Tag Archives: League of Cincinnati Theatre Awards

March 18, 2013 · 11:32 am

ETC’s BLACK PEARL SINGS Earns LCT Nomination

Torie Wiggins as Pearl Johnson. Photo by Ryan Kurtz.

Torie Wiggins as Pearl Johnson. Photo by Ryan Kurtz.

Panelists for the League of Cincinnati Theatres (LCT) have recognized Ensemble Theatre Cincinnati’s BLACK PEARL SINGS with an LCT nomination for lead actress in a play (Torie Wiggins) as well as distinguishing it as a recommended production.

Set during the Great Depression, Susannah travels the country, recording lost traditional songs. Hoping to find the one song that will bring her long-awaited recognition, she discovers Pearl Johnson in a Texas prison. With a silky, soulful voice and a wealth of African-American spiritual songs, Pearl seeks information and a chance at freedom. This moving drama chronicles a powerful story about being a woman in a man’s world, being black in a white world, and fighting for one’s soul in a world where anyone can be a commodity.

Panelists praised Torie Wiggins’ portrayal of Pearl as “consistent and transformative”; “she beautifully captured the internal struggle, humanity, humor, pain, and joy of this complex woman.” Panelists praised the overall production for “the caliber of the performances and the sensitivity of the direction”—“everyone should see it”.

BLACK PEARL SINGS continues through March 31st. Tickets can be purchased at www.ensemblecincinnati.org.

Final LCT awards will be determined at the end of the season and announced at the LCT gala in the spring.

The League of Cincinnati Theatres was founded in 1999 to strengthen, nurture and promote Cincinnati’s theatre community. LCT provides its member companies and individual members with education, resources and services to enhance the quality and exposure of the theatre community in Cincinnati and increase community awareness, attendance and involvement. More information about the League can be found at www.leagueofcincytheatres.com.

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March 14, 2013 · 7:53 pm

LCT Awards S.L.U.T. Top Prize in CCM’s TRANSMIGRATION Series

CCM_SLUTPanelists for the League of Cincinnati Theatres (LCT) have recognized S.L.U.T. as the best production at the University of Cincinnati’s College Conservatory of Music’s TRANSMIGRATION series, the Drama department’s annual presentation of student written and produced work. Panelists awarded second place to Sentenced, and honorable mentions to 2122 Michigan Avenue and The Sherwin Williams Effect.

The fifth-annual festival allows the audience to experience half-hour works produced by small groups of Drama majors, who create and design all aspects of their productions from start to finish. The festival is an exciting event for both guests and the presenters, as audiences get the opportunity to see up to four very different pieces of new theatre in a single night and the students premiere works that are entirely their own. This year, six shows were presented. “TRANSMIGRATION teaches our actors to be entrepreneurs,” says Richard Hess, chair of CCM’s Drama Department and director of the TRANSMIGRATION Festival. “There are absolutely no holds barred, with the exception of the thirty-minute time limit, allowing our students to learn to express from within.”

S.L.U.T. was praised for its imaginative and engaging plot, while Sentenced was noted to be strong on acting and overall storytelling. 2122 Michigan Avenue and The Sherwin Williams Effect were both described as “original, creative, and hilarious”. Overall, the panelists were “impressed by the tight ensemble nature of each one” of the TRANSMIGRATION presentations. “Trust and commitment shone with each cast.”

The League of Cincinnati Theatres was founded in 1999 to strengthen, nurture and promote Cincinnati’s theatre community. LCT provides its member companies and individual members with education, resources and services to enhance the quality and exposure of the theatre community in Cincinnati and increase community awareness, attendance and involvement. More information about the League can be found at www.leagueofcincytheatres.com.

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March 14, 2013 · 7:35 pm

CP’s A BEHANDING IN SPOKANE Earns Five LCT Nominations

Behanding022-200x150Panelists for the League of Cincinnati Theatres (LCT) have recognized the Clifton Players’ production of A Behanding in Spokane with 5 LCT nominations, for director Kevin Crowley, lead actors Reggie Willis and Buz Davis, featured actor Michael Bath, and for Ensemble acting, as well as distinguishing it as a recommended production.

Martin McDonagh wrote a half-dozen plays that established his international reputation in one fell swoop back in the 1990s.. In 2010 he brought a new stage script to Broadway, A Behanding in Spokane, and it’s set not in Ireland but in the United States.The piece fulfills the expectation that a McDonagh script is going to be full of plot twists and at the same time hilarious. The main character, Carmichael, is on a quest to find something he has lost and to get revenge on the person who took it from him. The lost item is an actual bodily appendage, which proves to makes the story quirkier.

