Lyric Stage has big night at Norton Awards
The Lyric Stage Company of Boston, actor Larry Coen, and actress Joan MacIntosh were among the top honorees last night at the 25th anniversary Elliot Norton Awards ceremony, held at the Cutler Majestic Theatre.
The big winner was Lyric Stage, which was named in five awards. The company's staging of Christopher Durang's "Miss Witherspoon" received the prize for outstanding production by a midsize company, and two stars were honored for their performances in the show: actress Paula Plum, who also won for her performance in "A Midsummer Night's Dream" with Boston Theatre Works, and Coen, who was honored for his work in five productions, including Commonwealth Shakespeare Company's "The Taming of the Shrew," Beau Jest Moving Theatre's "Samurai 7.0: Under Construction," and The Gold Dust Orphans' "The Plexiglass Menagerie" and "Silent Night of the Lambs."
Coen, an arts educator and one of Boston's most treasured actors, picked up his first Norton award at the event, which recognizes excellence in Greater Boston theater. Another local favorite, Leigh Barrett, received the award for outstanding musical performance for her work in New Repertory Theatre's "Ragtime" and Lyric Stage's "Souvenir."
Perhaps the biggest surprise of the night was the award for outstanding actress at a large company, which went to MacIntosh for her role as Agrippina in the American Repertory Theatre's "Britannicus." MacIntosh was up against the formidable Cherry Jones, a Broadway veteran and Tony Award winner, who played Sister Aloysius in John Patrick Shanley's "Doubt." The staging of "Doubt" at the Colonial Theatre was named outstanding visiting production. Michael Aronov was named outstanding actor at a large company for "Mauritius" at the Huntington Theatre.
Acclaimed set designer Eugene Lee received the coveted Norton Prize for Sustained Excellence for "four decades of intricate, imaginative set designs extending from Trinity Repertory to Broadway and beyond."
Three departing artistic directors also received awards for their contributions to theater: 25th Anniversary Awards went to the ART's former artistic director, Robert Woodruff, for challenging local audiences "with a daring, global menu of theatrical fare" and to Jon Kimbell, who plans to step down as North Shore Music Theatre's artistic director and executive producer; he was praised for building a thriving center for musicals, surmounting a 2005 crisis when a fire caused the theater to close temporarily. Nicholas Martin, entering his final season at the helm of the Huntington, was named outstanding director at a large company for "Love's Labour's Lost." Also honored with 25th Anniversary Awards were Jon B. Platt, who spearheaded the three-year renovation of the Colonial, and Mayor Thomas M. Menino.
SpeakEasy Stage Company's "Caroline, or Change" was named outstanding musical production. Boston Theatre Works' "A Midsummer Night's Dream" won the award for outstanding production by a small company, and Zeitgeist Stage Company's "Stuff Happens" was named outstanding production by a fringe company.
Director awards went to David R. Gammons at a midsize company for "Titus Andronicus" (Actors' Shakespeare Project) and to Jo n Lipsky at a small/fringe company for two shows: "Coming Up for Air: An AutoJAZZography" (Alliger Arts) and "King of the Jews" (Boston Playwrights' Theatre).
In the large company category, set designer Christine Jones and lighting designer Justin Townsend shared the outstanding design award for the ART's production of "The Onion Cellar." Dewey Dellay won for sound design at a small/midsize company for work on the Lyric's "Miss Witherspoon" and "9 Parts of Desire" and SpeakEasy Stage Company's "The Women."
A special citation went to the Harvard Theatre Collection, which dates from 1915 and houses the world's oldest major treasury of performing arts memorabilia.
