NAACP Nominations Honor Los Angeles’ Black Theater Artists

In a generous but solid round of recognition for the accomplishments of black theater artists in Los Angeles, members of the NAACP’s legitimate theater committee have announced a total of 93 nominees in 20 categories for the groups’s second annual Theatre Awards.

Topping the list in a close race were George C. Wolfe’s “The Colored Museum,” which played the Mark Taper Forum (11 nominations); Ron Milner’s “Checkmates,” which moved to the Westwood Playhouse (and later Broadway) after an Equity Waiver start at the Inner City Cultural Center (10 nominations), and a revival at the Canon Theatre of Lonnie Elder III’s 18-year-old “Ceremonies in Dark Old Men” (9 nominations).

A few non-black directors and writers, and plays with non-black themes, were among the nominees. As committee chairwoman Patricia Bell explained, “We look for (any) plays that deal significantly with black issues or have significant black roles.”

Announcement of the nominations was made at a breakfast press conference Thursday in the lobby of the Los Angeles Theatre Center, site of one of the nominated plays (“Etta Jenks”). Nominees were further stratified into Equity and non-Equity productions, with 35 nominations in nine categories going to artists in Equity shows and 53 nominations in 10 categories covering the best in Equity Waiver and specials.

One category--best choreography, with five nominees--did not distinguish between Equity or Equity Waiver and specials.

Among the non-Equity/special shows, “De Obeah Mon,” which played the Gene Dynarski Theatre in Hollywood, received a massive 10 nominations, and “Distant Fires,” a production of the International City Theatre in Long Beach, followed with six. Other multiple winners in this group were “The Gospel Truth” (five); “The First Breeze of Summer,” “To Find a Man,” “Some Sweet Day” and “I’m Gonna Fly” (four each); “South of Where We Live” and “Four Seasons” (three each); “The Misanthrope,” “Identical Twins From Baltimore” and “Remember Me?”(two each).

To be eligible, all plays under consideration had to have been presented in the Los Angeles area between Aug. 1, 1987, and July 31, 1988, had to run for at least four consecutive weeks and had to have been seen by NAACP’s legitimate theater committee.

Winners will be announced at the second annual NAACP Theatre Awards, Feb. 6, in the Bing Theatre on the USC campus.

EQUITY NOMINEES

Best Play: “Ceremonies in Dark Old Men” (Angela Gibbs, Len Tucker and Paul Williams, producers); “Checkmates” (Angela Gibbs); “Etta Jenks” (Diane White, Los Angeles Theatre Center); “The Colored Museum” (Gordon Davidson, Mark Taper Forum Center Theatre Group in association with New York Shakespeare Festival).

Best Director: Kenneth Richardson (“The Colored Museum”); Woodie King Jr. (“Checkmates”); Judyann Elder (“Ceremonies in Dark Old Men”).

Best Playwright: Ron Milner (“Checkmates”); George C. Wolfe (“Colored Museum”); Lonnie Elder III (“Ceremonies in Dark Old Men”).

Best Actor: Paul Winfield (“Checkmates”); Richard Lawson (“Checkmates”); Ted Lange (“Biloxi Blues”); Reggie Montgomery (“The Colored Museum”); Tommy Hollis (“The Colored Museum”).

Best Actress: Danitra Vance (“The Colored Museum”); Vickilyn Reynolds (“The Colored Museum”); Loretta Devine (“The Colored Museum”); Marla Gibbs (“Checkmates”); Vanessa Williams (“Checkmates”); Joan Pringle (“Ceremonies in Dark Old Men”).

Best Supporting Actor: Lawrence Hilton Jacobs (“Ceremonies in Dark Old Men”); Teddy Wilson (“Ceremonies in Dark Old Men”); Taurean Blacque (“Ceremonies in Dark Old Men”); Abdul Salaam (“Etta Jenks”).

Best Set Design: Virgil Woodfork (“Checkmates”); Brian Martin (“The Colored Museum”); Virgil Woodfork/Randall Camp (“Ceremonies in Dark Old Men”); Rosario Provenza (“Etta Jenks”); Joanne Trunick McMaster (“Biloxi Blues”).

Best Costume Design: Buffalo-Bernini (“Checkmates”); Nancy L. Konrardy (“The Colored Museum”); Frank Billecci (“Ceremonies”).

Best Lighting Design: Kathy Perkins (“Checkmates”); Victor En Yu Tan (“The Colored Museum”).

EQUITY WAIVER AND SPECIAL SHOW NOMINEES

Best Play: “The Gospel Truth” (Cliff Roquemore and William “Mickey” Stevenson, producers); “Distant Fires” (Shashin Desai, International City Theatre); “De Obeah Mon” (Richard Gitlin, C.D. Aquarius); “First Breeze of Summer” (CSD Productions); “South of Where We Live” (Cepheus Jaxon, Inglewood Playhouse); “To Find a Man” (Whitney J. LeBlanc, Halmarter/LeBlanc Productions).

Best Director: Cliff Roquemore (“The Gospel Truth”); Samuel P. Barton (“De Obeah Mon”); Deborah LaVine (“Distant Fires”); Bibi Besch (“I’m Gonna Fly”); Whitney J. LeBlanc (“To Find a Man”).

Best Writer: Jeff Stetson (“To Find a Man”); James Hawthorne (“Remember Me?”); Kevin Heelan (“Distant Fires”); Charles Douglass (“De Obeah Mon”); Cepheus Jaxon (“Murder By Night”).

Best Actor: Hal Williams (“To Find a Man”); Jimmy Justice (“De Obeah Mon”); Johnny Brown (“The Gospel Truth”); Ricke Howell (“The Gospel Truth”); Tommy Ford (“South of Where We Live”); Vincent J. Isaac (“Distant Fires”).

Best Actress: Peggy Hutcherson (“Some Sweet Day”); Dolores Hall (“De Obeah Mon”); Sonia Jackson (“I’m Gonna Fly”); Nikki Sanz (“Remember Me?”); Linda Lloyd (“Identical Twins From Baltimore”).

Best Supporting Actor: David Whitfield (“The Gospel Truth”); Hawthorne James (“Some Sweet Day”); Jason Edwards (“Distant Fires”); Craig Thomas (“The First Breeze of Summer”); Charles McCowan (“The First Breeze of Summer”).

Best Supporting Actress: Emily Yancy (“Four Seasons”); Trina Parks (“Four Seasons”); Denise Gordy (“A Woman’s Choice”); Mary Bond Davis (“De Obeah Mon”); Peggy Ann Blow (“The Gospel Truth”).

Best Set Design: Rolande Guizart (“I’m Gonna Fly”); Virgil Woodfork (“Some Sweet Day”); Steven Arnold (“The Misanthrope”); Don Llewellyn (“Distant Fires”); Robert Bingham (“De Obeah Mon”).

Best Costume Design: Samuel P. Barton and Ron Cremers (“De Obeah Mon”); Steven Arnold and Maggie Peach (“The Misanthrope”); Rolande Guizart (“I’m Gonna Fly”); Elizabeth Luce (“Identical Twins”); Palmer Brown (“Some Sweet Day”).

Best Lighting Design: David Jackson (“South of Where We Live”); Larry Metzler (“De Obeah Mon”); Paulie Jenkins (“Distant Fires”), Tom Hall (“The First Breeze of Summer”).

Best Choreography (Equity, Equity Waiver or Special): Hope Clark (“The Colored Museum”); Karon Brown (“The Four Seasons”); William F.Floyd (“Almost Famous”); Stephen Semien and Richard Montoya (“De Obeah Mon”).