Ain’t Misbehavin’, Portland Center Stage’s bold large-scale rethinking of the intimate Fats Waller musical revue, swept up much of the hardware Monday night at the Drammy Awards, sharing the spotlight with Orlando, Profile Theatre’s brash adaptation of Virginia Woolf’s time-traveling, gender-bending adventure novel.
Ain’t Misbehavin’ dominated the evening with six awards, including best production of a musical, director of a musical (Chris Coleman), music direction (Rick Lewis), ensemble performance in a musical, scenic design (Tony Cisek), and costumes (Alison Heryer, who was also nominated for Orlando).
Orlando, which was part of Profile’s season of plays by Sarah Ruhl, won the coveted award for best production of a play, plus two other major categories: best actress in a play (Beth Thompson, who was also nominated for best supporting actress in Profile’s In the Next Room, or the vibrator play) and director of a play (Matthew B. Zrebski).
The Drammy Awards ceremony, Portland’s annual celebration of top achievements in theater, jammed the downtown Newmark Theatre of Portland’5 Centers for the Arts with a mixed crowd of theater fans and stage professionals, from actors and directors to designers and stagehands. In all, 117 productions were considered for awards by the 16-member Drammy committee. Late-season shows that were still running in June, such as Portland Playhouse’s hit Peter and the Starcatchers, Corrib’s Our New Girl, Triangle’s American Idiot, defunkt’s The Udmurts, and Artists Rep’s Grand Concourse and The Skin of Our Teeth, will be considered for 2016-17 awards.
Actor and director Beth Harper, founder and artistic director of the professional-training Portland Actors Conservatory, won this year’s lifetime achievement award, and it was a popular choice: when she walked onstage she was greeted with a standing ovation by the crowd, several of whom had graduated from the Actors Conservatory, and several more of whom have worked with her in shows. “For a girl from Pea Ridge, Tennessee, Miss Beth, you have done all right,” actor and director Brenda Hubbard said in introducing her. Harper thanked her own mentor, the legendary late Portland teacher and director Jack Featheringill, and commented, “It really does feel quite lovely to be appreciated.”
Gavin Hoffman scored a rare double victory in the acting categories, taking home the best actor Drammy for his performance as a desperate actor juggling life and art in The Understudy at Artists Repertory Theatre, and the supporting actor award for his performance in Great Expectations at Portland Center Stage. David Bodin shared the supporting-actor award for his Malvolio in Portland Shakespeare Project’s Twelfth Night. “I’m not greedy, really I’m not,” Hoffman said disarmingly in the second of his two acceptance speeches.
Other major acting awards went to Brian Demar Jones for best actor in a musical (Under the Influence, Fuse Theatre Ensemble), Malia Tippets for actress in a musical (Heathers: The Musical, Triangle Productions and Staged!), Jamie Rea for supporting actress in a play (A Doll’s House, Shaking the Tree), Cassie Q. Kohl for supporting actress in a musical (H.M.S. Pinafore, Mock’s Crest Productions), James Sharinghousen for supporting actor in a musical (Oklahoma!, Broadway Rose), and Kai Tomizawa for young performer (Junie B. Jones: The Musical, Oregon Children’s Theatre).
Among several special awards, the Portland Civic Theatre Guild gave out $17,000 for several projects, including $2,000 to the Rex Putnam High School theater department for children’s theater programs, $4,000 to CoHo Theatre for an exterior sign, $5,000 to John Ellingson to study puppet design in England, and $6,000 to Shaking the Tree for lighting and sound equipment. And the group Age and Equity for the Arts awarded $30,000 – $10,000 to Profile Theatre, $20,000 to CoHo – to support equity programs. Imago Theatre won the Artslandia Award of $5,000 in advertising and publicity.
The evening’s hosts were the seven members of The 3rd Floor comedy troupe, and what might have been a logistical disaster turned out instead to be a smooth, sometimes surprising, and often very funny addition to a show that ran a little over two and a half hours. The group’s quick wits and easy teamwork made the evening run like a machine – the sort of machine that includes spatters of blood, a cranked-up Carmina Burana soundtrack, an 8-foot-tall Sasquatch helping to announce the best-costume nominees, and at least one close-to-the-bone running gag. The troupe’s performance was refreshing and bittersweet: after 20 years onstage, it’ll call it quits after a July 9 reunion/retirement show at Artists Rep.
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The complete list of 2015-16 Drammy winners and nominees. Winners are listed in boldface at the top of each category:
BEST ACTOR IN A MUSICAL
Brian Demar Jones
Under the Influence
Fuse Theatre Ensemble
Max Artsis
Dogfight
Staged!
