Lawson Taitte

THEATER: WaterTower the big winner in this year's Leon Rabin Awards; Lyric Stage's 'Ragtime' most-honored show

10:27 AM CST on Tuesday, November 8, 2005

By LAWSON TAITTE / The Dallas Morning News

Lyric Stage's marathon Ragtime took home the most wins – five, including best production of a musical – from the 2005 Leon Rabin Awards at the Black Academy of Arts and Letters on Monday. But Addison's WaterTower Theatre edged out its Irving rival with six prizes overall, spread among four shows.

NAN COULTER/Special Contributor

Brian Gonzales accepted his award for best supporting actor in a musical at Monday's Leon Rabin Awards for his role in Lyric Stage's Ragtime.

Plano Repertory Theatre, always a strong favorite at the Rabins, managed to win four awards postmortem after the company's demise this summer.

The Dallas Theatre League, which sponsors the awards, put in a new system to respond to complaints that the old one (in which everyone who worked at a member theater could vote) fostered popularity contests. This year, a small group of voters who had seen all the eligible shows chose among the nominees, who were also selected by a panel of artists and fans who had attended all the plays or musicals.

NAN COULTER/Special Contributor

Actors Wendy Welch and Michael Justis accept a posthumous award on behalf of their mother, renowned vocal coach Anne Weeks Jackson.

Plano Rep's wins included Proof for best production of a play. WaterTower producing artistic director Terry Martin carried home a personal prize for best new play or musical with A Country Life, his adaptation of Chekhov's Uncle Vanya to the American South.

Mr. Martin sounded a theme echoed by many during the evening. "I'm so very proud," he said, "to be a part of the very, very best theater community in the country."

If brevity is the soul of wit, this year's Rabin folks were dull indeed. The evening went well over three hours without intermission. Some thank-you speeches lasted more than 10 minutes. All were deeply felt, some even moving. But they basically amounted to thanking Mom.

Or remembering Mom. Two of the special awards this time were to women who died some years ago, the Silver Ticket to renowned vocal coach Anne Weeks Jackson and the new Judy Bigler award to a backstage worker to costumer Judy Bigler. Their families accepted the awards – eloquently on the part of Ms. Jackson's children Wendy Welch and Michael Justis and briefly by Ms. Bigler's husband.

There were variations on the theme. Lighting designer Jason Foster thanked his spot ops (spotlight operators). Musical actress Jenny Thurman saluted her day-job boss.

Hosts B.J. Cleveland and Marisa Diotalevi were their usual amusing selves, but they persisted in their gags even after the hurry-up order had been launched. Their video parody of the nominated dramas went on way too long, too. And that's not to mention poor Emily Gray's duty of reciting the names of all the league's theatrical members. Or, heaven help us, the raffle drawing in which actor-director Bob Hess won three of the six prizes.

It was a night in which Broadway legend Elaine Stritch, who wailed because the orchestra played over her thank-you speech for a long-delayed Tony Award, would have felt very gratified.

Actor-playwright Regina Taylor, whose musical Crowns closed at the Dallas Theater Center on Sunday, won the Career Achievement Award.

The Standing Ovation Award went to Kurt Kleinmann, founder of Pegasus Theatre and one of the people who put together the original Rabin Awards.

Increasingly, the Rabins are more like New York's Obie Awards, which are given to off-Broadway shows, than the Tony Awards, which are reserved for Broadway. Several of the more established (and often larger) Dallas companies – such as Theatre Three, Teatro Dallas and Undermain Theatre – have declined to participate for years.

More recently, the Dallas Theater Center, increasingly jilted by the Rabins, and Dallas Summer Musicals have pulled out of the competition.

In 2005, Rabins were awarded for work in 15 productions at nine theaters. The new voting system probably was a factor in sharing the wealth in this way, since often in previous years many organizations went home empty-handed because a single company won big.

Winners of the top awards include:

Production, musical: Ragtime (Lyric Stage)

Production, play: Proof (Plano Repertory Theatre)

New play or musical: A Country Life (Terry Martin, WaterTower Theatre)

Direction, musical: Doug Miller, A Man of No Importance (Uptown Players)

Direction, play: René Moreno, The Drawer Boy (Plano Repertory Theatre)

Lead actor, musical: Chamblee Ferguson, A Man of No Importance (Uptown Players)

Lead actor, play: Bradley Campbell, The Drawer Boy (Plano Repertory Theatre)

Lead actress, musical: Jenny Thurman, A Closer Walk With Patsy Cline (WaterTower Theatre)

Lead actress, play: Carrie Bourn, Molly Sweeney (Act 1 Productions)

Supporting actress, musical: Lindsey Holloway, Cabaret (WaterTower Theatre)

Supporting actress, play: Nicole Case, Steel Magnolias (Contemporary Theatre of Dallas)

Supporting actor, musical: Brian Gonzales, Ragtime (Lyric Stage)

Supporting actor, play: Carl Savering, Proof (Plano Repertory Theatre)

Career Achievement Award: Regina Taylor

Standing Ovation Award: Kurt Kleinmann

Silver Ticket Award: Anne Weeks Jackson (posthumously)

Judy Bigler Theatre Award of Distinction: Judy Bigler (posthumously)

E-mail ltaitte@dallasnews.com