The winners have been announced of this year’s Lucille Lortel Awards, given to honor achievement in the Off Broadway theatre. Interestingly, the design winners are a mixed group, representing four separate productions.
In the set design category, Douglas Stein won for 36 Views, produced by the Joseph Papp Public Theatre, in association with Berkeley Repertory Theatre. Stein beat David Gallo for Wonder of the World at Manhattan Theatre Club; Allen Moyer for The Dazzle at Roundabout Theatre Company; Daniel Ostling for Metamorphoses, at Second Stage; and Scott Pask for the commercial production Urinetown.
Elizabeth Caitlin Ward won in the costume design category, for her eclectic work on the Theatre for a New Audience production of Shakespeare’s Cymbeline. Her competition included Gregory Gale and the late Jonathan Bixby for Urinetown, Mara Blumenfeld for Metamorphoses, Susan Hilferty and Linda Ross for the Playwrights Horizons production of Franny’s Way, and Bob Miller and Steven Howard for the commercial musical entertainment Dragapella!
The winner in the lighting design category was T. J. Gerckens for Metamorphoses. Others nominated were Traci Klainer for Four, produced by Worth Street Theatre and Manhattan Theatre Club; Brian MacDevitt for Urinetown; and David Weiner for 36 Views.
Finally, Scott Lehrer won in the sound category for Franny’s Way, beating out Brett Jarvis for Brutal Imagination, at the Vineyard Theatre; Andre Pluess and Ben Sussman for Metamorphoses; and Dan Moses Schreier for Homebody/Kabul, at New York Theatre Workshop. Although the awards are aimed at Off Broadway, both multiple-award winners Metamorphoses and Urinetown have moved from their original Off Broadway venues to Broadway houses, where both figure to play a prominent role in this year’s Tony Awards. Metamorphoses, originally produced by Chicago's Lookingglass Theatre, has also been seen at Seattle Repertory Theatre and Berkeley Repertory Theatre.
A full list of winners follows:
Outstanding Play: Metamorphoses, by Mary Zimmerman (Second Stage)
Outstanding Musical: Urinetown, music and lyrics by Mark Hollmann, book and lyrics by Greg Kotis
Outstanding Revival: Cymbeline (Theatre for a New Audience)
Outstanding Director: Mary Zimmerman, Metamorphoses
Outstanding Choreographer: John Carrafa, Urinetown
Outstanding Actor: Reg Rogers, The Dazzle (Roundabout Theatre Company)
Outstanding Actress: Linda Emond, Homebody/Kabul (New York Theatre Workshop)
Outstanding Featured Actor: Keith Nobbs, Four (Worth Street Theatre/Manhattan Theatre Club)
Outstanding Featured Actress: Kathleen Widdoes, Franny’s Way (Playwrights Horizons)
Outstanding Scenic Design: Douglas Stein, 36 Views (Joseph Papp Public Theatre/Berkeley Repertory Theatre)
Outstanding Costume Design: Elizabeth Caitlin Ward, Cymbeline
Outstanding Lighting Design: T. J. Gerckens, Metamorphoses
Outstanding Sound Design: Scott Lehrer, Franny’s Way
Special Awards:
The Edith Oliver Award for Sustained Excellence: Ruby Dee
Lifetime Achievement Award: Edward Albee
Outstanding Body of Work: Second Stage Theatre
Unique Theatrical Experience: Elaine Stritch: At Liberty