Boston Theatre Critics Association
Announces 30th Anniversary Norton Award Nominees

Tommy Tune To Receive Special Lifetime Achievement Award
Kate Snodgrass To Receive Annual Prize for Sustained Excellence

The Boston Theater Critics Association has announced its nominations for the 30th Anniversary Elliot Norton Awards. The awards, which recognize excellence in Greater Boston theater, will be presented on Monday, May 21, at 7 p.m. at the Paramount Mainstage, 559 Washington Street in Boston.

Legendary song and dance man Tommy Tune will perform and be the recipient of The 30th Anniversary Elliot Norton Lifetime Achievement Award. Known as one of the most prolific director-choreographer-performers of our time, Tommy Tune has enchanted audiences over the past 50 years with his charisma, vision, and innovation.

This year's winner of the Elliot Norton Prize for Sustained Excellence goes to Kate Snodgrass, Artistic Director of Boston Playwrights’ Theatre and co-founder of the Elliot Norton Award-winning Boston Theater Marathon!

A Special Citation will be presented to the Charlestown Working Theater for "adventurous collaborations that provide unique insights into theater from around the world."

30TH ANNIVERSARY ELLIOT NORTON AWARD NOMINEES

OUTSTANDING VISITING PRODUCTION
• "Mabou Mines DollHouse" (ArtsEmerson)
• "Richard III" and "The Comedy of Errors" (Propeller, presented by BU School of Theatre in association with the Huntington Theatre Company)
• "Daddy Long Legs" (a rolling world premiere co-produced by Rubicon Theater Company of Ventura CA, Theatre Works of Palto Alto CA, and Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park, presented by Merrimack Repertory Theatre)

OUTSTANDING MUSICAL PRODUCTION (LARGE THEATER)
• "The Gershwins’ Porgy and Bess" (American Repertory Theater)
• "Candide" (Huntington Theatre Company)
• "Legally Blonde" (North Shore Music Theatre)

OUTSTANDING MUSICAL PRODUCTION (SMALL/MIDSIZE THEATER)
• "Next to Normal" (SpeakEasy Stage Company)
• "The Drowsy Chaperone" (SpeakEasy Stage Company)
• "Peter Pansy" (Gold Dust Orphans)

OUTSTANDING PRODUCTION (LARGE THEATER)
• "All’s Well That Ends Well" (Commonwealth Shakespeare Company)
• "Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom" (Huntington Theatre Company)
• "Sons of the Prophet" (Huntington Theatre Company)

OUTSTANDING PRODUCTION (MIDSIZE THEATER)
• "Red" (SpeakEasy Stage Company)
• "Time Stands Still" (Lyric Stage Company of Boston)
• "Collected Stories" (New Repertory Theatre)

OUTSTANDING PRODUCTION (SMALL THEATER)
• "The Brother/Sister Plays" (Company One)
• "Green Eyes" (Company One)
• "Twelfth Night" (Actors’ Shakespeare Project)

OUTSTANDING PRODUCTION (FRINGE THEATER)
• "Uncle Vanya" (Apollinaire Theatre Company)
• "Love Song" (Orfeo Group)
• "Time of My Life" (Zeitgeist Stage Company)

OUTSTANDING MUSICAL PERFORMANCE (ACTRESS, LARGE THEATER)
• Audra McDonald -- "The Gershwins’ Porgy and Bess" (American Repertory Theater)
• Lauren Molina – "Candide" (Huntington Theatre Company)
• Chasten Harmon – "Les Misérables" (Broadway Across America/Boston)

OUTSTANDING MUSICAL PERFORMANCE (ACTOR, LARGE COMPANY)
• Norm Lewis -- "The Gershwins’ Porgy and Bess" (American Repertory Theater)
• Christopher Siebert – "La Cage aux Folles" (Broadway Across America/Boston)
• J. Mark McVey -- "Les Misérables" (Broadway Across America/Boston)

OUTSTANDING MUSICAL PERFORMANCE (ACTRESS, SMALL/MIDSIZE THEATER)
• Kerry A. Dowling – "Next to Normal "(SpeakEasy Stage Company)
• Sarah Drake -- "Next to Normal" (SpeakEasy Stage Company)
• Megan McGinnis – "Daddy Long Legs" (Merrimack Repertory Theatre)

OUTSTANDING MUSICAL PERFORMANCE (ACTOR, SMALL/MIDSIZE THEATER)
• Michael Tacconi – "Next to Normal" (SpeakEasy Stage Company)
• Ed Hoopman – "Animal Crackers" (Lyric Stage Company of Boston)
• Gene Dante – "The Rocky Horror Show" (Gold Dust Orphans/Oberon)

OUTSTANDING PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS (LARGE THEATER)
• Kersti Bryan – "All’s Well That Ends Well" (Commonwealth Shakespeare Company)
• Maude Mitchell – "Mabou Mines DollHouse" (ArtsEmerson)
• Joanna Gleason – "Sons of the Prophet" (Huntington Theatre Company)

OUTSTANDING PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR (LARGE THEATER)
• Richard Clothier – "Richard III" (Propeller, presented by BU School of Theatre in association with the Huntington Theatre Company)
• Yusef Bulos – "Sons of the Prophet" (Huntington Theatre Company)
• Jason Bowen – "Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom" (Huntington Theatre Company)

