Garret Storms, right, was recognized for the excellent production of ‘The Big Meal’ at WaterTower, as was director Emily Scott Banks.
The Dallas-Fort Worth Theater Critics Forum weighed in last weekend about the 2015-16 theater season. Some shows currently in production — including Constellations at DTC and The Toxic Avenger at Uptown Players — were recognized. Eligibility ran from Sept. 1, 2015–Aug. 31, 2016.
OUTSTANDING DIRECTION
Akín Babatundé, Bootycandy, Stage West and The Mountaintop, Dallas Theater Center
Emily Scott Banks, The Big Meal, WaterTower Theatre
David Lozano, Blood Wedding, Cara Mía Theatre Company
Katherine Owens, Long Day’s Journey Into Night, Undermain Theatre
Artie Olaisen, The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane, Dallas Children’s Theater
Len Pfluger, Grand Hotel, Lyric Stage
The tour of ‘Cabaret’ was one of the best this season.
Susan Sargeant, Play, WingSpan Theatre Company
Ryan Matthieu Smith, Trainspotting, L.I.P. Service
Garret Storms, The Nether, Stage West
Regina Washington, Harriet Jacobs, African American Repertory Theater
OUTSTANDING NEW PLAY OR MUSICAL
Clarkston by Samuel D. Hunter, Dallas Theater Center
Deferred Action by David Lozano and Lee Trull, Cara Mía Theatre Company and Dallas Theater Center
Faust by Michael Federico, Lydia Mackay and Jeffrey Schmidt, The Drama Club
Stacy Has a Thing for Black Guys by Ruben Carrazana, The Tribe
Temple Spirit by Susan Felder, Echo Theatre
OUTSTANDING TOURING PRODUCTIONS
Alan Cumming Sings Sappy Songs, AT&T Performing Arts Center Off-Broadway on Flora Series
Beautiful: The Carole King Musical, AT&T Performing Arts Center Broadway Series
Eric Bogosian’s Bitter Honey: The Best of 100 (Monologues), AT&T Performing Arts Center Off-Broadway on Flora Series
Cabaret, AT&T Performing Arts Center Broadway Series
A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder, AT&T Performing Arts Center Broadway Series
Ghost Quartet, AT&T Performing Arts Center Off-Broadway on Flora Series
The Sound of Music, Dallas Summer Musicals and Performing Arts Fort Worth
Lyric’s ‘Grand Hotel’ with Mary-Margaret Pyeatt and Christopher J. Deaton.
OUSTANDING PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR
Christopher J. Deaton, Grand Hotel, Lyric Stage
Bruce DuBose, The Night Alive, Undermain Theatre
Hassan El-Amin, A Christmas Carol, Dallas Theater Center and The Mountaintop, Dallas Theater Center
Ivan Jasso, Deferred Action, Cara Mía Theatre Company and Dallas Theater Center
Jason Leyva, The Whale, L.I.P. Service
Barry Nash, I’m Gonna Pray for You So Hard, Kitchen Dog Theater
Alex Organ, Constellations, Dallas Theater Center
Brandon Potter, Richard III, Shakespeare Dallas and Shakespeare in the Bar
Garret Storms, The Big Meal, WaterTower Theatre
Terry Vandivort, The Fantasticks, Theatre Three
Karen Parrish in ‘Blackberry Winter’
OUSTANDING PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS
Emily Scott Banks, Jacob Marley’s A Christmas Carol, Stage West
Jessica Cavanagh, Outside Mullingar, WaterTower Theatre
Amber Devlin, Picnic, Theatre Three
Frida Espinosa-Muller, Blood Wedding, Cara Mía Theatre Company and Deferred Action, Cara Mía Theatre Company and Dallas Theater Center
Tiana Johnson, The Mountaintop, Dallas Theater Center
Jenny Ledel, I’m Gonna Pray for You So Hard, Kitchen Dog Theater
Denise Lee, Lady Day at Emerson’s Bar and Grill, Jubilee Theatre
![uptown-end-of-the-rainbow-comp-4[3]](https://dallasvoice.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/uptown-end-of-the-rainbow-comp-43-300x282.jpg)
Janelle Lutz played Judy Garland in ‘The End of the Rainbow’
Karen Parrish, Blackberry Winter, Kitchen Dog Theater
Allison Pistorius, Constellations, Dallas Theater Center
Joanna Schellenberg, Long Day’s Journey into Night, Undermain Theatre
Diane Worman, The Thrush and the Woodpecker, Kitchen Dog Theater
OUTSTANDING PERFORMANCE BY AN ENSEMBLE CAST
The Big Meal, WaterTower Theatre
Bootycandy, Stage West
Faust, The Drama Club
Grand Hotel, Lyric Stage
Long Day’s Journey into Night, Undermain Theatre
The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane, Dallas Children’s Theater
The Nether, Stage West
Play, WingSpan Theatre CompanyThe Toxic Avenger, Uptown Players
Under the Skin, Circle Theatre
OUTSTANDING DESIGN OR CREATIVE CONTRIBUTION
Jeffrey Colangelo, fight choreography, Christina Valentine, fight assistant, and Bobby Garcia, martial arts consultant, Animal vs. Machine, PrismCo
Design team, Faust, The Drama Club
Design team, Jonah, Undermain Theatre
Jay Dias, musical direction and orchestration restoration, Anything Goes, Lyric Stage
John M. Flores, sound design, The Thrush and the Woodpecker, Kitchen Dog Theater
Richard Gwozdz, orchestra conducting, Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown, Artes de la Rosa
Kyle Igneczi, puppet design and direction, Hershel and the Hanukkah Goblins, Amphibian Stage Productions
Benjamin Lutz and Dillon White, video design, Trainspotting, L.I.P. Service
Lynn Mauldin and Rebekka Koepke, properties design, The Adventures of Flo and Greg, Echo Theatre
Scott Osborne, set design, The Fantasticks, Theatre Three
Karen Perry, costume design, Dreamgirls, Dallas Theater Center
Gil Pritchett, musical direction, Harriet Jacobs, African American Repertory Theater
Ryan Rumery, original music and sound design, Constellations, Dallas Theater Center
Garret Storms and Nate Davis, set design, The Nether, Stage West
SPECIAL CITATIONS
Rose Pearson, co-founder of Circle Theatre, for a lifetime of visionary leadership of professional theater in Fort Worth and support of female theater artists.
Kurt Kleinmann, for his creation of Pegasus Theatre’s Living Black & White productions and 30 years as bumbling noir detective Harry Hunsacker.
Dallas Children’s Theater for providing sensory friendly performances for kids with special needs.
PARTICIPATING CRITICS
The forum is an organization of professional, paid critics that recognizes outstanding theatrical contributions in North Texas. Members must see 50 or more productions per season and are not actively practicing theater artists.
Nancy Churnin, Dallas Morning News
Martha Heimberg, TheaterJones.com and Dallas Weekly
Arnold Wayne Jones, Dallas Voice
Mark Lowry, TheaterJones.com and Fort Worth Star-Telegram
Punch Shaw, Fort Worth Star-Telegram
Lindsey Wilson, CultureMap