A Few More Ovation Envelopes

It’s time to give out special awards for performances at the Ovation Awards ceremony held last week:

Noisiest Neighbor: John Rubinstein. Introducing a medley of Sondheim tunes that preceded the presentation of a special award to the composer, Ovation co-host Rubinstein related a long-ago encounter with Sondheim. Rubinstein was staying temporarily in a New York brownstone that faced out on a garden shared with a group of other homes. One afternoon, he was amusing himself at the piano, playing and singing standards, when the doorbell rang downstairs. It was a neighbor with a complaint: “Hi. I’m Steve Sondheim. Could you please stop playing? I’m trying to write a musical.” Rubinstein later surmised that the musical must have been “Sunday in the Park With George.”

Second Time Around: Marcia Mitzman Gaven and Laurence O’Keefe. In the four years since the Ovations have been competitive, these two became the first individuals to win their second Ovations. Gaven was named best actress in a musical in 1995 for “Chess” (though back then her name lacked the “Gaven”) and she won the same award this year for “Ragtime.” O’Keefe won the award for best sound design in a smaller theater for the second year in a row--last year it was for “The Imaginary Invalid,” this year for “Euphoria.”

Soul of Discretion: Anne Meara. Presenting an award with her husband, Jerry Stiller, the actress and writer of the Pasadena Playhouse’s current “After-Play” (which examines the menopausal generation) looked out at the audience and saluted “all you lovely ladies out there who are still ovulating.” To which Stiller retorted: “I’m joining Promise Keepers tomorrow.”

Woody Allen Award: To the 10 awardees who weren’t there to accept their Ovations (out of 21 to individuals). “I just hate it when they don’t show up,” exclaimed Meara, after announcing an acting award to the absent Bill Campbell. All but one of the absentees had designated someone to accept for them, but presenter Terrence McNally had to step in to accept for Robert Cornthwaite (best translation-adaptation for “So It Is . . . If So It Seems to You” at A Noise Within).

Best Musical Performance at the Ceremony: Jason Graae and Yvette Freeman, effervescent as they sang selections from the nominated musicals. Graae was especially gracious, as he was just about the only prominent “Ragtime” actor who wasn’t nominated for an Ovation--a fact that was inserted into Freeman’s dialogue with Graae in between the lines of his rendition of “Putting It Together.”

We Draw the Line at Ballet: For the best-known show that was ineligible for Ovations because it wasn’t on an Actors’ Equity contract--the radically different “Swan Lake” at the Ahmanson Theatre.

‘Showcase’ Isn’t Necessarily a Dirty Word: Kathy Buckley. The deaf comic, who won for the script to her autobiographical solo show “Don’t Buck With Me!,” admitted she created the show as a film/TV industry showcase. “But I couldn’t get them to come out. I think they’re more deaf than I am.” Thanking her lighting and sound designers, she said, “I know the light was great. I have no idea about the sound.”

He Catches On Fast: Presenter Garry Marshall. The TV and movie producer-director, who just entered the L.A. theater arena with his new Falcon Theatre, noted that the Ovations have awards for shows in smaller and larger theaters but none for the mid-sized arena (actually, mid-sized shows are eligible in the larger categories). And he offered this explanation of why it took so long for him to become active: “I was waiting for Disney Hall to open.”

Most Creative Way to Handle a Formulaic Element: To the “Forever Plaid” cast, who delivered a musical explanation of the Ovation rules in four-part harmony, including a line about how voting in the final round of each category is restricted to “those who sat and suffered through all the nominated shows.”

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ATTENTION PLAYWRIGHTS: If your unpublished play has been produced in Southern California, it can be included in the next edition of the Audrey Skirball-Kenis Play Collection Catalogue, documenting the holdings of the Skirball-Kenis Unpublished Play collection at the central L.A. library. Submissions are due Dec. 1. Information: (213) 228-7327.