Diane Paulus 2017 Elliot Norton Prize Winner

THIS JUST IN!  The Boston Theater Critics Association has announced the 35th Anniversary Elliot Norton Awards nominations for outstanding work by Boston area actors, directors, designers, writers! Leading the pack are the Huntington Theatre Company and SpeakEasy Stage Company with 9 nominations each in a field of 66 nominations in 22 categories. The winners will be announced on stage Monday night May 15, 2017 at the Huntington Theatre Company’s BU Theatre.

This year’s recipient of the Elliot Norton Prize for Sustained Excellence is Diane Paulus, the Terrie and Bradley Bloom Artistic Director of Harvard’s American Repertory Theater (A.R.T.). Diane Paulus was among TIME Magazine’s annual list of the 100 most influential people in the world in 2014. The evening’s Guest of Honor is two-time Tony Award-winning actress Cherry Jones currently starring in the London production of “The Glass Menagerie” which originated at the A.R.T.in Cambridge.

I will once again emcee the evening whose theme this year “Alternative Acts” is a response to the current political climate which threatens freedom of expression and has devalued the crucial role artists play in our world. A portion of the proceeds will be donated to the Boston Arts Academy and its young artists some of whom will perform along with nominated musicals. The awards ceremony will be followed by a gala after party sponsored by the Gotlieb Archival Research Center where esteemed critic Elliot Norton’s papers are archived.

So come on out and celebrate Boston theater, meet some of your favorite performers, and support the arts! The 35th Elliot Norton Awards will be held Monday May 15 7PM. Tickets are $35.00 but $10 off if you use code NORTIES10 (available through MAY 1). Available at BostonTheatrescene.com or by calling 617-933-8600.

The 2017 Elliot Norton Award nominees

 Awards for visiting productions, actor and actress will be announced on May 15. There are no nominees in those categories this year.

 Outstanding Production, Large Theater

Fingersmith (American Repertory Theater)

Topdog/Underdog (Huntington Theatre Company)

Love’s Labour’s Lost (Commonwealth Shakespeare Company)

Outstanding Production, Midsize Theater

Hand to God (SpeakEasy Stage Company)

Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (Lyric Stage Company of Boston)

Edward II (Actors’ Shakespeare Project)

Outstanding Production, Small Theater

Oh God (Israeli Stage)

Lettice and Lovage (Gloucester Stage Company)

We’re Gonna Die (Company One Theatre)

Outstanding Production, Fringe Theater

Blasted (Off the Grid Theatre Company)

Silent Sky (Flat Earth Theatre)

The Little Dog Laughed (Take Your Pick Productions)

Outstanding Design, Large Theater

Fingersmith (American Repertory Theater) Set design by Christopher Acebo, costumes by Deborah Dryden, lighting by Jen Schriever, composer/sound designer Andre Pluess, projection design by Shawn Sagady, wig and makeup design by Rachel Padula Shufelt

An American in Paris (Boch Center Wang Theatre) Set and costume design by Bob Crowley, lighting by Natasha Katz, sound design by Jon Weston, projection design by 59 Productions

Topdog/Underdog (Huntington Theatre Company) Scenic and costume design by Clint Ramos, lighting by Driscoll Otto, sound design by Leon Rothenberg

Outstanding Design, Midsize, Small or Fringe Theater

The School for Scandal (Actors’ Shakespeare Project) Set design by J. Michael Griggs, costumes by Tyler Kinney and Jen Bennett, lighting by Karen Perlow, hair and makeup design by Amber Vonner, sound design by Darby Smotherman, props master Misaki Nishimiya

Edward II (Actors’ Shakespeare Project) Set design by Sara Brown, lighting by Jeff Adelberg, costumes by Rachel Padula Shufelt, sound design by David Wilson, violence design by Omar Robinson, props master Elizabeth Rocha

The Atheist (Boston Playwrights’ Theatre) Scenic design by Ronan Noone, lighting by Matthew Breton, sound design by Phil Schroeder, costume design by Georgia Lyman, media advisor Zachary Dyer

Outstanding Actor, Large Theater

Tyrone Mitchell Henderson, Topdog/Underdog (Huntington Theatre Company)

Matthew J. Harris, Topdog/Underdog (Huntington Theatre Company)

