BWW: Nashville and Tennessee Awards Nominations Open

Despite portentous warnings of an approaching snowmageddon across the South, more than 150 members of the Nashville and Middle Tennessee theater community gathered at Street Theatre Company in Nashville on Sunday night, January 9, 2010, for the announcement of the BroadwayWorld.com Nashville Theatre Awards, which were dominated by Crossville's Cumberland County Playhouse.

And nominations are now being sought for this year's slate of awards, which have been updated to better represent the wide range of theatrical offerings in the Volunteer State.

After that huge success, BroadwayWorld.com announces two awards presentations for Tennessee theater this year, with awards to be presented for Nashville productions and for Tennessee productions outside Music City USA.

You may make nominations throughout the month of October, with voting for the awards starting in November, and the announcement of winners set for Sunday, January 8, during Midwinter's First Night at The Keeton Theatre in Donelson. Details about that event will be announced in the coming weeks.

CLICK HERE FOR NASHVILLE NOMINATIONS

CLICK HERE FOR TENNESSEE NOMINATIONS

Winners of the BroadwayWorld.com Nashville Theatre Awards, voted by theater fans throughout the month of December (through January 8), following nominations submitted during the month of November 2010, included:

• Best Play (non-professional):The Best Christmas Pageant Ever,Cumberland County Playhouse
• Best Play (professional):Duck Hunter Shoots Angel,Cumberland County Playhouse
• Best Musical (non-professional):13,Cannon County Arts
• Best Musical (professional):Brigadoon,Cumberland County Playhouse
• Best New Work:Mark Allen'sTinyard Hill,Cumberland County Playhouse
• Best Director/Play (non-professional):Clay Hillwig,The Grapes of Wrath
• Best Director/Play (professional): Donald Fann,Duck Hunter Shoots Angel
• Best Director/Musical (non-professional): Kyle Rybczyk,Seussical,Pull-Tight Players
• Best Director/Musical (professional):Michele Colvin,Brigadoon
• Best Music Director (non-professional): John Kennerly,Titanic,Circle Players
• Best Music Director (professional):Ron Murphy,Brigadoon
• Best Actor/Musical (non-professional): Markus McClain,13
• Best Actor/Musical (professional):Britt Hancock,Brigadoon
• Best Actor/Play (non-professional):Ed Amatrudo,Who's Afraid ofVirginia Woolf,ACT 1
• Best Actor/Play (professional):Jason Ross,Duck Hunter Shoots Angel
• Best Actress/Musical (non-professional): Stephanie Jones Benton,Jekyll & Hyde,Circle Players
• Best Actress/Musical (professional): Heather Dispensa,Into the Woods,Roxy Regional Theatre
• Best Actress/Play (non-professional): Heather Alexander,The Grapes of Wrath
• Best Actress/Play (professional):Denice Hicks,The Tempest,Nashville Shakespeare Festival
• Best Costume Design (non-professional): Cat Arnold,Titanic
• Best Costume Design (professional): Rebel Mickelson,A Little Night Music,Cumberland County Playhouse
• Best Lighting Design (non-professional): Paul Cook,Who's Afraid ofVirginia Woolf
• Best Lighting Design (professional): E. Tonry Lathroum, Duck Hunter Shoots Angel
• Best Set Design (non-professional):Jim Manning,The Grapes of Wrath
• Best Set Design (professional): John Fionte, Duck Hunter Shoots Angel

Jeffrey Ellis is a Nashville-based writer, editor and critic, who's been covering the performing arts in Tennessee for more than 25 years. He is the recipient of the Tennessee Theatre Association's Distinguished Service Award for his coverage of theatre in the Volunteer State and was the founding editor/publisher of Stages, the Tennessee Onstage Monthly. He is a past fellow of the National Critics Institute at the Eugene O'Neill Theatre Center and is the founder/executive producer of The First Night Honors, held during Labor Day Weekend, which honor oustanding theater artists in Tennessee in recognition of their lifetime achievements and includes The First Night Star Awards and the Most Promising Actors. Midwinter's First Night, held the first Sunday in January after New Year's Day, honors outstanding productions and performances throughout the state. Further, Ellis directed the Nashville premiere of La Cage Aux Folles, The Last Night of Ballyhoo and An American Daughter, as well as award-winning productions of Damn Yankees, Company, Gypsy and The Rocky Horror Show, with Ellis honored by The Tennessean as best director of a musical for both Company and Rocky Horror.

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