Nomination Puzzle

Amid the Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle nominees, a perplexing number of omissions raised my eyebrows, as well as the question of just exactly how does this august body arrive at its choices (“ ‘Madness!,’ ‘Pigs’ Top L.A. Drama Critics Circle Nods,” by Don Shirley, Feb. 9)?

The absence of either Michael Cerveris in “Hedwig and the Angry Inch” or Sarah Wildor in “Cinderella” as outstanding lead performances borders on the inexplicable, and the bemusing lack of an ensemble performance category ignores the unimprovable company of “Light Up the Sky,” not to mention several productions that were actually nominated.

At that, any or all of the aforementioned shows were at least as deserving of an outstanding production nod as, say, the ubiquitous, extremely funny but basically very, very lucky “Reefer Madness!” Ah, Hollywood.

DAVID C. NICHOLS

Los Angeles