‘Avenue A,’ CTG Top Drama Critics’ List

David Steen’s “Avenue A” and Center Theatre Group have captured the most nominations for the 1991 Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle Awards.

Steen’s bleak urban drama, produced at Hollywood’s small Cast Theatre, won seven nominations--the most for a single production. Productions at Center Theatre Group’s three venues--the Mark Taper Forum, the Doolittle Theatre and Taper, Too--garnered 16 nominations, more than those for any other production company.

“Avenue A” was joined by South Coast Repertory’s “Heartbreak House” and “The Most Happy Fella” at the Doolittle Theatre as nominees for “outstanding production.”

On the heels of “Avenue A” was the Mark Taper Forum’s “Jelly’s Last Jam” with six, while “Heartbreak House” at South Coast Rep, “Forever Plaid” at the Pasadena Playhouse, “M. Butterfly” at the Wilshire Theatre and “The Most Happy Fella” tallied four nominations each. Twenty-nine productions earned at least one nomination.

Among theaters, the Pasadena Playhouse nabbed nine nominations, second to CTG’s 16. South Coast Repertory picked up eight.

The Circle also announced the recipients of several special awards, including one that will be presented to the former resident company at the Los Angeles Theatre Center “for nurturing new plays and theater artists, and for developing artistic and educational programming that embraced Los Angeles’ diversity.”

The Margaret Harford Award, for notable effort in smaller theater, goes to artistic director Paul Verdier of Hollywood’s Stages “for continuing to expand the horizons of Los Angeles Theatre multilingually, with meticulous productions from the contemporary international repertoire.”

Steen will receive the Circle’s second annual Ted Schmitt Award, which recognizes the outstanding play to receive its world premiere in Los Angeles or Orange counties during the year, for “Avenue A.”

The Circle’s first Angstrom Award, “for the broad scope and professional integrity of a body of work by a lighting designer whose career was established in the small theaters of Los Angeles,” goes to Paulie Jenkins. The award is endowed by Angstrom Stage Lighting.

The Circle does not designate “bests” or “winners,” so there can be multiple recipients or none in any category, up to a total of 30. Recipients will be announced in March and the awards will be presented at a luncheon at the Sportsmen’s Lodge in Studio City on April 5.

The nominees:

Production: “Avenue A,” produced by Diana Gibson for the Cast Theatre and AA Productions at the Cast-at-the-Circle Theatre; “Heartbreak House,” produced by South Coast Repertory; “The Most Happy Fella,” Goodspeed Opera House production, produced by Michael P. Price, presented by Center Theatre Group at the Doolittle Theatre.

Direction: Jules Aaron, “Lady-Like” (Court and Tiffany Theatres); Martin Benson, “Heartbreak House”; Michael Blakemore, “City of Angels” (Shubert Theatre and Orange County Performing Arts Center); Gerald Gutierrez, “The Most Happy Fella”; Jim Holmes, “Avenue A”; George C. Wolfe, “Jelly’s Last Jam,” Mark Taper Forum.

Writing: David Henry Hwang, “M. Butterfly” (Wilshire Theatre); David Steen, “Avenue A.”

Lead Performance: Eileen Atkins, “A Room of One’s Own” (Westwood Playhouse); Kevin Conway, “Other People’s Money” (Pasadena and Westwood Playhouses); Jeff Doucette, “Rage!” (Alliance Repertory Company); Richard Frank, “Kiss of the Spider Woman” (South Coast Repertory); David Garrison, “You Never Know” (Pasadena Playhouse); Jane Krakowski, “Henceforward . . . “ (Mark Taper Forum); Gene Lithgow, “Avenue A”; A. Mapa, “M. Butterfly”; Robert Morse, “Tru” (Henry Fonda Theatre); Mark Ruffalo, “Avenue A”; Paxton Whitehead, “Heartbreak House.”

Featured Performance: Loretta Devine, “The Rabbit Foot” (Los Angeles Theatre Center); Gloria Mann, “Avenue A”; Dakin Matthews, “Henceforward . . . “; David Steen, “Avenue A.”

Ensemble Performance: Stan Chandler, David Engel, Larry Raben and Guy Stroman, “Forever Plaid,” (Pasadena Playhouse).

Scenic Design: Timian Alsaker, “Bogeyman” (Los Angeles Theatre Center); Richard Hoover, “The Wedding” (Taper, Too); John Iacovelli, “Heartbreak House”; Eiko Ishioka, “M. Butterfly”; James Joy, “You Never Know”; Marjorie Bradley Kellogg, “Pirates” (South Coast Repertory); Deborah Raymond and Dorian Vernacchio, “Rug Merchants of Chaos” (Pasadena Playhouse Balcony Theatre); Robin Wagner, “City of Angels.”

Lighting Design: Jules Fisher, “Grand Hotel” (Pantages Theatre and Orange County Performing Arts Center); James F. Ingalls, “Jelly’s Last Jam.”

Costume Design: Ann Bruice, “You Can’t Take It With You” (South Coast Repertory); Eiko Ishioka, “M. Butterfly”; Toni-Leslie James, “Jelly’s Last Jam”; Florence Klotz, “City of Angels”; Santo Loquasto, “Grand Hotel”; Shigeru Yaji, “Happy End” (South Coast Repertory).

Sound Design: Jon Gottlieb, “Henceforward . . . “; Tony Tait, “Forever Plaid.”

Hair and Makeup Design: Kevin Haney, “Tru.”

Music and Lyrics: Jelly Roll Morton, Luther Henderson and Susan Birkenhead, “Jelly’s Last Jam”; David Shire and Richard Maltby Jr., “Baby” (Golden Theatre).

Musical Direction: Steven Freeman, “Forever Plaid”; Tim Stella, “The Most Happy Fella”; Linda Twine, “Jelly’s Last Jam.”

Musical Arrangement/Orchestration: Steve Orich, “You Never Know”; Robert Page and Frank Loesser, “The Most Happy Fella”; James Raitt, “Forever Plaid.”

Musical Performance: Chic Street Man, “Spunk” (Mark Taper Forum).

Choreography: Hope Clarke, “Jelly’s Last Jam”; Edmond Kresley, “Bye, Bye Birdie” (Long Beach Terrace Theatre); Mbongeni Ngema, “Sarafina!” (Doolittle Theatre); Tommy Tune, “Grand Hotel”; Gregory Scott Young, “Club Indigo” (Golden Theatre).