Here are your 2012 CultureWest.Org "True West" Award nominations

The 2012 True West "Theater Person of the Year" nominees. — The 2012 True West “Theater Person of the Year” nominees.

By John Moore
Dec. 16, 2012

One of the hardest things about leaving The Denver Post was leaving behind the Ovation Awards, which for 12 years was my annual salute to what we perceived to be the best in Colorado theater for any given year. Then I thought, “Why not?”

I can only judge what I saw, and this year I saw only about 100 productions, far fewer than the average of 165 I had established for the previous decade. But, then again, there was that whole “almost dying” thing that cut into my theatergoing time. Still, 100 shows, as they say … ain’t nothing. While some understandably think awards have no place in the creative process, I think it is important to properly acknowledge and archive the year just past, for posterity and history. Theater companies also benefit from awards nominations in their grant-writing and fundraising efforts.

So with great apologies to the many actors and shows I did not get to see in 2012 (the list of eligible shows is posted at the bottom), I humbly present my agonizing, loving look back at another great year in Colorado theater. I say agonizing because the theater community never gets to see these lists before the edits begin, when there are at times as many as 30 names up for legitimate consideration in any given category. That’s the hard part. The good part is the five names you get to keep.

But a new era calls for a new name, so welcome to the 2012 “True West” Awards nominations.

This year’s expanded list of “theater person of the year” candidates is the most varied yet. Dozens of companies again received at least one nomination. Curious Theatre leads the way with 27 nominations, followed by Boulder’s Dinner Theatre with 18, the Arvada Center with 14 and Buntport with 13.

You can again vote for “reader’s choice” designees in a limited number of categories through Dec. 20. http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/2VHXY2J

Winners will be announced here next Sunday, Dec. 23. Congratulations to anyone who wrote dialogue, got up on a stage, or played in part in creating theater in 2012.

THE 2012 CULTUREWEST.ORG TRUE WEST AWARDS NOMINATIONS:

Theater person of the year:
Rick Bernstein and Paige Larson: Announced the transition of the leadership of Miners Alley Playhouse in Golden to Brenda Billings and Len Matheo, ending a run of 24 years of storytelling in west Jefferson County.

Abby Apple Boes: Created Abster Productions, which became the first local theater company to stage the Pulitzer Prize-winning “August: Osage County.” She also played oldest daughter Barbara.

Craig Bond: The founder of the 11-year-old Vintage Theatre completed the nearly $1 million purchase of its new home in Aurora, and immediately expanded programming, adding a secondary studio theater and a cabaret stage. Vintage gave a presenting home to local deaf and Asian theater companies. Bond’s own offerings included the two-part epic “The Cider House Rules” and the large-scale musical “Kiss of the Spider Woman.” He also took over as president of the Colorado Theatre Guild.

Ben Dicke: Dicke created his own company to present the Colorado premiere of the smart off-Broadway musical “Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson” at election time. He waged a creative, year-long fundraising campaign that included him running for 24 hours on a treadmill on the downtown 16th Street Mall. The night Dicke was to open in the title role, he fell down a backstage trap door and was seriously hurt. Three weeks later, the show went on. As an actor, he also performed in the Arvada Center’s “Legally Blonde, the Musical” and “Miracle on 34th Street.”

Brian Freeland: The LIDA Project founder directed two original pieces for his own company, designed sound and multimedia for several other local companies, including Curious Theatre (“The Elaborate Entrance of Chad Deity”), Town Hall Arts Center (“The Who’s Tommy”) and Ignite Theatre (“Spring Awakening”). Just before the election, he took a sponsorship offer from the ACLU to produce “Red Hot Patriot: The Kick-Ass Wit of Molly Ivins,” which sold out and had an extended run at the Aurora Fox.

Eden Lane: Entered her fifth season self-producing and hosting “In Focus,” a weekly television program covering arts and culture for Channel 12.

Christy Montour-Larson: Directed the Henry Award-winning “Red,” “9 Circles” and “Time Stands Still” for Curious Theatre, as well as “The Giver” for the Denver Center.

