A Night to Share Wealth at Ovations

By DON SHIRLEY

Nov. 20, 1996 12 AM PT

TIMES STAFF WRITER

Reflecting the far-flung nature of the Los Angeles theater scene, no single show dominated the gala Ovation Awards ceremony Monday night at the Shubert Theater in Century City. The Theatre LA awards program, in its third year as a peer-judged competition, has become the city’s most high-profile contest for local theater.

Although the Actors’ Gang staging of Moliere’s “The Imaginary Invalid” won four Ovation Awards--twice as many as any other single show--it hadn’t even been nominated as a best production.

The best production awards went to the plays “Changes of Heart” (larger theaters category) and “The Central Ave. Chalk Circle” (smaller) and the musicals “Radio Gals” (larger) and “City of Angels” (smaller).

Center Theatre Group can boast of more Ovation achievements than any other company: a total of seven awards, including three honors for two Mark Taper Forum productions and four for three Ahmanson Theatre presentations (one of which, “Kiss of the Spider Woman,” was hosted but not produced by CTG). No other company or theater won awards for more than one show.

Playwright August Wilson, accepting a lifetime achievement award, delivered an extended allegory about a quest to slay a dragon, omitting any explicit references to his position against what he calls “colorblind” casting, which caused a major controversy in the theater world earlier this year. Although Wilson mentioned a few fellow black playwrights as allies in his allegorical quest, he later declined to identify anyone or anything as the “dragon” in his story. Speaking to The Times after the ceremony, he said, “I certainly didn’t have anyone in mind.”

Accepting the new James A. Doolittle Award for leadership in Los Angeles theater, Matrix Theatre producer Joe Stern urged local theaters to take responsibility for their own work and to support one another.

About 1,500 people attended the ceremony--the first to be held within the city of Los Angeles since the Ovations became a competitive process two years ago. Previous ceremonies were held in Glendale and Cerritos.

John Rubinstein and Joanna Gleason were the evening’s emcees. Two of last year’s Ovation winners, Marcia Mitzman and Sean Smith, sang a medley of songs from the nominated musicals. Mel Carter, Ka-Ron Lehman and Larry Von Nash performed a musical tribute to the late C. Bernard Jackson, artistic director of the Inner City Cultural Center.

Six shows took home two awards: “The Ellis Jump,” “Radio Gals,” “Changes of Heart,” “City of Angels,” “Dinah Was,” “Carousel” and “Mad Forest.”

The winners:

* Play/Larger: “Changes of Heart,” Mark Taper Forum

* Play/Smaller: “The Central Ave. Chalk Circle,” Cornerstone Theater at Watts Labor Community Action Committee

* Musical/Larger: “Radio Gals,” La Mirada Theatre

* Musical/Smaller: “City of Angels,” Colony Studio Theatre

* Writing of a World Premiere: Jim McGrath, “The Ellis Jump”

* Translation/Adaptation: Beth Milles, “The Imaginary Invalid”

* Director/Musical: Nicholas Hytner, “Carousel”

* Director/Play: Ron Orbach, “The Ellis Jump”

* Leading Actor/Play: Alec Mapa, “Porcelain”

* Leading Actress/Play: Marian Seldes, “Three Tall Women”