Russell Harvard, I Was Most Alive with You (Huntington Theatre Company)

Outstanding Actor, Midsize Theater

Maurice Emmanuel Parent, Edward II (Actors’ Shakespeare Project)

Eliott Purcell, Hand to God (SpeakEasy Stage Company)

Steven Barkhimer, Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (Lyric Stage Company of Boston)

Outstanding Actor, Small or Fringe Theater

Christopher James Webb, Blasted (Off the Grid Theatre Company)

Barlow Adamson, The Honey Trap (Boston Playwrights’ Theatre)

Will Lyman, Oh God (Israeli Stage)

Outstanding Actress, Large Theater

Kristine Nielsen, Fingersmith (American Repertory Theater)

Amanda Plummer, The Night of the Iguana (American Repertory Theater)

Karen MacDonald, Finish Line (Boch Center in association with Boston Theater Company)

Outstanding Actress, Midsize Theater

Marianna Bassham, Hand to God (SpeakEasy Stage Company) and Hamlet (Actors’ Shakespeare Project)

Paula Plum, Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (Lyric Stage Company of Boston)

Celeste Oliva, Stage Kiss (Lyric Stage Company of Boston)

Outstanding Actress, Small or Fringe Theater

Maureen Keiller, Faithless and The Honey Trap (Boston Playwrights’ Theatre) and Oh God (Israeli Stage)

Kippy Goldfarb, Really (Company One Theatre in partnership with Matter & Light Fine Art)

Erin Eva Butcher, Silent Sky (Flat Earth Theatre)

Outstanding New Script

Mala, by Melinda Lopez (ArtsEmerson)

Notes from the Field: Doing Time in Education, by Anna Deavere Smith (American Repertory Theater)

I Was Most Alive with You, by Craig Lucas (Huntington Theatre Company)

Outstanding Solo Performance

Obehi Janice, We’re Gonna Die (Company One Theatre)

Anna Deavere Smith, Notes from the Field: Doing Time in Education (American Repertory Theater)

Georgia Lyman, The Atheist (Boston Playwrights’ Theatre)

Outstanding Director, Large Theater

Billy Porter, Topdog/Underdog (Huntington Theatre Company)

Bill Rauch, Fingersmith (American Repertory Theater)

Garry Hynes, The Beauty Queen of Leenane (Druid Theatre Company, presented by ArtsEmerson)

Outstanding Director, Midsize Theater

Paul Daigneault, Dogfight, Significant Other and The Scottsboro Boys (SpeakEasy Stage Company)

David R. Gammons, Hand to God (SpeakEasy Stage Company) and Edward II (Actors’ Shakespeare Project)

Scott Edmiston, Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (Lyric Stage Company of Boston)

Outstanding Director, Small or Fringe Theater

Guy Ben-Aharon, Oh God (Israeli Stage) and Dog Paddle (Bridge Repertory Theater)

Danielle Fauteux Jacques, Brilliant Adventures (Apollinaire Theatre Company)

John Kuntz, Blasted (Off the Grid Theatre Company)

Outstanding Musical Production, Large Theater

Sunday in the Park with George (Huntington Theatre Company)

Show Boat (Fiddlehead Theatre Company)

Spamalot (North Shore Music Theatre)

Outstanding Musical Production, Midsize, Small or Fringe Theater

Fiddler on the Roof (New Repertory Theatre)

The Scottsboro Boys (SpeakEasy Stage Company)

Billy Elliot (Wheelock Family Theatre)

Outstanding Musical Performance by an Actor

Jeremiah Kissel, Fiddler on the Roof (New Repertory Theatre)

De’Lon Grant, The Scottsboro Boys (SpeakEasy Stage Company)

Seth Judice, Billy Elliot (Wheelock Family Theatre)

Outstanding Musical Performance by an Actress

Shoshana Bean, Funny Girl (North Shore Music Theatre)

Alejandra M. Parrilla, Dogfight (SpeakEasy Stage Company)

Jenni Barber, Sunday in the Park with George (Huntington Theatre Company)

Outstanding Ensemble

Regular Singing (New Repertory Theatre and Stoneham Theatre)

The Scottsboro Boys (SpeakEasy Stage Company)

The Beauty Queen of Leenane (Druid Theatre Company presented by ArtsEmerson