The theater
community’s annual awards season comes to a close with Sunday’s Tony Awards, which
means it is time to announce our own ProfMiller Kudos Awards for Outstanding Theatrical Achievement, 2012-2013.
In all honesty, this
past year has not been the greatest, on or off the Great White Way. This is not, I think, the place to name
names, but suffice it to say, too many productions turned out to be lacking in
imagination and creativity.
But there certainly
were pleasures to be derived, and The Kudos Awards are here to celebrate those special
moments, when everything magically came together and everyone involved could
say—in the words of Blanche DuBois—“oh look, we have created enchantment.”
For the record, The
Kudos Awards encompass Broadway, Off Broadway, and Off-Off Broadway productions
and do not take into consideration length of run, size or location of theater,
or any life-after-New York touring potential. What they do take into
consideration are the personal biases and judgments of one theatergoer,
underpinned by more than a half century of experience as a member of the
audience. Do take it in that light.
And so, without
further ado, the envelope, please.
Special Awards
We’ll begin with several special awards that don’t fit into any of the
usual categories.
The first is a Special Kudos Award for Outstanding Work By a Repertory Company,
which goes to the Irish
Rep. I never cease to be amazed at how the production team—headed up by its
creative founders Ciarán O’Reilly and
Charlotte Moore—manage to put together such entertaining plays and musicals within
their tiny performance space. I don’t think I’ve ever seen them repeat themselves
in terms of staging, so I can only conclude that they have one or more helpful leprechauns
hanging about. Special nods this year to
two of its shows: a thoroughly charming
production of the musical Donnybrook! and the current first-rate revival of
Conor McPherson’s atmospheric play, The Weir.
Speaking of charming, The
Kudos Awards now has a new category called Most Charming Solo Performance, created
just for Michael Urie, in recognition of his star turn as a factotum for an
unseen character known as Barbra Streisand, in Jonathan Tolins’s Buyer and Cellar. The play is slight, but the
performance is indeed Kudos-worthy.
And finally, a Special Kudos
Raise-‘Em-From-The-Dead Award goes to Keala Settle for the way in which she did
just that with her rendition of the gospel number “Joy of the Lord” in Hands On
A Hardbody. Ain’t nobody gonna nod off
in church with Ms. Settle leading the choir!
Acting Awards – Plays
For Best Actress in a Play, the winner is Cicely Tyson, who beguiles the audience into singing hymns with her in the revival of
Horton Foote’s The Trip To Bountiful.
For Best Featured Actress in a Play, the
winner is Judith Light, whose performance as a conflicted Jewish mother and
loving sister-in-law in Richard Greenberg's The Assembled Parties quite lifted the play to a higher
level altogether and contributed greatly to its success.
For Best Actor in a Play, the winner
is Danny Burstein, for his lead performance in the revival of
that grown-up Valentine of a play, Lanford Wilson’s Talley’s
Folly. After his splendid work in last
year’s revival of Stephen Sondheim’s Follies, Mr. Burstein might do well to seek
out or commission plays with “folly” in the title.
For Best Featured Actor in a Play, the
winner of the Kudos Award is Tony Shalhoub for his heartfelt performance
as the immigrant dad in the very solid revival of Clifford Odets’s Golden Boy.
Acting Awards – Musicals
For Best Actress in a
Musical, the winner is Patina Miller, who ringmasters the many strands that
make up Pippin. She’s got the moves,
the pipes, and the sass needed to pull this off.
For Best Featured
Actress in a Musical, no one goes near to matching Andrea Martin’s featured
number in Pippin. She gives a master
class in musical performing every single time she shows up. Kudos and Brava to her!
For Best Actor in a
Musical, the winner is Billy Porter, who, like Patina Miller, has the moves, the
pipes, and the sass, which he uses to great effect in the out-there role of Lola, the drag star in Kinky
Boots.
For Best Featured
Actor in a Musical, we have a tie with the delightful duo of Will Swenson and
David Pittu for their teamwork in the Encores! production of It’s A Bird…It’s A
Plane…It’s Superman, itself a strong contender for best musical revival.
Directing Awards
Winning the Kudos Award for Best Director of a Play is Ruben
Santiago-Hudson, for his outstanding work with the revival of August Wilson’s The
Piano Lesson at Signature Theatre.
For Best Director of a Musical, the Kudos Award goes to the team
responsible for much of the success of Pippin, Diane Paulus, Gypsy Snider, and Chet
Walker. Paulus is credited as director,
Snider as being in charge of the circus elements, and Walker as choreographer,
but it is their collaborative efforts that have resulted in this terrific and original production.
Plays
The hands down winner
in the category of Best Revival of
a Play is the Signature Theatre’s production of August Wilson’s The Piano
Lesson. Brilliantly acted under the perfect direction of Ruben Santiago-Hudson,
this was the frontrunner early on, and nothing that has appeared since then has
come close.
For Best New Play, the Kudos Award goes to Richard Greenberg’s The
Assembled Parties. This was a strange
play, especially the first Act, with its false trails and unanswered questions,
but somehow it all came together in the second half and boasted a pair of
memorable performances by Jessica Hecht and Judith Light, and a very creative
set design by Santo Loquasto.
Musicals
The Kudos Award for Best Revival of a Musical goes to Pippin.
Individual performances and the overall production more than make up for
the rambling nature of the show, and the artifices enhance rather than distract
from the work.
And, finally, for Best New Musical, the Kudos Award goes to Kinky Boots, largely on the basis of Cyndi Lauper’s infectious score. A thumping crowd pleaser!
And that, folks, is a
wrap. Cue the music and call it a night!
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