Jared Miller
Oklahoma!
Broadway Rose Theatre Company
Joel Walker
Thoroughly Modern Millie
Broadway Rose Theatre Company
BEST ACTOR IN A PLAY
Gavin Hoffman
The Understudy
Artists Repertory Theatre
Bobby Bermea
The Set-Up
Cygnet Productions
Allen Nause
Chapatti
Corrib Theatre
Seth Rue
Blue Door
Profile Theatre
BEST ACTRESS IN A MUSICAL
Malia Tippets
Heathers: The Musical
triangle productions! & Staged!
Claire Avakian
Thoroughly Modern Millie
Broadway Rose Theatre Company
Courtney Freed
Falsettos
Live On Stage
Kailey Rhodes
Chicago
Metropolitan Community Theatre Project
BEST ACTRESS IN A PLAY
Beth Thompson
Orlando
Profile Theatre
JoAnn Johnson
Mothers And Sons
Artists Repertory Theatre
Val Landrum
The Miracle Worker
Artists Repertory Theatre
Kayla Lian
Davita’s Harp
Jewish Theatre Collaborative
BEST CHOREOGRAPHY
Jessica Wallenfels
H.M.S. Pinafore
Mock’s Crest Productions
Maija Garcia
Cuba Libre
Artists Repertory Theatre
Maria Tucker
Oklahoma!
Broadway Rose Theatre Company
Kent Zimmerman
Ain’t Misbehavin’
Portland Center Stage
BEST COSTUME DESIGN
Alison Heryer
Ain’t Misbehavin’
Portland Center Stage
Sarah Gahagan
In the Next Room, or the vibrator play
Profile Theatre
Alison Heryer
Orlando
Profile Theatre
Ashton Hull
Mr. Burns, a Post-Electric Play
Portland Playhouse
BEST DIRECTOR OF A MUSICAL
Chris Coleman
Ain’t Misbehavin’
Portland Center Stage
Diane Englert
Heathers: The Musical
triangle productions! & Staged!
Bruce A. Hostetler
H.M.S. Pinafore
Mock’s Crest Productions
Sharon Maroney
Oklahoma!
Broadway Rose Theatre Company
BEST DIRECTOR OF A PLAY
Matthew B. Zrebski
Orlando
Profile Theatre
Michael Mendelson
The Understudy
Artists Repertory Theatre
Louanne Moldovan
The Set-Up
Cygnet Productions
Pat Patton
Waiting For Godot
Northwest Classical Theatre Collaborative
BEST ENSEMBLE IN A MUSICAL
Ain’t Misbehavin’
Portland Center Stage
Cuba Libre
Artists Repertory Theatre
In the Heights
Stumptown Stages
Thoroughly Modern Millie
Broadway Rose Theatre Company
BEST ENSEMBLE IN A PLAY
The Set-Up
Cygnet Productions
Cock
defunkt theatre
Mr. Burns, a Post-Electric Play
Portland Playhouse
Orlando
Profile Theatre
BEST LIGHTING DESIGN
Don Crossley
The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane
Oregon Children’s Theatre
Kristeen Willis Crosser
The Understudy
Artists Repertory Theatre
Carl Faber
Orlando
Profile Theatre
Diane Ferry Williams
Ain’t Misbehavin’
Portland Center Stage
BEST MUSIC DIRECTION
Rick Lewis
Ain’t Misbehavin’
Portland Center Stage
Tracey Edson
H.M.S. Pinafore
Mock’s Crest Productions
Jonathan Quesenberry
Heathers: The Musical
triangle productions! & Staged!
Jeffrey Childs
Oklahoma!
Broadway Rose Theatre Company
BEST ORIGINAL MUSIC
Ernie Lijoi, Kevin Laursen, Lawrence Rush
Under the Influence
Fuse Theatre Ensemble
Adrian Baxter
The Set-Up
Cygnet Productions
Rory Stitt
The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane
Oregon Children’s Theatre
Matthew B. Zrebski
Chrysalis
Oregon Children’s Theatre (Young Professionals)
BEST ORIGINAL SCRIPT
Noah Dunham
How to Stop Dying
Action/Adventure Theatre
Ernie Lijoi
Under the Influence
Fuse Theatre Ensemble
Sacha Reich + Jamie Rea
Davita’s Harp
Jewish Theatre Collaborative
Claire Willett
Dear Galileo
Playwrights West
BEST PIT ENSEMBLE
Cuba Libre
Artists Repertory Theatre
Chicago
Metropolitan Community Theatre Project
Mame
Lakewood Theatre Company
Oklahoma!
