Pacific Stages shows its mettle
Nominations for the Ovation Awards, the highest honor for Los Angeles theater companies, were announced on Monday evening at the Autry National Center for the American West, and L. Trey Wilson’s “Something Happened,” which received its world premiere at Pacific Stages in El Segundo, came away with four nods: Best Production of a Play [Intimate theater], Best Playwriting for an Original Play, Best Director of a Play, and Best Acting Ensemble.
Wilson’s “Something Happened,” which he directed as well as wrote, was the second in a brief two-play season from the fledgling company. The inaugural production, Kenneth Lonergan’s “Lobby Hero,” which opened in February and played into March, also featured some nice ensemble work (specifically Edward Tournier), and was ably directed by Robert Bailey. “Something Happened” opened in the beginning of April and ran through the middle of May.
Presenting this play – which concerns two gay teenagers and the repercussions this has on their respective families – was “a huge risk” for the young company, in the words of executive director Jeryll Adler. It was a work, she says, “that many argued was too controversial and too insane to take on at this early stage in our development. But we did not see it that way. We felt the subject was too important.”
This reviewer concurs. Singling out the brief but mesmerizing performance of Allan Louis, I went on to commend the entire cast because they “put so much potent energy into the play. They fully engage us – emotionally, intellectually – from start to finish.”
Landing four nominations in a field where there were 396 registered Ovation Award productions is no piece of cake. Just 63 of those productions made the first cut, with 42 of those (mostly the big guys like the Geffen and the Taper) receiving multiple nods.
By way of contrast, the Civic Light Opera of South Bay Cities received just one nomination, for Best Featured Actor in a Musical, and it went to Sam Zeller for his stand-out performance as Judd Fry in “Oklahoma.”
Pacific Stages presented its first season in a converted retail phone store, and now they are in the process of moving into a new facility, a renovated space on the rooftop of 2141 Rosecrans Ave., across from its former location. They’re aiming to begin a full-time production schedule starting in the fall of 2011.
What’s next? Well, the Ovation Awards themselves, for one thing. The winners will be announced on Jan. 17 at the Thousand Oaks Civic Arts Plaza.
Let us hope that our five nominees from the South Bay do us proud. ER