Panelists praised Kevin Crowley’s direction: he “handled this crazy play with precision”; “a nice balance between the real and the fantastic.” Buz Davis “inhabited the role as one-handed Carmichael. His heart came through the freakiness”; Reggie Willis as Toby was “over the top”. Featured actor Michael Bath as Mervyn was “frenetic, funny, and deeply affecting”. The ensemble as a whole “sparkled like a gem and played off each other marvelously well.” Overall, the show was “beautifully bawdy and wonderfully crass, absurd and excellently conceived…the actors hold nothing back to bring this play to surrealistic life. The Clifton Players are an impressive group and would be that way in any sized house….anywhere.”

A BEHANDING IN SPOKANE continues through March 23rd. Tickets can be purchased at http://cliftonperformancetheatre.com.

Final LCT awards will be determined at the end of the season and announced at the LCT gala in the spring.

The League of Cincinnati Theatres was founded in 1999 to strengthen, nurture and promote Cincinnati’s theatre community. LCT provides its member companies and individual members with education, resources and services to enhance the quality and exposure of the theatre community in Cincinnati and increase community awareness, attendance and involvement. More information about the League can be found at www.leagueofcincytheatres.com.

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February 28, 2013 · 8:23 am

NKU’s LEGALLY BLONDE Earns Two LCT Nominations

The cast.

The cast.

Panelists for the League of Cincinnati Theatres (LCT) have recognized Northern Kentucky University’s production of LEGALLY BLONDE with two LCT nominations for Choreography (Roderick Justice) and Ensemble in a Musical, as well as distinguishing it as a recommended production.

This hit Broadway musical is adapted from the motion picture and follows sorority star Elle Woods. Elle doesn’t take “no” for an answer, so when her boyfriend dumps her for someone “serious,” Elle puts down the credit card, hits the books, and sets out to go where no Delta Nu has gone before: Harvard Law. Along the way, Elle proves that being true to yourself never goes out of style.

Panelists praised Roderick Justice’s choreography as “humorous and clever”, “perfectly suited to the cheesy-licious songs”; “some of the best dancing I have ever seen at NKU.” The ensemble “committed 110%” and “kept this bon-bon of a show always lively, energetic, and enjoyable.” The panelists overall recommended the production, as one panelist aptly summed up:: “OMG! This was super fun! It totally, like, uplifted the audience. When a play MOVES, like, a whole audience to feel happy and smiling, that is like, awesome! It was a great confection of a play that exceeded my expectations.”

Legally Blonde continues through March 3rd. Tickets can be purchased at http://artscience.nku.edu/departments/theatre/boxoffice.html.

Final LCT awards will be determined at the end of the season and announced at the LCT gala in the spring.

The League of Cincinnati Theatres was founded in 1999 to strengthen, nurture and promote Cincinnati’s theatre community. LCT provides its member companies and individual members with education, resources and services to enhance the quality and exposure of the theatre community in Cincinnati and increase community awareness, attendance and involvement. More information about the League can be found at www.leagueofcincytheatres.com.

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February 19, 2013 · 3:32 pm

PIP’s LEVELING UP Earns LCT Nomination

PIP_LevelingUp_1Panelists for the League of Cincinnati Theatres (LCT) have recognized Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park’s LEVELING UP with an LCT nomination for featured actor (Bobby Moreno), as well as distinguishing it as a recommended production.

Four 20-somethings struggle to transition from college to a “real” life that is rarely spent outside the glare of the video game monitors in their Las Vegas basement. What they find is a world of grown-up relationships that require levels of intimacy far beyond the social shield of technology. When one member of the circle is recruited by the NSA to pilot remote missiles, he’s ill-equipped to handle the moral ambiguities raised in this thought-provoking and often humorous world premiere about a generation straddling the fuzzy line between reality and virtual reality.

Panelists praised Bobby Moreno as Chuck, saying he gave the play “life and heart”; he was “the glue that held the show together.” Overall, the panelists thought the show was “an interesting look into the minds of today’s youth”: “thought-provoking”…”a tight and emotional ride”.

LEVELING UP continues through March 10th. Tickets can be purchased at www.cincyplay.com.

Final LCT awards will be determined at the end of the season and announced at the LCT gala in the spring.

The League of Cincinnati Theatres was founded in 1999 to strengthen, nurture and promote Cincinnati’s theatre community. LCT provides its member companies and individual members with education, resources and services to enhance the quality and exposure of the theatre community in Cincinnati and increase community awareness, attendance and involvement. More information about the League can be found at www.leagueofcincytheatres.com.

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