Mare Trevathan: A founding member of Local Theatre Company, Trevathan acted in the Colorado Shakespeare Festival’s “Richard III” and “Treasure Island,” as well as Local Theatre’s “Elijah: An Adventure.” Trevathan, a member of Curious Theatre Company, is also the co-creator of the popular annual fundraiser: “Balls: A Holiday Spectacular,” at Lannie’s Clocktower Cabaret.

Jeremy Palmer: The Phamaly Theatre Company actor and writer won the Denver Foundation’s Minoru Yasui Volunteer Award, and Denver mayor Michael Hancock declared Nov. 15, 2012, “Jeremy Palmer Day” in Denver. Palmer co-wrote and co-directed Phamaly’s sketch comedy “Cinco de Vox,” and he starred as the masochistic dentist in “Little Shop of Horrors.”

Stephen Weitz: The Boulder Ensemble Theatre co-founder performed in his own “Shipwrecked! An Entertainment”; in “Elijah: An Adventure” for Local Theatre; as well as in the Colorado Shakespeare Festival’s “Twelfth Night,” “Richard III” and “Treasure Island.” He directed the Boulder Ensemble’s “Gross Indecency: The Three Trials of Oscar Wilde,” “How the World Began” and “The SantaLand Diaries.” And he directed the Denver Center’s far-reaching staged reading of “8,” about the legal challenge to a bill preventing gay and lesbian couples from marrying in California.

Best year by a company:

Arvada Center
Buntport Theater
Boulder’s Dinner Theatre
Colorado Shakespeare Festival
Curious Theatre
LIDA Project
Town Hall Arts Center

Best year by an actor:
(Minimum three roles)

Brett Ambler: Arvada Center’s “Legally Blonde”; Boulder’s Dinner Theatre’s “Avenue Q,” ”The Drowsy Chaperone” and “42nd Street”
Benjamin Bonenfant: Curious Theatre’s “Red”; TheatreWorks’ “Love’s Labor’s Lost”; Local Theatre Company’s “Elijah: An Adventure”; Denver Center‘s “When We are Married”
Erik Edborg: Buntport Theater’s “Tommy Lee Jones Goes to Opera Alone,” “The Roast Beef Situation” and “Sweet Tooth”
Seth Caikowski: Boulder’s Dinner Theatre’s “Cinderella,” “The Drowsy Chaperone” and “Avenue Q”; Starkey Productions’ “Little Shop of Horrors”
Jim Hunt: Boulder Ensemble’s “The Three Trials of Oscar Wilde”; Lake Dillon’s “Sylvia”; Colorado Shakespeare Festival’s “Noises Off”; Vintage’s “Becky’s New Car”; Backstage’s “A Christmas Carol”
Sean Scrutchins: “Curious Theatre’s “9 Circles”; Devils Thumb’s “Bug”; TheatreWorks’ “You Can’t Take it With You”

Year by an actress:
(Minimum three roles)

Rachel Fowler: Curious Theatre’s “Becky Shaw”; Local Theatre’s “Elijah: An Adventure”; Arvada Center/Colorado Shakespeare Festival’s “Twelfth Night”; Colorado Shakespeare Festival’s “Noises Off”
Billie McBride: Curious Theatre’s “Becky Shaw”; Senior Housing Options’ “Driving Miss Daisy”; Denver Center’s “The Giver”
Missy Moore: Abster Productions’ “August: Osage County”; Spark Theatre’s “Marie Antoinette: The Color of Flesh”; TheatreWorks’ “You Can’t Take it With You”
Leslie O’Carroll: Colorado Shakespeare Festival’s “Twelfth Night” and “Noises Off,” Denver Center’s “When We Are Married”
Erin Rollman: Buntport Theater’s “Tommy Lee Jones Goes to Opera Alone,” “The Roast Beef Situation” and “Sweet Tooth”
Katie Ulrich: Boulder’s Dinner Theatre’s “The Drowsy Chaperone” and “42nd Street,” Arvada Center’s “Legally Blonde” and “Dirty Rotten Scoundrels”

Best drama:

Senior Housing Options’ “Driving Miss Daisy”
Curious Theatre’s “Red”
LIDA Project’s “Red Hot Patriot: The Kick-Ass Wit of Molly Ivins”
Curious Theatre Company’s “Time Stands Still”
Buntport Theater’s “Tommy Lee Jones Goes to Opera Alone”

Best musical:

