John Lloyd Young at the Federal

The Seventh Annual Eddon Awards

The Best in LA Theatre for 2016  

  

There are undoubtedly other productions worthy of merit in 2016 which I did not cover. This list is based only on what I saw and reviewed.

(alphabetical listings; Equity, Equity-waiver & Non-Equity productions are mixed)
(artists performing outside LA may be included in performance categories) 

No set, costume, technical awards. I leave that to the bigger awards and to the expertise of those who really know those fields inside out.

BEST PRODUCTIONS

A Gentleman's Guide to Love and Murder - Ahmanson

Agnes of God - Coyote StageWorks, Annenberg, Palm Springs

Airport Encounters - NEO Ensemble at The Lounge


A Slight Ache - Group rep 

A View from the Bridge - Mark Taper Forum

Baby Doll - Fountain Theatre

Barcelona - Geffen Playhouse

Beautiful: The Carole King Musical - Hollywood Pantages Theatre

Beauty and the Beast - 3-D Theatricals

(The) Boy from Oz - Celebration Theatre

Casa Valentina - Pasadena Playhouse

Disgraced - Mark Taper Forum (MTF)

(The) Eccentricities of a Nightingale - Pacific Resident Theatre

Evita - Cabrillo Music Theatre

(The) Fantasticks - Pasadena Playhouse

(The) Glass Menagerie - Sierra Madre Playhouse

Hedda Gabler - Antaeus Co

(The) Hunchback of Notre Dame - La Mirada Theatre for the Performing Arts

(The) King and I - Hollywood Pantages Theatre

(The) Little Mermaid - Cabrillo Music Theatre

Memphis - Musical Theatre West (MTW)

Merrily We Roll Along - Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts

Next to Normal - Triage Productions/Standing Room Prods at Pico Playhouse

Nosferatu - Crown City Theatre

(The) Play About the Baby - The Road Theatre Company

Recorded in Hollywood - Kirk Douglas Theatre

Sister Act - Musical Theatre West (MTW)

Summer and Smoke - Actors Co-op

Titanic The Musical - Moonlight Amphitheatre, Vista

Urinetown The Musical - Coeurage Theatre Company at Lankershim Arts Center

FAVORITE HOLIDAY SHOWS

A Cinderella Christmas - Pasadena Playhouse

Little Drummer Bowie - Troubadour Theatre Company at the Falcon Theatre

(The) MeshugaNutcracker! -Gindi Auditorium, American Jewish University

White Christmas - Hollywood Pantages Theatre

UNIQUE or SPECIAL EVENTS

An Evening of Classic Broadway - Rockwell Table and Stage

Chris Isaacson Presents The Dreamgirls Reunion Concert in Honor of Its 35th Anniversary - Ford Amphitheatre

For the Record: SCORSESE American Crime Requiem - Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts

LA Now and Then - LA City College

Oye Mi Canto - Gay Men's Chorus of Los Angeles (GMCLA)

BEST DIRECTORS: PLAY

Don Amendolia - Agnes of God - Coyote StageWorks, PS

Andre Barron - The Play About the Baby - The Road

Ivo van Hove - A View from the Bridge - Ahmanson

Garry Hynes - The Beauty Queen of Leenane

Christian Lebano - The Glass Menagerie - Sierra Madre Playhouse

Simon Levy - Baby Doll - Fountain

Calvin Remsberg - Bach at Leipzig - Group rep

Kimberly Senior - Disgraced - MTF

BEST DIRECTORS: MUSICAL

Michael Arden - Merrily We Roll Along - Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts

Glenn Casale - The Hunchback of Notre Dame - La Mirada Theatre for the Performing Arts

Kay Cole - I Only Have Eyes for You - Ricardo Montalban Theatre

Larry Raben - Titanic The Musical - Moonlight Amphitheatre, Vista/
The Little Mermaid - Cabrillo

William A. Reilly - Nosferatu - Crown City Theatre

Michael A. Shepperd - The Boy from Oz - Celebration

Bartlett Sher - The King and I - Hollywood Pantages Theatre

BEST ENSEMBLE: PLAY

Airport Encounters - NEO Ensemble at The Lounge

A View from the Bridge - MTF

Baby Doll - Fountain

Bach at Leipzig - Group rep

Beauty Queen of Leenane - MTF

Casa Valentina - Pasadena Playhouse

Disgraced - MTF

Hedda Gabler - Antaeus

Past Time - Sacred Fools at Lillian Theatre

The Search for Signs of Intelligent Life in the Universe - LGBT Center

Summer and Smoke - Actors Co-op

BEST ENSEMBLE: MUSICAL

The Fantasticks - Pasadena Playhouse

The Hunchback of Notre Dame - La Mirada Theatre for the Performing Arts

Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat - 3-D Theatricals

The King and I - Hollywood Pantages Theatre

The Little Mermaid - Cabrillo

Memphis - MTW

Merrily We Roll Along - Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts

MeshugaNutcracker! - Gindi Auditorium, American Jewish University

Next to Normal - Triage/Standing Room Prods at Pico Playhouse

Nosferatu - Crown City Theatre

For the Record: SCORSESE American Crime Requiem - Wallis Annenberg

Titanic The Musical - Moonlight Amphitheatre, Vista

The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee - Sierra Madre Playhouse

