Live Theater Steals Scene at Critics Circle

“After this performance by the (Los Angeles Drama) Critics Circle, I can assure . . . actors that we can look forward to kinder, gentler reviews,” said actor Esai Morales, during the critics group’s awards ceremony Sunday night. And if the critics’ compassion for what can go wrong in live theater is enhanced after experiencing every possible mishap themselves, Morales’ prediction just might be valid.

The $50-a-seat dinner and nearly three-hour awards show, the theme of which was to poke fun at the critics, was plagued by sound and lighting problems, chaotic “comedic” disruptions and presenters who failed to turn up. The evening seemed to ramble on, with the presenters and emcees themselves not too sure what was supposed to happen next.

The program included a video retrospective of two decades of theater in Los Angeles, appearances by Julie Harris and Brock Peters (“Driving Miss Daisy”), Jean Smart (“Designing Women”), and actress Marion Ross (who accepted an award for lead performance recipient Paxton Whitehead), and a rough and obscenity-filled musical performance by the Original Artists (a newly formed alliance of musician/comedians Steven Banks and Penn & Teller). Absent, however, were more than a third of the award recipients.

Although only about half of the 260 audience members remained in the Sheraton Grande Hotel banquet room by the show’s bitter end (which featured an anticlimactic performance by Australian comedy duo Los Trios Ringbarkus), the show was not without its highlights. They included:

-- The classy professionalism of emcees Vincent Price and Coral Browne, which helped to smooth over tense moments when no sound accompanied clips from their 1973 film “Theater of Blood.” (In the film, Price’s character, the actor Lionheart, kills off theater critics for their bad reviews.) The comedy and presence of the husband-and-wife duo, who were seated in red thrones and read from scripts, also managed to give the evening a semblance of cohesion and dignity.

-- The appearance of character actress Lu Leonard (“Women Behind Bars” and “Blame It on the Movies II”) as an impromptu stand-in presenter for no-show Jon Voight. Leonard drew tremendous laughter from the crowd with such jokes as: “How many actresses does it take to change a light bulb? Nine. One to change it and the other eight to say: ‘That should have been me up there.’ ”

-- The radiant smile of hearing-impaired actress Phyllis Frelich, who signed her way through the presentation of the award for ensemble performance.

-- The performance of musical numbers including “There’s No Business Like Show Business” by Rita McKenzie (“Call Me Ethel!”), which was later followed by the audience’s spontaneous reprise of the song when technical problems stalled the program.

-- The poignant acceptance speech of Jude Narita (recognized for her creation performance in “Coming Into Passion/Song for a Sansei” at the Fountain Theatre) who fought back tears while vowing to continue to “say some things on stage (because) I believe the time is right for them to be heard.”

-- Rather short acceptance speeches by all award recipients (with the exception of director Martin Magner, who was honored with a lifetime achievement award).

The Critics Circle gave out 30 awards to 12 theaters during the evening, with top awards going to South Coast Repertory’s “The Crucible,” the Doolittle Theatre’s “Fences” and the Gnu Theatre’s “El Salvador.” In addition, the Actors Gang was honored with the Circle’s Margaret Harford Award. The Actors Gang performed an unscheduled skit as part of its acceptance, but the skit’s lack of clarity confused many audience members.

The Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle is composed of 21 print media theater critics from 12 publications.

Chloe Webb and Paxton Whitehead won Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle awards in the “leading performance” category for their roles in “The Model Apartment” (Los Angeles Theatre Center) and “How the Other Half Loves” (Tiffany). Their names were omitted from a list of award recipients in Monday’s Calendar.