The Theatre Roundtable of Central Ohio & The Central Ohio Theatre Critics’ Circle
Annual Theatre Awards Event 2007

Theatre Roundtable Excellence in Production Awards

OUTSTANDING PRODUCTIONS:

Little Women , Columbus Children's Theatre

42 nd Street , Otterbein College Theatre

Children of Eden , Weathervane Playhouse

EXCELLENCE IN ACTING:

Beth Wagner, The World Goes Round , Curtain Players

Matthew W. Smith, Little Women , Columbus Children's Theatre

Charlie Sloin, Plaza Suite , Curtain Players

Judy Parker, Plaza Suite , Curtain Players

Chip Becker, The Last Five Years , Red Herring Theatre Ensemble

James Petsche, The Laramie Project , Little Theatre Off Broadway

Ensemble, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest , Emerald City Players

Megan Evans, Passion of Dracula , Curtain Players

Paul Brewer, Jr. Ma Rainey's Black Bottom , Ujima Theatre

Ensemble of Paul Brewer, Jr., Tommy Tucker, Brian Jones and Mark Cummings, Ma Rainey's Black Bottom , Ujima Theatre

David R. Bahgat, Fiddler on the Roof , Gallery Players

Michael Schacherbauer, Rumors , Emerald City Players

Eryn Ickert, The Innocents , Emerald City Players

Zach Kleinsmith, Leaving Iowa , Otterbein College Theatre

Beth Triffon, Leaving Iowa , Otterbein College Theatre

EXCELLENCE IN MUSICAL PERFORMANCE

Elizabeth Shivner, Company , Otterbein College Theatre

The Dance Ensemble, 42 nd Street , Otterbein College Theatre

EXCELLENCE IN DIRECTING:

Nancy Shelton-Williams, Little Women , Columbus, Children's Theatre

J.B. Jasiunas, The Last Five Years , Red Herring Theatre Ensemble

Ed Meade, The Laramie Project , Little Theatre Off Broadway

Rene Saxton, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest , Emerald City Players

Ron Pitts, Ma Rainey's Black Bottom , Ujima Theatre

Bill Goldsmith, Jesus Christ Superstar , Columbus Children's Theatre

Frank Barnhart, The Laramie Project , Theatre Columbus State

Maureen Ryan, A Bright Room Called Day , The Ohio State University Theatre

Steven Anderson, Hair , The Ohio State University Theatre/CAPA

PRODUCTION:

Excellence in Technical Production, Little Women , Columbus Children's Theatre

Excellence in Technical Production, The Critics' Choice , Vaud-Villities

Lighting, Tony Giedlinski, The Laramie Project , Little Theatre Off Broadway

Sound, Eric Ewing, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest , Emerald City Players

Set Design and Set Dressing, Mark & Deb Blessing, The Passion of Dracula , Curtain Players

Lighting Design, Jim Broshnahan & Skye Waverly, The Passion of Dracula , Curtain Players

Costume Design, Judy Parker & Dan McCarty, The Passion of Dracula , Curtain Players

Technical Design, Dan Gray, Jason Banks, Kristine Kearney, Hair , The Ohio State University Theatre/CAPA

Excellence in Production Management, Toni Auch, Critics' Choice , Vaud-Villities

MUSIC:

Excellence in Musical Direction, Matt Paetsch, The Last Five Years , Red Herring Theatre Ensemble

CHOREOGRAPHY:

Kristin Gloege, The World Goes Round , Curtain Players

Amanda Cawthorne, Fiddler on the Roof , Gallery Players

Kelli Barclay (under the supervision of Randy Skinner) 42 nd Street , Otterbein College Theatre

Katy Psenicka, The Who's Tommy , Shadowbox Cabaret

Theatre Roundtable Harold Awards

Billie and Ralph Hazelbaker

Actor's Theatre Shakespeare Marathon

The Central Ohio Theatre Critics's citations

The Central Ohio Theater Critics Circle has announced its 13th annual citations recognizing people and organizations whose work promotes the values of theater.
Three citations were unanimously approved and presented Sunday night (Feb. 11) at the Theatre Roundtable's Theater Awards Night in the Leo Yassenoff Jewish Community Center's Roth/Resler Theatre.

* To Contemporary American Theatre Company, now staging its 200th production with Seascape, for maintaining high artistic quality onstage while overcoming recent financial deficits, thereby demonstrating that professional theater can thrive in Columbus.

