The nomination and recipient selection process for the Richmond Theatre Critics Circle awards fascinates me every year. You get a big group together to discuss theater (there are now 10 RTCC members) and, of course, opinions are going to fly all over the place. However, when the dust settles, the result is a list that is never perfect but provides a fairly good representation of the really good stuff that happened on stage in Richmond last season.
Here are a few observations about the list of nominees for the 6th annual awards, which will be handed out in a gala event held on Sunday, October 20th at the November Theatre downtown:
Joe Pabst grabbing noms for both Best Actor and Best Director of a Musical is a first. One person receiving multiple nominations in a year has not been out of the ordinary, but it’s usually been within a specialization (an exception: Patti D’Beck being nominated for both Directing and Choreography for “White Christmas”). Joe was also in the mix for Best Supporting Actor in a Musical for “Music Man” so, all and all, a good year for Joe.
With her two nominations this year, Lynn Hartman ties the former nomination leader, Paul Deiss, with 10 total nominations over the course of the RTCCs six year history. All of Hartman’s nominations have been for Lighting Design while Deiss has several Sound Design nominations to add to his nods for Musical Direction.
The actor with the highest number of nominations is Debra Wagoner, who, with her recognition for “Magic Flute” this year, has a total of 6. Debra is Joe Pabst’s wife so definitely a good year for that household.
No Shakespeare productions were nominated for Best Play the first 3 years of the RTCCs. “King Lear” and “Macbeth” scored noms in 2011 and 2012 respectively. This year we have 2 Shakespeares in Best Play plus Jan Powell’s direction of “King John” recognized in Best Direction. So, a good year for William.
Without specific birthday information it is hard to know whether recent high-school graduate Kelsey Cordrey, nominated for her bravura turn in “bare,” is the youngest nominee ever. Ali Thibodeau was close to the same age when nominated for “Thoroughly Modern Millie” back in 2009. Thibodeau went on to collect the award for Best Supporting Actress in a Musical that year, perhaps a good omen for Cordrey.