2013 VILLAGE VOICE OBIE AWARD WINNERS ANNOUNCED

The Lifetime Achievement Obie Award was presented to Lois Smith(l) by  Meryl Streep and Frances Sternhagen (R)   Photo Emily Tan/The Village Voice

The Lifetime Achievement Obie Award was presented to Lois Smith(l) by Meryl Streep and Frances Sternhagen (R)
Photo Emily Tan/The Village Voice

The 58th Annual Village Voice Obie Awards, celebrating achievement in the Off-Broadway and off-off Broadway theater, were given out at a ceremony last night at Webster Hall in Greenwich Village. The awards ceremony was co-hosted by Jessica Hecht and Jeremy Shamos. The awards were presented by Bobby Cannavale, Tracee Chimo, Cyndi Lauper, Judith Light, Krysta Rodriguez, Duncan Sheik, Meryl Streep and Courtney B. Vance.

A medley from the highly acclaimed new Off-Broadway musical, Here Lies Love, was performed by the cast. The Brazilian jazz-pop group Banda Magda also performed.

The Obies were judged by a committee that included the Voice’s Chief Theater Critc Michael Feingold as Chairman, Voice critic Alexis Soloski as secretary, and the following guest judges: Obie Award-winning playwright Erin Courtney; director-performer Mia Katigbak, Co-Founder of NAATCO; critic and Theatermagazine editor Tom Sellar; and Obie Award-winning director Leigh Silverman.

Michael J. Roberts arrives at the Obie's

Michael J. Roberts arrives at the Obie's

Meryl Streep presented 2013 Obie Awards for Lifetime Achievement to Lois Smith and Frances Sternhagen.

In a tie vote, the judges accorded the award for Best New American Play to Lisa d’Amour’s Detroit (Playwrights Horizons) and Julia Jarcho’s Grimly Handsome (Incubator Arts Project), with each playwright receiving a $500. cash prize.

A complete list of the award winners follows:

Performance

Eisa Davis 

Sustained Excellence

Brandon J. Dirden 

The Piano Lesson (Signature Theatre)

Shuler Hensley

The Whale (Playwrights Horizons)

Matthew Maher 

Sustained Excellence

Paul Thureen 

Blood Play (The Debate Society/Bushwick Starr)

Playwritin

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Ayad Akhtar 

Disgraced  (LCT3)

Annie Baker 

The Flick  (Playwrights Horizons)

Direction

Lear deBessonet

The Good Person Of  Szechuan (Foundry Theatre/La MaMa)

John Rando 

All In The Timing (Primary Stages)

Ruben Santiago-Hudson 

The Piano Lesson (Signature Theatre)

Eric Ting 

We Are Proud To Present A Presentation… (Soho Rep)

Design

Laura Jellinek

Sustained excellence of Set Design

Clint Ramos

Sustained excellence of Costume Design

Special Citations

David Levine and Marsha Ginsberg

HABIT (Crossing the Line Festival/FIAF & PS122) 

 

Dave Malloy and Rachel Chavkin

NATASHA, PIERRE & THE GREAT COMET OF 1812 (Ars Nova)

 

Nature Theater of Oklahoma        

LIFE AND TIMES: EPISODES 1-4  (Public Theater/SoRep)

Music/Lyrics

David Byrne & Fatboy Slim

HERE LIES LOVE (Public Theater)

 

The Ross Wetzsteon Award (with check for $1000.)

Clubbed Thumb

Grants

Fulcrum Theater ($1,000)

Half Straddle ($1,000)

Best New American Play (tie w/$500. to each playwright) 

Lisa D’AmourDetroit

Julia JarchoGrimly Handsome

Lifetime Achievement

Lois Smith 

Frances Sternhagen 

The Village Voice Obie Awards are presented by STELLA ARTOIS and benefiting A.R.T./ New York (Alliance of Residence Theaters). Additional sponsors include Smirnoff Sorbet Light, Academy of Dramatic Arts, Barefoot Wine & Bubbly and Fragoli.  Congratulations to all of this years winners!

ShowbizChicago.com was at the Obie's to cover all of the great Chicago/NYC theatre connections.  For our coverage, please checkout our FACEBOOK page.
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