2012 Innovative Theater Award Nominees Announced

On Monday, July 23, 2012, The New York Innovative Theatre Foundation, the organization dedicated to celebrating Off-Off-Broadway, announced the 2012 nominees at its annual sold-out event at the Carmine Street Recreation Center located at 25 Carmine Street. The announcement was made by the co-executive directors, Shay Gines and Nick Micozzi, plus members of the community including: Jolie Garrett, Cat Parker, David Pincus, Derek Shore, Tari Stratton and Kristen Vaughan.

Over the past eight years, the IT Awards has honored over 1,650 individual artists, over 450 productions, and 350 theatre companies; having collected over 35,000 ballots and disseminated more than 6,000 judges. The 2012 Nominees include 137 individual artists, 52 different
productions and 57 Off-Off-Broadway theatre companies.

In November of 2011 the IT Foundation held a virtual townhall meeting on their blog. Community members weighed in on a number of topics including the qualifications, requirements of the awards’ system as well as award categories. In direct response to that conversation, the IT Awards has split the “Outstanding Production of a Play” category into two categories “Outstanding Production of a Remounted Play” and “Outstanding Premiere Production of a Play”.

Loom Ensemble’s production of Erosion: a Fable examined corporate America and integrated several artistic disciplines including dance, theater and live music. The production required an urban and nontraditional composition to accompany the piece. Outstanding Original Music nominee, Sasha Bogdanowitsch found inspiration for his score at his local hardware store. “A lot of the instruments I wrote for this production were homemade, especially from plumbing material like ABS pipe and metal conduit pipe,” says Bogdanowitsch.

Each year Off-Off-Broadway companies find creative ways to weave new technologies into live performances. This year we are happy to recognize such innovators as Gyda Arber & AaRon Baker for Phone & Text Design for the production of Red Cloud Rising and Suchan Vodoor’s Interactive Technology Design in Collision Productions’ Endure: A Run Woman Show. The interactive elements “gave our team an opportunity to take audiences into a new territory,” said Jessica D. Baker, a producer for Collision Productions.

For the first time a production that was performed entirely by talented kids between the ages of 8 and 18 from the NY-metro area is nominated for Outstanding Production of a Musical. Up To You, produced by TADA! Youth Theater is an original musical that examines the troubling issues of bullying in a school setting.

2012 Nominees:

Outstanding Ensemble

The Complete and Condensed Stage Directions of Eugene O'Neill: Vol. 1,
Early/Lost Plays
Daniel Burnam, Brendan Donaldson, Cara Francis, Connor Kalista,
Jacquelyn Landgraf, Erica Livingston, Lauren Sharpe, New York
Neo-Futurists

Conni's Avant Garde Restaurant Returns in: The Mothership Landing
Justin Badger, David M. Barber, Melody Bates, Stephanie Dodd, Jeffrey
Fracé, Connie Hall, Kelly Hayes, Jerusha Klemperer, Peter Lettre,
Rachel Murdy, Melody Bates, Peter Richards, Conni’s Avant Garde
Restaurant in association with the Irondale Center

Eightythree Down
Melody Bates, Ian Holcomb, Bryan Kaplan, Brian Miskell, Hard Sparks in
association with Horse Trade Theatre Group

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