Urinetown The Musical - Coeurage at Lankershim Arts Center

BEST LEAD PERFORMANCES

Britt Adams/Laura Julian/Marsha Waterbury - Agnes of God - Coyote StageWorks, PS

Sam Anderson - John Is a Father/The Play About the Baby - The Road

Andrew Bongiorno - The Boy from Oz - Celebration

Ginna Carter - The Eccentricities of a Nightingale - Pacific Resident Theatre

Hari Dhillon - Disgraced - MTF

Nike Doukas - Hedda Gabler - Antaeus Company

Christian Durso/Katherine James - The Glass Menagerie - Sierra Madre Playhouse

Tanna Frederick/Robert Standley - Jack & Jill - Santa Monica Playhouse

Davis Gaines/Benjamin Schrader - Dirty Rotten Scoundrels - MTW

J. Harrison Ghee - Kinky Boots - Hollywood Pantages Theatre

Taylor Gilbert - The Play About the Baby - The Road

Jenna Gillespie/Stu James - Recorded in Hollywood - Kirk Douglas Theatre

Betty Gilpin/Carlos Leal - Barcelona - Geffen Playhouse

Randy Harrison - Cabaret - Hollywood Pantages Theatre

Michelle Holmes - Nosferatu - Crown City Theatre

Jose Llana/Laura Michelle Kelly - The King and I - Hollywood Pantages Theatre

Constance Jewell Lopez - Sister Act - MTW

Kevin Massey/John Rapson - A Gentelman's Guide to Love and Murder - Ahmanson

John McGinty - The Hunchback of Notre Dame - La Mirada Theatre for the Performing Arts

Abby Mueller - Beautiful: The Carole King Musical - Hollywood Pantages

Cassandra Murphy/Marc Ginsburg - Evita - Cabrillo

Ashley Park - The Fantasticks - Pasadena Playhouse

Valerie Perri/Robert Yacko - Hello Dolly! - 3-D Theatricals

Michael Robb/Marcia Woodbury - A Slight Ache - Group rep

Phillipa Soo - Amelie - Ahmanson

French Stewart - Past Time - Sacred Fools

Amy Tolsky/Felicity Wren - Baby Oh Baby - Whitefire Theatre

Rachel York - Grey Gardens - Ahmanson

BEST FEATURED PERFORMANCES

Eric B. Anthony - Recorded in Hollywood - Kirk Douglas Theatre

Richard Bermudez/Bets Malone - Titanic The Musical - Moonlight Amphitheatre, Vista

Allison Blaize/Philip Orazio - The Play About the Baby - The Road

Betty Buckley - Grey Gardens - Ahmanson

Becky Gulsvig/Ben Fankhauser - Beautiful - Hollywood Pantages

Dennis Kyle - Beauty and the Beast - 3-D Theatricals

Hal Linden - The Fantasticks - Pasadena Playhouse

Robert Mammana/Valerie Mahaffy/ James Snyder/John Vickery - Casa Valentina - Pasadena Playhouse

Michael McKean - Father Comes Home from the Wars Parts 1, 2 and 3 - MTF

Bess Motta/Jessica Pennington/Kelly Lester/Michael Mittman - The Boy from Oz - Celebration

Mary Gordon Murray - Sister Act - MTW

Debbie Prutsman - The Little Mermaid - Cabrillo

BEST SOLO SHOWS

HAM - Sam Harris - LGBT Center

SissyBoy - James Mellon - NoHo Arts Center

BEST CABARET/CONCERT ARTISTS: MALE

Dennis McNeil - The Lounge at The Comedy and Magic Club - Hermosa Beach

Glenn Rosenblum Is The Musical Man - Rockwell Table and Stage

Kurtis Simmons Live - Rockwell Table and Stage

BEST CABARET/CONCERT ARTISTS: FEMALE

Heather Lundstedt - Sterling's Upstairs at the Federal

Renee Marino - I Am Me Because of Three - Sterling's Upstairs at the Federal

Melba Moore - Forever Moore - Catalina Jazz Club

Kerry O'Malley/Mary Callanan - Everything's Coming Up Rosie - Sterling's Upstairs at the Federal

Maggie Randolph - Sterling's Upstairs at the Federal

Lyn Stanley - Interludes Release Party at La Cicada Club

Pat Whiteman/Harriet Schock - E Spot Lounge

Kathleen Wilhoite's Living Room - E Spot Lounge

BEST CDs

The Boobe Sisters Greatest Hits Volume One

The Doris Day Project - Scott Dreier

BEST BOOK

The Carol Burnett Show Companion: So Glad We Had This Time - Wesley Hyatt - BearManor Media

BEST THEATRICAL SEASON

Cabrillo Music Theatre, Thousand Oaks

Musical Theatre West (MTW), Long Beach

Awards

Group rep Cast of My One Act A Penny a Day

left to right: Devin Juleff, moi . Lisa McGee-Mann and her daughter Kaylena Mann, Linda Alznauer above, Bert Emmich, Julia Silverman, Pascale Gigon, Todd Ball and Hisato Masayama

Cheyenne Jackson Rocks GMCLA

Troubie Opening at Falcon of Little Drummer Bowie

Melba Moore at Catalina Jazz Club

(photo credit: Tony DiMaio)

Josh Adamson Is One Hilarious Vine in Cinderella

Dennis McNeil's Christmas Show in Hermosa Beach