ShowMag.com

27th Annual Robby Award Winners Announced

Stephanie Zimbalist in Defying Gravity

The 27th Annual (and Final) Robby Awards were presented in an afternoon ceremony at The Laurel Theatre in Ventura on Sunday, February 15. Vista’s Moonlight Stage Productions’ Children of Eden, Long Beach’s International City Theatre’s Agnes of God, and Burbank’s The Colony’s Fuddy Meers took the honors as Best Productions of the year. No one production or theater company dominated the awards given by Showmag.com theater critic Rob Stevens for Distinguished Achievement in Theater for 2003. Fuddy Meers won three awards, the most by any production, also winning for Supporting Actor Nick DeGruccio and Supporting Actress Jodi Carlisle. Ventura’s Rubicon Theatre Company won the most awards, four, for their dramatic productions. A Streetcar Named Desire won Linda Purl and Tami Tappan Damiano Robbys for Best Actress and Best Supporting Actress respectively. The Rubicon’s Defying Gravity won awards for playwright Jane Anderson and director Jenny Sullivan. Misty Cotton and Kevin Early continued to dominate the musical performance categories, each winning for the third consecutive year. Cotton won as Best Actress for Anyone Can Whistle while Early was a winner for Carousel.

The show was hosted with wit, verve, and much humor by the duo of Carole Cook and Nan Martin, who reunited for one final awards show gig. The two actresses have a long history with the Robby Awards, Martin first hosted in 1983, Cook in 1984. Together they hosted the show more than all the other hosts combined. The Marvelous Wonderettes (Kirsten Benton, Kim Huber, Beth Malone & Bets Malone) started the show in their prom formals, bringing Stevens to the stage for a special rendition of "Teacher’s Pet." Eric Anderson brought down the house as he segued from the romantic ballad "Where’s the Girl?" from The Scarlet Pimpernel to "Sweet Transvestite" from The Rocky Horror Show, revealing fishnets and highheels beneath his breakaway pants. Misty Cotton and Ira Denmark performed "All The Wasted Time" from Parade, the Tony and Robby award-winner for Best Music & Lyrics. Eileen Barnett, Jane A. Johnston, Peisha McPhee, Debbie Prutsman, Marcia Rodd and Wynn Wilson also performed during the show. Past Robby Award winners Priscilla Barnes, Linda Hart, Ken Sawyer, Ann Walker, and Stephanie Zimbalist also presented awards. A highly emotional moment came when septuagenarian Tony Award-winner Virginia Capers came to the stage to accept her Robby Living Legend Award and was greeted with a standing ovation.

This was the final Robby Awards as Rob Stevens has retired from full time reviewing and moved from Southern California to the Central Coast to become producer for Classic American Theatre in Paso Robles. He can be reached at robstevens47@charter.net.

WINNERS OF THE 27TH ANNUAL ROBBY AWARDS

MUSICAL PRODUCTION

CHILDREN OF EDEN, MOONLIGHT STAGE PRODUCTIONS

DIRECTOR OF A MUSICAL

Tie

Tim Dang, PASSION, EAST WEST PLAYERS

Steven A. Glaudini, CHILDREN OF EDEN, PERFORMANCE RIVERSIDE & MOONLIGHT STAGE PRODUCTIONS

ACTOR IN A MUSICAL

Kevin Earley, CAROUSEL, CABRILLO MUSIC THEATER

ACTRESS IN A MUSICAL

Tie

Carolee Carmello, ON THE TWENTIETH CENTURY, REPRISE! BROADWAY'S BEST

Misty Cotton, ANYONE CAN WHISTLE, THE MATRIX THEATER

SUPPORTING ACTOR IN A MUSICAL

Gary Beach, THE PRODUCERS, PANTAGES THEATRE
SUPPORTING ACTRESS IN A MUSICAL

Mary Jo Mecca, SWEET CHARITY, MOONLIGHT STAGE PRODUCTIONS

CABARET or CONCERT PERFORMANCE

Lorna Luft, SONGS MY MOTHER TAUGHT ME, CANON THEATRICALS

MUSIC & LYRICS

Jason Robert Brown, PARADE, MUSICAL THEATRE GUILD

CHOREOGRAPHY

Susan Stroman, THE PRODUCERS, PANTAGES THEATRE

MUSICAL DIRECTION

Steven Smith, PARADE, MUSICAL THEATRE GUILD

DRAMA PRODUCTION

AGNES OF GOD, INTERNATIONAL CITY THEATRE

DIRECTOR OF A DRAMA

Jenny Sullivan, DEFYING GRAVITY, RUBICON THEATRE COMPANY

ACTOR IN A DRAMA

Jess Pennington, FRANNY’S WAY, GEFFEN PLAYHOUSE

ACTRESS IN A DRAMA

Linda Purl, A STREETCAR NAMED DESIRE, RUBICON THEATRE COMPANY

SUPPORTING ACTOR IN A DRAMA

James Farentino, BOY GETS GIRL, GEFFEN PLAYHOUSE

SUPPORTING ACTRESS IN DRAMA

TIE

Tami Tappan Damiano, A STREETCAR NAMED DESIRE, RUBICON THEATRE COMPANY

Dale Dickey, THE TRIALS AND TRIBULATIONS OF A TRAILER TRASH HOUSEWIFE, ZEPHYR THEATRE

COMEDY PRODUCTION

FUDDY MEERS, THE COLONY

DIRECTOR OF A COMEDY

Warner Shook, THE LAST NIGHT OF BALLYHOO, SOUTH COAST REPERTORY

ACTOR IN A COMEDY

Billy Campbell, MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING, THE OLD GLOBE

ACTRESS IN A COMEDY

Joyce Van Patten, HARVEY, LAGUNA PLAYHOUSE

SUPPORTING ACTOR IN A COMEDY

Nick DeGruccio, FUDDY MEERS, THE COLONY

SUPPORTING ACTRESS IN A COMEDY

Jodi Carlisle, FUDDY MEERS, THE COLONY

ENSEMBLE PERFORMANCE

Kirsten Benton, Kim Huber, Beth Malone, Bets Malone, THE MARVELOUS WONDERETTES, THE HERMOSA BEACH PLAYHOUSE

PLAYWRITING

Jane Anderson, DEFYING GRAVITY, RUBICON THEATRE COMPANY

SCENIC DESIGN

Dave Nofsinger, WONDERFUL TOWN, PCPA THEATREFEST

LIGHTING DESIGN

Jennifer ‘Z’ Zornow, MEASURE FOR MEASURE, PCPA THEATREFEST

COSTUME DESIGN

Frederick P. Deeben, WONDERFUL TOWN, PCPA THEATREFEST

SOUND DESIGN

Tom Clark and Mark Bennett, THE SEARCH FOR SIGNS OF INTELLIGENT LIFE IN THE UNIVERSE, AHMANSON THEATRE