OUTSTANDING PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS (MIDSIZE THEATER)
• Kathy St. George – "The Divine Sister" (SpeakEasy Stage Company)
• Bobbie Steinbach – "Collected Stories" (New Repertory Theatre)
• Erica Spyres – "Time Stands Still" (Lyric Stage Company of Boston)

OUTSTANDING PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR (MIDSIZE THEATER)
• Thomas Derrah – "Red" (SpeakEasy Stage Company)
• Omar Robinson – "Superior Donuts" (Lyric Stage Company of Boston)
• Karl Baker Olson – "Red" (SpeakEasy Stage Company)

OUTSTANDING PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS (SMALL/FRINGE THEATER)
• Maureen Adduci – "Tiny Kushner," "Time of My Life" (Zeitgeist Stage Company)
• Erin Markey – "Green Eyes" (Company One)
• Liz Hayes – "Love Song" (Orfeo Group)

OUTSTANDING PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR (SMALL/FRINGE THEATER)
• Hampton Fluker – "The Brother/Sister Plays" (Company One)
• Ronald Lacey – "Uncle Vanya" (Apollinaire Theatre Company)
• Scott Martino – "The Little Pricks" (Gold Dust Orphans)

OUTSTANDING SOLO PERFORMANCE
• Laurie Anderson – "Delusion" (ArtsEmerson)
• Yves Jacques – "The Andersen Project" (ArtsEmerson)
• Robbie McCauley – "Sugar" (ArtsEmerson)

OUTSTANDING DIRECTOR (LARGE THEATER)
• Steven Maler – "All’s Well That Ends Well" (Commonwealth Shakespeare Company)
• Mary Zimmerman – "Candide" (Huntington Theatre Company)
• Diane Paulus – "The Gershwins’ Porgy and Bess" (American Repertory Theater)

OUTSTANDING DIRECTOR (MIDSIZE THEATER)
• Larry Coen – "The Divine Sister" (SpeakEasy Stage Company)
• David Connolly – "The Drowsy Chaperone" (SpeakEasy Stage Company)
• David R. Gammons – "Red" (SpeakEasy Stage Company)

OUTSTANDING DIRECTOR (SMALL/FRINGE THEATER)
• Darren Evans – "Mojo" (Theatre on Fire)
• Danielle Fauteux Jacques – "Uncle Vanya" (Apollinaire Theatre Company)
• Meg Taintor – "Dogg’s Hamlet," "Cahoot’s Macbeth" (Whistler in the Dark)

OUTSTANDING DESIGN (LARGE THEATER)
• Jean Le Bourdais [set], Catherine Higgins [costumes], Nicolas Marois [lighting], Jean-Sébastien Côte [sound], Marie-France Lanvière [properties], Jean-Nicholas Marquis [puppetry], and Jacques Collin, Véronique Couturier, and David Leclerc [images] – "The Andersen Project" (ArtsEmerson)
• Daniel Ostling [set], Mara Blumenfeld [costumes], T.J. Gerckens [lighting], and Richard Woodbury [sound] – "Candide" (Huntington Theatre Company)
• Narelle Sissons [set], Meganne George [costumes], Mary Louise Geiger [lighting], Jane Catherine Shaw [puppetry], and Edward Cosla [sound] – "Mabou Mines DollHouse" (ArtsEmerson)

OUTSTANDING DESIGN (MEDIUM/SMALL/FRINGE THEATER)
• Cristina Todesco [sets], Gail Astrid Buckley [costumes], Jeff Adelberg [lighting], and Bill Barclay [sound] – "Red" (SpeakEasy Stage Company)
• James P. Byrne [set], Scott Martino [costumes], Justin Paice [lighting], and Tim McCarthy [projections] – "The Rocky Horror Show" (Gold Dust Orphans/Oberon)
• Cristina Todesco [sets], Molly Trainer [costumes], Jason Ries [lighting], and Arshan Gailus [sound] – "Twelfth Night" (Actors’ Shakespeare Project)

OUTSTANDING NEW SCRIPT
• Burgess Clark – "Reflections of a Rock Lobster" (Boston Children’s Theatre)
• Stephen Karam – "Sons of the Prophet" (Huntington Theatre Company)
• Stephen Sachs – "Bakersfield Mist "(New Repertory Theatre, Wellfleet Harbor Actors Theater)

SPECIAL CITATION
Charlestown Working Theatre

ELLIOT NORTON PRIZE FOR SUSTAINED EXCELLENCE
Kate Snodgrass

ELLIOT NORTON LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD
Tommy Tune

First bestowed in 1983, The Elliot Norton Awards are named in honor of the distinguished Boston theater critic Elliot Norton, who for many years served on the selection committee and who remained an engaged supporter of drama, both locally and nationally, until his death in 2003 at the age of 100. For 48 years Mr. Norton was a drama critic for Boston newspapers; concurrently, from 1958 until his retirement in 1982, he was moderator of "Elliot Norton Reviews" on WGBH television.

Tickets to the ceremonies are $30 (including the post-party) and available by phone at 617-824-8000 or online at http://www.aestages.org.

Sponsors for the 2012 event include: ArtsEmerson, Actors’ Equity Association, ArtsBoston, EdgeBoston, Emerson College, Jet Blue, Ritz-Carlton, Rodman Ford, TheaterMania, The Boston Globe and WGBH.