Center Theatre Group Wins 12 LADCC Awards : Stage: The L.A. Drama Critics Circle gives South Coast Repertory four awards for 1989 productions--three for ‘You Never Can Tell’ and one for ‘The Road to Mecca.’

The Center Theatre Group at the Los Angeles Music Center is the big winner in the 21st annual Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle awards being announced today.

Center Theatre Group captured 12 of the 30 awards for outstanding achievements in theater in 1989, a remarkable comeback from last year, when the Music Center’s resident companies received only one award.

Five awards, including one for outstanding production, went to the Mark Taper Forum for “Stand-Up Tragedy”--the most for any single production. Center Theatre Group won seven awards for three other shows: four for “The Phantom of the Opera” and two for “Into the Woods,” both at the Ahmanson Theatre, and one for John Lithgow’s performance in “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?,” which was part of the Ahmanson’s season at the Doolittle Theatre.

The only other award for outstanding production this year went to “Cloud Nine,” which was presented at the 99-seat West Coast Ensemble. It received a total of three awards.

South Coast Repertory in Costa Mesa received four awards this year, three for “You Never Can Tell” (including a featured performance award to I. M. Hobson) and one for “The Road to Mecca.” SCR took five of the awards last year, more than any theater in Los Angeles or Orange County.

All together this year, shows in major theaters received 22 of the awards, and shows in smaller theaters received seven. The 30th went to Raymond J. Barry for his lead performance in “Once in Doubt,” which played at the small Cast-at-the-Circle Theatre and at the larger Los Angeles Theatre Center.

All of the awards, including previously announced special awards to the Back Alley Theatre and “Tony N’ Tina’s Wedding,” will be presented at a luncheon ceremony April 8 at the Sportsmen’s Lodge in Studio City.

The winners:

Production: “Cloud Nine,” produced by West Coast Ensemble in association with Singular Productions, at West Coast Ensemble; “Stand-Up Tragedy,” produced by Gordon Davidson, Stephen J. Albert, Robert Egan for the Mark Taper Forum.

Direction: Allison Liddi, “Cloud Nine”; Ron Link, “Stand-Up Tragedy.”

Writing: Bill Cain, “Stand-Up Tragedy”; Larry Shue, “Wenceslaus Square,” Matrix Theatre; Alfred Uhry, “Driving Miss Daisy,” Henry Fonda Theatre.

Lead Performance: Raymond J. Barry, “Once in Doubt,” Cast Theatre/Los Angeles Theatre Center; Roscoe Lee Browne, “Joe Turner’s Come and Gone,” Los Angeles Theatre Center; Michael Crawford, “The Phantom of the Opera,” Ahmanson Theatre; Tyne Daly, “Gypsy,” Dorothy Chandler Pavilion/Orange County Performing Arts Center; Michael DeLorenzo, “Stand-Up Tragedy”; Julie Harris, “Driving Miss Daisy”; John Lithgow, “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?,” James A. Doolittle Theatre; Joe Spano, “American Buffalo,” Gnu Theatre.

Featured Performance: Raymond Cruz, “Buck,” Heliotrope Theatre; I. M. Hobson, “You Never Can Tell,” South Coast Repertory; Nancy Lenehan, “Wenceslaus Square.”

Ensemble Performance: “Cloud Nine.”

Scenic Design: Maria Bjornson, “The Phantom of the Opera”; Michael Devine, “The Road to Mecca,” South Coast Repertory; Cliff Faulkner, “You Never Can Tell.”

Lighting Design: Andrew Bridge, “The Phantom of the Opera”; Peter Maradudin, “You Never Can Tell.”

Costume Design: Maria Bjornson, “The Phantom of the Opera”; Ann Hould-Ward, “Into the Woods,” Ahmanson Theatre/Orange County Performing Arts Center.

Sound Design: Jon Gottlieb, “Minamata,” Los Angeles Theatre Center.

Choreography: Shabba-Doo, “Stand-Up Tragedy.”

Musical Direction: Eric Stern, “Gypsy.”

Original Musical Score: Stephen Sondheim, “Into the Woods.”