‘The Temptation for St Antony’ won a 2015 Ovation Award for Best Ensemble. (Image: Four Larks/Facebook)
Earlier this month, the 2015 Ovation Awards—the only peer-judged theater awards in Los Angeles—celebrated the best in LA’s theater scene. A number of CalArtians, or the productions with which they were involved, were honored by the LA Stage Alliance, a nonprofit theater advocacy organization.
Hosted by actor French Stewart and his wife actor-writer Vanessa Claire Stewart, the celebration took place at the Ahmanson Theatre in downtown Los Angeles on Nov. 9. The following CalArts alumni and faculty are among the winners:
- Book for an Original Musical: Matt Almos (Theater MFA 93), Carolyn Almos (Theater MFA 93), Albert Dayan (Theater MFA 94) and John Beauregard won for The Behavior of Broadus.
- Lyrics and Composition for an Original Musical: Matt Almos and Brendan Milburn won for The Behavior of Broadus.
- Acting Ensemble of a Play: The trophy went to The Temptation of St Antony, which featured performances by Caitlyn Conlin (Theater MFA 11), Kalean Ung (Theater MFA 12) and Paula Rebelo (Theater BFA 13).
- Best Sound Design (Large Theater): Faculty Drew Dalzell (Theater 96) won for Wicked Lit 2014.
- Best Sound Design (Intimate Theater): John Zalewski was honored for The Day Shall Declare It, which was produced by faculty Miranda Wright’s (Theater MFA 09) Los Angeles Performance Practice.
In addition to the production and performance awards, the Center Theatre Group presented its 2016 Richard E. Sherwood Award to multimedia artist, animator and CalArts alumna Miwa Matreyek (IM, Film/Video MFA 07), who’s known for live performances that combine intricate projected animation with her own live shadow silhouettes. The award, which was created in memory of arts patron Richard E. Sherwood, provides $10,000 in financial support for innovative and adventurous emerging theatre artists living and working in LA.
The other two finalists for the Sherwood Award were Theater School faculty member Dr. Chantal Rodriguez, programming director and literary manager for the Latino Theater Company at the Los Angeles Theatre Center (LATC), and dance-theater artist Kevin Williamson.