Boulder’s Dinner Theatre’s “42nd Street”
Lake Dillon’s “Kiss of the Spider Woman”
Town Hall Arts Center’s “The Producers”
Arvada Center’s “Legally Blonde”
Town Hall Arts Center’s “The Who’s Tommy”

Best comedy:

Arvada Center/Colorado Shakespeare Festival’s “Twelfth Night”
Curious’ “The Elaborate Entrance of Chad Deity”
The Catamounts’ “Messenger #1”
Colorado Shakespeare Festival’s “Noises Off”
Boulder Ensemble Theatre Company’s “The SantaLand Diaries”

Best new work:

LIDA Project’s “Auto-da-Fé,” by Elias Canetti and Rebecca Gorman O’Neill
Off-Center@The Jones’ “Date,” by Luciann Lajoie
Creede Repertory Theatre’s “Harry the Great,” by John DiAntonio
Buntport Theater’s “Tommy Lee Jones Goes to Opera Alone,” written by ensemble
Denver Center Theatre Company’s “The Whale,” by Samuel D. Hunter

Best actor in a drama:

Erik Edborg, Buntport Theater’s “Tommy Lee Jones Goes to Opera Alone”
Lawrence Hecht, Curious Theatre’s “Red”
Michael Morgan, Curious Theatre Company’s “Time Stands Still”
Dan O’Neill, LIDA Project’s “Auto-da-Fé”
Sean Scrutchins, Curious Theatre’s “9 Circles”

Best actress in a drama:

Rhonda Brown, LIDA Project’s “Red Hot Patriot: The Kick-Ass Wit of Molly Ivins”
Tara Falk, Curious Theatre’s “Time Stands Still”
Rachel Fowler, Curious Theatre’s “Becky Shaw”
Anne Oberbroeckling, Abster Productions’ “August: Osage County”
Theresa Dwyer Reid, Byers-Evans House’s “A Doll’s House”

Best actor in a musical:

Joshua Blanchard, Lake Dillon’s ”Kiss of the Spider Woman”
Andrew Diessner, Aurora Fox’s “Xanadu”
Tim Howard, Town Hall Arts Center’s “The Producers”
Brian Norber, Boulder’s Dinner Theatre’s “The Drowsy Chaperone”
Tally Sessions, Arvada Center’s “Chess”

Best actress in a musical:

Lisa Karlin, Arvada Center’s “Chess”
Ellen Kaye, Boulder’s Dinner Theatre’s “Avenue Q”
Brooke Singer, Ignite Theatre’s “Spring Awakening”
Megan Van De Hey, Little Theatre of the Rockies’ “Next to Normal”
Kathi Wood, Phamaly Theatre Company’s “The Little Shop of Horrors”

Best actor in a comic role:

Brian Colonna, Buntport’s “The Roast Beef Situation”
Steven Cole Hughes, Creede Repertory Theatre’s “Is He Dead?”
Michael Lopez, Curious’ “The Elaborate Entrance of Chad Deity”
Jason Maxwell, The Catamounts’ “Messenger #1”
Matt Zambrano, Boulder Ensemble Theatre Company’s “The SantaLand Diaries”

Best actress in a comic role:

Kate Berry, Colorado Shakespeare Festival’s “Twelfth Night”
Annie Dwyer, Heritage Square Music Hall season
Meridith C. Grundei, The Catamounts’ “Messenger #1”
Jane Shirley, Rattlebrain/The Avenue’s “Santa’s Big Red Sack”
Caitlin Wise, Creede Repertory Theatre’s “Is He Dead?”

Best supporting actor in a drama:

Matthew Blood-Smyth, Local Theatre’s “Elijah: An Adventure”
Benjamin Bonenfant, Curious Theatre’s “Red”
Bill Hahn, Curious Theatre’ “Becky Shaw”
Chris Kendall, Boulder Ensemble Theatre Company’s “How the World Began”
Stephen Siebert, The Edge’s “A View from the Bridge”

Best supporting actress in a drama:

Devon James, Curious Theatre Company’s “Time Stands Still”
Haley Johnson, The Edge’s “A Small Fire”
Missy Moore, Abster Productions’ “August: Osage County”
Lucy Roucis, Phamaly Theatre’s “The Elephant Man”
Allison Watrous, Sys Tryst’s “Crimes of the Heart”

