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2009 LUCILLE LORTEL AWARD NOMINATIONS ANNOUNCED
Thursday, April 2, 2009

Nominations in 14 categories and 2 special awards are announced by the Off-Broadway League for the Lucille Lortel Awards recognizing Outstanding Achievement Off-Broadway.  This year’s ceremony will benefit The Actors Fund.  A list of nominees follows below.

Now in its 24th year, the Lortel Awards will be handed out on Sunday, May 3, 2009 at the “Off” Broadway Ballroom at the Marriott Marquis.  Arrivals / Cocktails begin at 6PM EST and the Awards Ceremony begins at 7PM EST.  A cocktail reception honoring all of the nominees will take place on Monday, April 20 at Ruth’s Chris Steak House at 5PM EST.  

For more information, please visit www.LortelAward.com.

Outstanding Play:

Animals Out of Paper; Second Stage Theatre, Producer; Rajiv Joseph, Playwright

Becky Shaw; Second Stage Theatre, Producer; Gina Gionfriddo, Playwright

Ruined; Manhattan Theatre Club and Goodman Theatre, Producer; Lynn Nottage, Playwright

The Good Negro; The Public Theater in association with Dallas Theater Center, Producers; Tracey Scott Wilson, Playwright

The Sound and the Fury (April Seventh, 1928); New York Theatre Workshop and Elevator Repair Service, Producers; Text by William Faulkner, Created by Elevator Repair Service

Outstanding Musical:

Fela! A New Musical; Ruth and Stephen Hendel and Roy GabayProducers; Book by Jim Lewis and Bill T. Jones, Music and Lyrics by Fela Anikulapo Kuti, Add'l Music by Aaron Johnson and Jordan McLean, Add'l Lyrics by Jim Lewis.

 My Vaudeville Man!; The York Theatre Company and Melanie Herman, Producers; Book by Jeff Hochhauser, Music by Bob Johnston, Lyrics by Bob Johnston and Jeff Hochhauser
 
Road Show; The Public Theater, Producer; Music and Lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, Book by John Weidman
 
Saved; Playwrights Horizons in association with Elephant Eye Theatrical, Producers; Music and Lyrics by Michael Friedman, Book and Lyrics by John Dempsey and Rinne Groff
 
This Beautiful City; Vineyard Theatre, Producer; Composer and Lyricist Michael Friedman, Librettist Steve Cosson and Jim Lewis, Created by The Civilians
 
Outstanding Solo Show:

Humor Abuse; Manhattan Theatre Club, Producer; Created by Lorenzo Pisoni and Erica Schmidt, Performed by Lorenzo Pisoni
 
Sleepwalk With Me; Eli Gonda, Ryan Scott Warren, Marc Turtletaub, Peter Saraf, and Nathan Lane, Producers; Written and Performed by Mike Birbiglia

Outstanding Revival:

Enter Laughing, The Musical; The York Theatre Company, Producer; Book by Joseph Stein, Music and Lyrics by Stan Daniels, Based on the play Enter Laughing by Joseph Stein, from the novel by Carl Reiner.
 
Othello; Theatre for a New Audience, Producer; William Shakespeare, Playwright
 
Our Town; Scott Morfee, Jean Doumanian, Tom Wirtshafter, Ted Snowdon, Eagle Productions, Dena Hammerstein/Pam Pariseau, The Weinstein Company, Burnt Umber Productions, Producers; Thornton Wilder, Playwright
 
The Cripple of Inishmaan; Atlantic Theater Company and Druid Theatre CompanyProducers; Martin McDonagh, Playwright
 
The Glass Cage; Mint Theater CompanyProducer; J.B. Priestley, Playwright
 

Outstanding Director:

Arin Arbus, Othello
David Cromer, Our Town
Garry Hynes, The Cripple of Inishmaan
Kate Whoriskey, Ruined
Robert Woodruff, Chair

Outstanding Choreographer:

Martha Clarke, Garden of Earthly Delights
Bill T. Jones, Fela! A New Musical
Janet Miller, The Marvelous Wonderettes
Lynne Taylor-Corbett and Shonn Wiley, My Vaudeville Man!
Sergio Trujillo, Saved

Outstanding Lead Actor:

Ned Eisenberg, Othello
Brian d'Arcy James, Port Authority
Josh Grisetti, Enter Laughing, The Musical
Sahr Ngaujah, Fela! A New Musical
John Douglas Thompson, Othello

Outstanding Lead Actress:

Ellen Burstyn, The Little Flower of East Orange
Saidah Arrika Ekulona, Ruined
Carmen M. Herlihy, crooked
Kellie Overbey, The Savannah Disputation
Annie Parisse, Becky Shaw

Outstanding Featured Actor:

Utkarsh Ambudkar, Animals Out of Paper
Francois Battiste, The Good Negro
John McMartin, Saturn Returns
Aaron Monaghan, The Cripple of Inishmaan
Thomas Sadoski, Becky Shaw

Outstanding Featured Actress:

Annika Boras, Chair
Kerry Condon, The Cripple of Inishmaan
Lisa Emery, Distracted
Mamie Gummer, Uncle Vanya
Juliet Rylance, Othello

Outstanding Scenic Design:

Beowulf Boritt, Animals Out of Paper
Marina Draghici, Fela! A New Musical
Roger Hanna, The Glass Cage
James Schuette, Wig Out!
David Zinn, Chair

Outstanding Costume Design:

Marina Draghici, Fela! A New Musical
Ann Hould-Ward, Road Show
Toni-Leslie James, Wig Out!
Karen Perry, The First Breeze of Summer
Theresa Squire, Rafta, Rafta…

Outstanding Lighting Design:

Christopher Akerlind, Garden of Earthly Delights
Mark Barton, Chair
Lap Chi Chu, The Good Negro
Marcus Doshi, Othello
Jason Lyons, Mourning Becomes Electra

Outstanding Sound Design:

Quentin Chiappetta, Irena's Vow
John Gromada, Shipwrecked! An Entertainment
Robert Kaplowitz, Wig Out!
Jane Shaw, The Widowing of Mrs. Holroyd
Matt Tierney, The Sound and the Fury (April Seventh, 1928)

Special Awards:

Edith Oliver Award for Sustained Excellence:

Ira Weitzman
 
Outstanding Body of Work:

The Lark Play Development Center
 

Nominations by Show:
 
Animals Out of Paper – 3
Becky Shaw – 3
Chair – 4
crooked - 1

Distracted – 1
Enter Laughing – 2
Fela! A New Musical – 5
Garden of Earthly Delights – 2
Humor Abuse – 1
Irena’s Vow – 1
Mourning Becomes Electra – 1
My Vaudeville Man! – 2
Othello – 6
Our Town – 2
Port Authority – 1
Rafta, Rafta – 1
Road Show – 2
Ruined – 3
Saturn Returns – 1
Saved – 2 
Shipwrecked! An Entertainment – 1
Sleepwalk with Me – 1
The Cripple of Inishmaan – 4
The First Breeze of Summer – 1
The Glass Cage – 2
The Good Negro – 3
The Little Flower of East Orange – 1
The Marvelous Wonderettes – 1
The Savannah Disputation – 1
The Sound and the Fury (April Seventh, 1928) – 2
The Widowing of Mrs. Holroyd – 1
This Beautiful City – 1
Uncle Vanya – 1
Wig Out! – 3