* To Columbus Children's Theatre, for introducing young imaginations to theater through its statewide outreach program, which includes a Child Writing Project to encourage creative writing in the schools, and its professional touring company, which began in 1970 and now presents shows (including child-written plays) to more than 80,000 students annually in 65 counties.

* A Roy Bowen Award for Lifetime Achievement to Katherine Burkman, Ohio State University English professor emeritus and playwright, for co-founding and leading Women at Play throughout its 12-year run, and for her world-renowned scholarship, books and international OSU conference on playwright Harold Pinter.

The Roy Bowen Lifetime Award winners
Here are the past winners of the Central Ohio Theatre Critics Circle's occasional Roy Bowen Award for Lifetime Achievement:

2007: Katherine Burkman
The Ohio State University English professor emeritus and playwright was recognized for co-founding and leading Women at Play throughout its 12-year run, and for her world-renowned scholarship, books and international OSU conference on playwright Harold Pinter.

2006:  No award

2005: John Kenley and L.B. “Bo” Rabby
Rabby, an Ohio Wesleyan University professor who retired after leading OWU's theater department since the 1970s, was recognized for his dedication to building the department and his mentorship of many students who've gone on to oustanding arts careers.
Producer-director John Kenley, whose Kenley Players flourished in Columbus and other Ohio cities from the 1950s into the 1980s, was recognized for putting Ethel Merman, Mae West and other Broadway, film and television stars onstage in the heartland and for nurturing the early careers of Tommy Tune, Andy Williams and other stars.

2004: Dennis Parker
Parker, who retired in 2003 from Ohio State University, was recognized for his many years of work as a costume designer, professor and mentor.

2003: No award

2002: Eileen Heckart
The award was presented posthumously to the internationally known actress, a Columbus native and Ohio State University graduate who died at 82 on Dec. 31, 2001, for six decades of Tony-, Oscar- and Emmy-winning performances.

2001: Fred Holdridge and Howard Burns
The German Village leaders and longtime partners were recognized for their consistent support of the arts in central Ohio for almost a quarter of a century, including serving as board presidents during pivotal growth stages of Contemporary American Theatre Company and Red Herring Theatre Company.

2000: Jerome Lawrence and Robert E. Lee
The central Ohio playwriting team was recognized for “their illustrious half-century collaboration” on such Broadway hits as Inherit the Wind and Auntie Mame, and for their sustained generosity to central Ohio, such as their $1 million endowment of OSU's Theatre Research Institute.

1999: David Ayers
Ayers, a professor emeritus of theater at Ohio State University, was recognized for more than three decades of exemplary work as a central Ohio actor, director, teacher, mentor and artistic director.
Among his notable contributions: leading the American Playwrights Theatre group, launched with Jerome Lawrence and Robert E. Lee to produce significant new works regionally; starring in the world premiere of Lawrence and Lee's The Night Thoreau Spent in Jail (1970) and Jabberwocky (1972); and his continuing work as an actor and director at Contemporary American Theatre Company in such admirable productions as Of Mice and Men (1995) and Taking Sides (1997).

1998: Harold Eisenstein
Artist-in-residence at the Leo Yassenoff Jewish Community Center, Eisenstein was recognized for his leadership at Gallery Players since the mid-1950s, his guidance as the community theater moved toward semiprofessional status in the 1996-97 season, and his inspiring professionalism as Gallery prepared for its 50th anniversary season.

1997: Firman “Bo” Brown
Bowen, former chairman of Ohio State University's Theater Department (1981-1992), was recognized for his leadership in building OSU's theater program, including the estblishment of the OSU Theatre Cmpany; for founding the Thetre Roundable, which represents central Ohio theaters; and for his passionate advocacy for professional theater in Columbus.

1996: Charles “Chuck” Dodrill and Ionia Zelenka
Director/professor Dodrill, who directed an imaginative thrust-stage version of Our Town for Grandparents Living Theatre, was recognized “for a lifetime of pioneering leadership and artistic achievement at Otterbein College and throughout central Ohio.
Zelenka, an actress/director/emeritus professor, was recognized for outstanding performances in Contemporary American Theatre Company's Keely and Du, Blithe Spirit and A Christmas Memory/The Thanksgiving Visitor, for “consistent excellent in acting over many years” and for her decades of teaching, directing and providing inspiration at CATCO and Ohio State University.

1995: Russell Hastings
The designer, who retired after 27 years at Ohio State University, was recognized for “a lifetime of artistry and achievement and for teaching many of today's renowned theater designers.”

 

The Central Ohio Theatre Roundtable

Past Awards of Excellence

2005

2004