Best supporting actor in a musical:

Seth Caikowski, Boulder’s Dinner Theatre’s “The Drowsy Chaperone”
Stephen Day, Arvada Center’s “Chess”
Rob Janzen, Town Hall Arts Center’s “The Who’s Tommy”
Eric Mather, Town Hall Arts Center’s “The Producers”
Brian Merz-Hutchinson, Vintage’s “Kiss of the Spider Woman”

Best supporting actress in a musical:

Shelly Cox-Robie, Boulder’s Dinner Theatre’s “Cinderella”
Hannah Duggan, Buntport Theater’s “Sweet Tooth”
Norrell Moore, Arvada Center’s “Legally Blonde”
Mercedes Perez, Lake Dillon’s ”Kiss of the Spider Woman”
Sarah Rex, Arvada Center’s “Legally Blonde”

Best supporting actor in a comic role:

John Arp, Creede Repertory Theatre’s “Is He Dead?”
Erik Edborg, Buntport’s “The Roast Beef Situation”
Akshay Kapoor, Curious’ “The Elaborate Entrance of Chad Deity”
Geoff Kent, Colorado Shakespeare Festival’s “Noises Off”
Timothy McCracken, Colorado Shakespeare Festival’s “Noises Off”

Best supporting actress in a comic role:

Hannah Duggan, Buntport Theater’s “Tommy Lee Jones Goes to Opera Alone”
Lauren Nordvig, Lake Dillon’s “A Behanding in Spokane”
Leslie O’Carroll, Colorado Shakespeare Festival’s “Noises Off”
Erin Rollman, Buntport’s “The Roast Beef Situation”
Jamie Ann Romero: Colorado Shakespeare Festival’s “Noises Off”

Best ensemble in a play:

Sys Tryst’s “Crimes of the Heart”
Local Theatre’s “Elijah: An Adventure”
Shakespeare Festival’s “Noises Off”
Curious Theatre Company’s “Time Stands Still”
Buntport Theater’s “Tommy Lee Jones Goes to Opera Alone”

Best ensemble in a musical:

Boulder’s Dinner Theatre’s “Avenue Q”
Boulder’s Dinner Theatre’s “The Drowsy Chaperone”
Lake Dillon’s ”Kiss of the Spider Woman”
Arvada Center’s “Legally Blonde”
Town Hall Arts Center’s “The Who’s Tommy”

Best director of a play:

Lynne Collins, Colorado Shakespeare Festival’s “Noises Off”
Ensemble, Buntport Theater’s “Tommy Lee Jones Goes to Opera Alone”
Lawrence Hecht, Sys Tryst’s “Crimes of the heart”
Christy Montour-Larson, Curious Theatre Company’s “Time Stands Still”
Chip Walton, Curious’ “The Elaborate Entrance of Chad Deity”
Edith Weiss, Phamaly Theatre’s “Cinco de Vox”

Best director of a musical:

Christopher Alleman, Lake Dillon, “Kiss of the Spider Woman”
Michael J. Duran, Boulder’s Dinner Theatre’s “42nd Street”
Gavin Mayer, Arvada Center’s “Legally Blonde”
Nick Sugar, Town Hall Arts Center’s “The Who’s Tommy”
Steve Wilson, Phamaly Theatre Company’s “The Little Shop of Horrors”

Best musical direction:

Donna Debreceni, Town Hall Arts Center’s “The Who’s Tommy”
Neal Dunfee, Boulder’s Dinner Theatre’s “42nd Street”
David Nehls, Arvada Center’s “Chess”
Donna Debreceni, Phamaly Theatre Company’s “The Little Shop of Horrors”
Jonathan Parks, Lake Dillon’s ”Kiss of the Spider Woman”

Best choreography:

Tracy Warren, Boulder’s Dinner Theatre’s “42nd Street”
Kitty Skillman Hilsabeck, Arvada Center’s “Legally Blonde”
Ali Dunfee, Boulder’s Dinner Theatre’s “The Drowsy Chaperone”
Nick Sugar, Town Hall Arts Center’s “The Who’s Tommy”
Debby Stark, Phamaly Theatre Company’s “The Little Shop of Horrors”

