hole
Of Mice and Men
Swift Creek Mill Theatre
Sycamore Rouge
Barksdale Theatre
Firehouse Theatre Project
Swift Creek Mill Theatre
Richard Gregory
Michael Hawke
Best Actress in a
Supporting Role - Play
Theatre IV
Barksdale Theatre
Swift Creek Mill Theatre
Henley Street Theatre Co
Outstanding Achievement Joe Doran
in Lighting Design
Joe Doran
Lynne Hartman
Kenny Mullens
Kenny Mullens
Altar Boyz
Of Mice and Men
The Clean House
Children's Letters to God
Summer of '42
Swift Creek Mill Theatre
Swift Creek Mill Theatre
Barksdale Theatre
Stage 1 Theatre Company
Stage 1 Theatre Company
Outstanding Achievement Rebecca Cairns / Ann Hoskins Henry V
in Costume Design
Sue Griffin
The Clean House
Sue Griffin
Thoroughly Modern Millie
Sideways Stories from
Wayside School
Elizabeth Weiss Hopper
Charlotte Schiff / Betty Williams All My Sons
Theatre IV
Chamberlayne Actors Theatre
Sideways Stories from
Wayside School
Eurydice
All My Sons
Thoroughly Modern Millie
Translations
Summer of '42
Of Mice and Men
Theatre IV
Firehouse Theatre Project
Chamberlayne Actors Theatre
Barksdale Theatre
Sycamore Rouge
Stage 1 Theatre Company
Swift Creek Mill Theatre
Outstanding Achievement Brian Barker
in Set Design
Phil Hayes
Lin Heath
Ron Keller
Keith Saine
Mercedes Schaum
Tom Width
Outstanding Achievement Buddy Bishop
Richmond Shakespeare
Barksdale Theatre
Barksdale Theatre
Chapter Two
Sideways Stories from
Wayside School
Eurydice
Chamberlayne Actors Theatre
Thoroughly Modern Millie
Annie
Barksdale Theatre
Theatre IV
Eurydice
Pulp
Sideways Stories from
Wayside School
Firehouse Theatre Project
Richmond Triangle Players
Theatre IV
Outstanding Achievement
in Dialect Direction
Amanda Durst
The Clean House
Barksdale Theatre
Outstanding Achievement
in Fight Choreography
Vanessa Passini
Henry V
Richmond Shakespeare
in Sound Design
Derek Dumais
Bryan Harris
Derome Scott Smith
Wendy Vandergrift
Outstanding Achievement Sue Griffin
in Hair / Makeup Design Sarah Grady
Andrew Boothby, Jenny
Hundley, Lauren LeinhausCook
Junior Oxendine
Elizabeth Weiss Hopper
Theatre IV
Firehouse Theatre Project
African American Repertory
From the Mississippi Delta Theatre
Summer of '42
Stage 1 Theatre Company
Liz Marks Memorial Award for Ongoing Contribution to Richmond Area Theater
Wamer "Buddy" Callahan
Lou Rubin