Thespians, Ho!

This years OC Weekly Theater Awards winners

A A A Comments By JOEL BEERS Thursday, Mar 16 2006

Zavala of Urinetown. Photo by Alex Brant-Zawadzki

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This is the one you've been waiting for: results from Monday's 10th annual OC WeeklyTheater Awards—13 radiant winners and 41 dejected losers, except—our lawyers insist—for the fact that, really, they're all winners.

Well, kind of. These awards are entirely subjective, and from day one, their choosing—by Weekly theater staffers and a panel of local theater experts, including the OC Register's Eric Marchese—has been to salute everyone who contributes to local theater.

Even songwriters; this year's ceremony featured performances of two of the best songs from Best Musical nominee Blake . . . Da Musical!, with the frenetically talented Rick Batella and cohorts goofing on everything from Robert Blake to celebrity star-fucking. Here are the winners:

Supporting Performance, Female: Heather Zavala, Urinetown, Costa Mesa Civic Playhouse

Supporting Performance, Male: Alex Dorman, Some Voices, Rude Guerrilla; Christopher Spencer, Marat/Sade, Hunger Artists

New Play: The Land Southward, Darcy Hogan, Hunger Artists; The Sacred Geometry of S&M Porn, Johnna Adams, Rude Guerrilla

Achievement in College Theater: Mad Forest,UC Irvine

Lead Performance, Female: Pat Caldwell, Bright Ideas,Laguna Playhouse

Lead Performance, Male: Paul Pakler, Some Voices, Rude Guerrilla

Ensemble: The Eight: Reindeer Monologues, The Chance Theater

Direction: David Chambers, Princess Marjorie, SCR; Steven Parker, Some Voices, Rude Guerrilla

Musical Production: Urinetown, Costa Mesa Civic Playhouse

Best Production: Princess Marjorie, South Coast Repertory

The Helena Modjeska Career Achievement Award for Contribution to Orange County Theater: Troubadour Theater Company

Special Awards

Achievement in Puppeteering and Visual Effects: The Rogue Theater Artists Ensemble

The Muck Award, a new "honor" for worst achievement in local theater: The Muckenthaler Cultural Center in Fullerton, for its continued ineptitude in managing its amphitheater—otherwise one of the county's best outdoor venues

Career Achievement in Four-Legged Theater: Jetta Kuhns, a canine thespian who has been featured in several plays during a lengthy 17-people-year career

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