Broadway Rose Theatre Company
BEST PRODUCTION OF A MUSICAL
Ain’t Misbehavin’
Portland Center Stage
H.M.S. Pinafore
Mock’s Crest Productions
Heathers: The Musical
triangle productions! & Staged!
Under the Influence
Fuse Theatre Ensemble
BEST PRODUCTION OF A PLAY
Orlando
Profile Theatre
Cock
defunkt theatre
The Set-Up
Cygnet Productions
The Understudy
Artists Repertory Theatre
BEST SCENIC DESIGN
Tony Cisek
Ain’t Misbehavin’
Portland Center Stage
Stephen Dobay
In the Next Room, or the vibrator play
Profile Theatre
Tal Sanders
Orlando
Profile Theatre
Tim Stapleton
Waiting For Godot
Northwest Classical Theatre Collaborative
BEST SOUND DESIGN
Rodolfo Ortega
Blue Door
Profile Theatre
Richard E. Moore
The Drunken City
Theatre Vertigo
Seth Nehil
Time, A Fair Hustler
Hand2Mouth
Scott Thorson
Sex With Strangers
Portland Center Stage
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR IN A MUSICAL
James Sharinghousen
Oklahoma!
Broadway Rose Theatre Company
Troy Pennington
The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee
Broadway Rose Theatre Company
Blake Stone
Heathers: The Musical
triangle productions! & Staged!
Joe Theissen
Thoroughly Modern Millie
Broadway Rose Theatre Company
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR IN A PLAY
David Bodin
Twelfth Night
Portland Shakespeare Project
and
Gavin Hoffman
Great Expectations
Portland Center Stage
Matthew Kerrigan
In the Next Room, or the vibrator play
Profile Theatre
Todd Van Voris
The New Electric Ballroom
Third Rail Repertory Theatre
BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS IN A MUSICAL
Cassi Q. Kohl
H.M.S. Pinafore
Mock’s Crest Productions
Amanda Pred
Heathers: The Musical
triangle productions! & Staged!
Danielle Purdy
The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee
Broadway Rose Theatre Company
Emily Sahler
Thoroughly Modern Millie
Broadway Rose Theatre Company
BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS IN A PLAY
Jamie Rea
A Doll’s House
Shaking the Tree
Crystal Ann Muñoz
Twelfth Night
Portland Shakespeare Project
Anne Sorce
Time, A Fair Hustler
Hand2Mouth
Beth Thompson
In the Next Room, or the vibrator play
Profile Theatre
BEST YOUNG PERFORMER
Kai Tomizawa
Junie B. Jones: The Musical
Oregon Children’s Theatre
Annabel Cantor
Ramona Quimby
Oregon Children’s Theatre
Morgan Fay
The Wrestling Season
Oregon Children’s Theatre (Young Professionals)
Agatha Olson
The Miracle Worker
Artists Repertory Theatre
LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD
Beth Harper
SPECIAL AWARDS:
Best Properties Design: Kaye Blankenship, In the Next Room,” or The Vibrator Play, Profile Theatre
Best Scenic Artist: Mindy Barker, The Drunken City, Theatre Vertigo
Best Solo Performance: Matthew Kerrigan, The Dissenter’s Handbook, Shaking the Tree Theater
Special achievement by a producer: Adriana Baer (Profile) and Samantha van der Merwe (Shaking the Tree), Passion Play
PATA SPOTLIGHT AWARDS:
The following Spotlight awards were presented by Portland Area Theatre Alliance (PATA):
- Other: Kate E. Ortolano, sign language
- Crew: Crew of The Skin of Our Teeth at Artists Repertory Theatre
- Stage Manager: Karen Hill
- Stage Manager: D Westerholm
PORTLAND CIVIC THEATRE GUILD AWARDS:
- Mary Brand Award: $2,000 to Rex Putnam High School Theatre Department Children’s Theatre Program to bring theater to elementary school audiences that otherwise could not afford to attend.
- Leslie O. Fulton Fellowship: $5,000 to John Ellingson for travel to England to study at the Beverly Puppet Festival in July, following which he will connect and interact with several prominent puppet companies in England.
- Portland Civic Theatre $4,000 Award to CoHo Theatre to pay for the creation and installation of an exterior sign marking the building and increasing the visibility of the theatre.
- The Portland Civic Theatre $6,000 Award to Shaking the Tree to upgrade their lighting and sound equipment.
AGE AND GENDER EQUITY AWARDS:
- $10,000 to Profile Theatre
- $20,000 to CoHo Productions