Best use of multimedia:

Brian Freeland, LIDA Project’s “Add it Up”
Mitch Dickman and Brian Freeland, Curious Theatre’s “The Elaborate Entrance of Chad Deity”
Brian Freeland, Town Hall Arts Center’s “The Who’s Tommy”
Charlie Miller, Off-Center @ The Jones’ “Date”
Brian Shea, National Theatre Conservatory’s “Fahrenheit 451”

Best scenic design:

Amy Campion, Boulder’s Dinner Theatre’s “Avenue Q”
Susan Crabtree, Curious Theatre’s “Red”
Peter J. Hughes, Drew Kowalkowski, Jeff Jesmer, Erika Kae and Katie Dawson, Abster Productions’ “August: Osage County”
Brian Mallgrave, Arvada Center’s “Legally Blonde”
Charles Packard, Curious’ “The Elaborate Entrance of Chad Deity”

Best costume design:

Linda Morken, Boulder’s Dinner Theatre’s “42nd Street”
Ann Piano, Curious’ “The Elaborate Entrance of Chad Deity”
Clare Henkel, Colorado Shakespeare Festival’s “Twelfth Night”
Michael Emmitt, Spark Theatre’s “Marie Antoinette: The Color of Flesh”
Kevin Brainerd, Byers-Evans House’s “A Doll’s House”

Best sound design:

Will Burns, Curious Theatre’s “Red”
Brian Freeland, Curious’ “The Elaborate Entrance of Chad Deity”
David Ortolano, Band of Toughs’ “The Thugs”
Steve Stevens, Colorado Shakespeare Festival’s “Twelfth Night”
Wayne Kennedy, Boulder’s Dinner Theatre’s “The Drowsy Chaperone”

Best lighting design:

Richard Devin, Curious Theatre’s “9 Circles”
Karl Jones, Evergreen Players’ “Hair”
Shannon McKinney, Curious Theatre’s “Red”
Jon Scott-McKean, Town Hall Arts Center’s “The Who’s Tommy”
Jacob Welch, Lake Dillon’s ”Kiss of the Spider Woman”

BEST OF THE DENVER CENTER THEATRE COMPANY

(Note: I did not get to see the following DCTC productions: “Two Things You Don’t talk About at Dinner,” “Fences,” “Taming of the Shrew” and “Ring of Fire”)

Best year by an actor or actress:
(Minimum three roles)

Kathleen M. Brady: “Heartbreak House,” “The Taming of the Shrew,” “When We Are Married”
John Hutton: “Two Things You Don’t Talk About at Dinner,” “The Great Wall Story,” “The Three Musketeers,” “When We Are Married”
Sam Gregory: “Two Things You Don’t Talk About at Dinner,” “When We Are Married,” “Heartbreak House,” “The Three Musketeers” (also: Senior Housung Options’ “Driving Miss Daisy”)
Kathleen McCall: “Heartbreak House,” “Taming of the Shrew,” “When We Are Married”
Philip Pleasants: “Heartbreak House,” “The Taming of the Shrew,” “The Giver”
Larry Paulsen: “The Great Wall Story,” “The Three Musketeers,” “When We Are Married”

Best production:

“The Giver”
“Heartbreak House”
“The Whale”

Best actor in a play:

Tom Alan Robbins, “The Whale”
Timothy McCracken, “The Giver”
Philip Pleasants, “The Giver”

Best supporting actor:

Cory Michael Smith, “The Whale”
Mike Hartman, “The Great Wall Story”
Larry Paulsen, “When We Are Married”

Best actress in a play:

Lise Bruneau, “Heartbreak House”
Diana Dresser, “The Giver”
Jeanne Paulsen, “When We Are Married”

Best supporting actress in a play:

Angela Reed, “The Whale”
Katie MacNichol, “Three Musketeers”
Kathleen Brady, “When We Are Married”

Best ensemble:

“When We Are Married”
“The Three Musketeers”
“Heartbreak House”

(Other categories will awarded without specified nominations)

LIST OF ELIGIBLE PRODUCTIONS:

Abster Productions
“August: Osage County”

Ami Dayan’ Presents
“A Happy End”

And Toto Too
“Naked in Encino”

