Thirteen different stage productions were honored at the fourth annual Kevin Kline Awards ceremony. Nine St. Louis area theater companies were recognized with awards. Five of those nine theaters were multiple award winners.
The Repertory Theatre of St. Louis received 10 awards, the most of any individual theater. Two productions accounted for eight of those ten awards. The Little Dog Laughed received five Kevin Kline Awards, including Outstanding Production of a Play and Outstanding Lead Actress [Erika Rolfsrud]. Ella earned three Kevin Kline Awards, including Outstanding Lead Actress [Tina Fabriqe]. Rob Ruggiero, who directed both The Little Dog Laughed and Ella, received two Kevin Kline Awards, as Outstanding Director of both a Play and a Musical.
The Black Rep's staging of Sarafina! also received three awards. In addition to Outstanding Production of a Musical, the show was honored as Outstanding Ensemble in a Musical and for Choreography (Keith Tyrone). In addition to Rob Ruggieros's two Kevins, actress Colleen Backer also was a multiple award winner. Backer was voted Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Play (Morning's at Seven at Stray Dog Theatre) and Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Musical (Smoke on the Mountain at Mustard Seed Theatre).
In all, 23 Kevin Kline Awards were bestowed in 22 categories. (The voting in one category - Outstanding Lead Actor in a Musical - resulted in tie. Kevin Kline Awards were given to both Jeffrey D. Pruett in Pippin at Stray Dog Theatre and to Lewis J. Stadlen in The Producers at the Muny.)
Sponsored by the Professional Theatre Awards Council of Greater St. Louis to honor theater achievement in St. Louis, the March 30 ceremony was held at the Loretto-Hilton Center in Webster Groves, home of the Repertory Theatre of St. Louis. The gala ceremony was hosted by Broadway star Lee Roy Reams.
The Professional Theatre Awards Council of Greater St. Louis (PTAC) was formed in 2004 to heighten awareness of theater in St. Louis. During the twelve months of 2008, 100 different plays and musicals were evaluated by a floating pool of 45 judges. Each show was seen by seven judges (children's shoes were seen by three judges), and each judge was required to submit his or her ballot within 24 hours of attending a production, thus insuring that each production was weighed on its own merits rather than in comparison to others.
THE WINNERS AND NOMINEES (categories listed in the order in which they were announced):
Outstanding Production for Young Audiences
Winner: ME & RICHARD 3 (Shakespeare Festival St. Louis)
Other nominees: The Jungle Book (Stages St. Louis)
Midsummer (Shakespeare Festival St. Louis)
Myth Adventures (The Imaginary Theatre Company)
The Starry Messenger (Upstream Theater)
Outstanding New Play or Musical
Winner: CARTER W. LEWIS, Evie's Waltz (The Repertory Theatre of St. Louis)
Other nominees: Lee Patton Chiles, Complacency of Silence: Darfur (Gitana Productions)
Tim Collins, A Fire as Bright as Heaven (St. Louis Actors' Studio)
Gregory Jones, Men With Clubs (HotCity Theatre)
Dan Rubin and Lauren Dusek, Overexposed (OnSite Theatre Company)
Outstanding Costume Design
Winner: LOU BIRD (Thoroughly Modern Millie, Stages St. Louis)
Other nominees: Fumiko Bielefeldt (Emma, The Repertory Theatre of St. Louis)