Arvada Center
“Chess”
“Twelfth Night” (with Colorado Shakespeare Festival)
“Legally Blonde”
“Dirty Rotten Scoundrels”
“Miracle on 34th Street, the Musical”

Ashton Entertainment
“Picasso at the Lapine Agile”

Aurora Fox
“Xanadu”

Avenue Theater
“Love Child”

Rattlebrain Theatre
“Santa’s Big Red Sack”

Band of Toughs
“The Thugs”

Bas Bleu
“Buffalo Gal”

Ben Dicke Presents
“Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson*

Boulder’s Dinner Theatre
“Cinderella”
“The Drowsy Chaperone”
“Avenue Q”
“42nd Street”

Boulder Ensemble Theatre Company
“Gross Indecency: The Three Trials of Oscar Wilde”
“How the World Began”
“The SantaLand Diaries”

The Brothers Wefso
“Constantin Aboard the Constantine”

Byers-Evans House Theatre Company
“A Doll’s House”

Buntport Theater
“Tommy Lee Jones Goes to Opera Alone”
“The Roast Beef Situation”
““Sweet Tooth”

The Catamounts
“The Three Faces of Dr. Crippen”
“Messenger #1”

Colorado Shakespeare Festival
“Twelfth Night” (with Arvada Center)
“Richard III”
“Noises Off”

Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center
“Make Sure It’s Me”

Creede Repertory Theatre
“Is He Dead?”
“Harry the Great”

Curious Theatre Company
“9 Circles”
“Becky Shaw”
“Red”
“The Elaborate Entrance of Chad Deity”
“Time Stands Still”

Dangerous Theatre
“Comfort in the Arms of the Damned”

Denver Center Attractions
“The Book of Mormon”
“Memphis”

Denver Center Theatre Company
“Eligible:
The Whale”
“The Great Wall Story”
“Heartbreak House”
“The Three Musketeers”
“The Giver”
“When We Are Married”

(Not eligible:
“Two Things You Don’t talk About at Dinner”
“Fences”
“White Christmas”
“Taming of the Shrew”
“Ring of Fire”)

Devil’s Thumb
“Bug”

The Edge Theatre Company
“ A Small Fire”
“A View from the Bridge”
“Boom”
“Straight Sitting”
“Gifted”
“Room 12”
“Crasher/Hostess”

Equinox
“Assassins”

Evergreen Players
“Hair”

Firehouse Theatre Company
“Coronado”
“Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde”

Germinal Stage-Denver
“The Misanthrope”
“A Kind of Alaska”

Heritage Square Music Hall
“American Idols”

Ignite Theater Company
“The Busy World is Hushed”
“Spring Awakening”
“Sweeney Todd”

Lake Dillon Theatre Company
“A Behanding in Spokane”
“Kiss of the Spider Woman”

LIDA Project
“Auto-da-Fé”
“Add it Up”
“Red Hot Patriot: The Kick-Ass Wit of Molly Ivins”

Little Theatre of the Rockies
“Next to Normal”

Local THeatre Company
“Elijah: An Adventure”

Magic Moments
“A Night at Nick’s”

Midtown Arts Center
“In the Heights”

Miners Alley Playhouse
“The Three Penny Opera”

National Theatre Conservatory
“Fahrenheit 451”

Off-Center @ The Jones
“Date”

Phamaly Theatre Company
“The Elephant Man”
“disLabled”
“Little Shop of Horrors”
“Vox PHAMALIA: Cinco de Vox!”

Senior Housing Options
“Driving Miss Daisy”

Silhouette Theatre Company
“Jailbait”

Sis Tryst Productions
“Crimes of the Heart”

Spark Theatre
“Marie Antoinette: The Color of Flesh”

Spotlight Theatre
“Murder on the Nile”

square product theatre
“44 Plays for 44 Presidents”

Starkey Productions
“Little Shop of Horrors”

Sys Tryst
“Crimes of the Heart”

Theatre ‘d Art
“Reservoir Dogs”

TheatreWorks
“Love’s Labor’s Lost”

Town Hall Arts Center
“The Producers”
“The Who’s Tommy”
“Sweet Charity”

Upstart Crow
“The Merry Wives of Windsor”

Vintage Theatre
“The Kiss of the Spider Woman”