Sunday, November 02, 2008
A+E, Theater

Wake up, little Suzi

Our critic has questions for local awards

BY BERT OSBORNE
 
What must one do to get on the judging committee for the Suzi Awards? Having seen more than 100 shows last season, do I qualify for membership (and, if so, can I nominate myself)? The fourth annual ceremony, set for Nov. 10 at the Fox’s Egyptian Ballroom, will celebrate outstanding achievements from the ’07-’08 theater season—but why wait until Nov. 11 for some Tuesday morning quarterbacking, when I can put things in an open letter right now?
 
Dear Suzi powers that be:
 
Congratulations on the continued success of your Atlanta theater awards. I’m really looking forward to finding out which productions and performances are going to take home prizes, and I always enjoy comparing notes about which accomplishments you single out (and, somewhat defensively, which ones you don’t). Everyone is entitled to their own opinion, of course. I guess it’s one thing that your voters didn’t like “The Merchant of Venice,” “The Clean House,” “The Last Schwartz” or “Doubt” as much as I did—at least the latter received two paltry nominations, one more than each of the others. But when several of my personal favorites were overlooked altogether (“Meds,” “Pure Confidence,” “Great Expectations,” “Oh, What a Lovely War!”), it makes me wonder: Did any of your members see those shows?
 
I just want to understand how this process works, exactly. It sounds like it’s incumbent on the theater companies to invite you to consider their work (by offering free tickets). Take it from a veteran critic, though: If I waited to be invited to everything, I’d be reviewing much less theater. Sometimes, you need to take the initiative and simply invite yourself to the party. Aurora requires that I pay to see its shows, and yet that didn’t keep me from attending four of them last season. We’ve all got our jobs to do. When I compile my own year-in-review “best” list, having also seen a lot of stuff that was anything but, I can truly stand behind my choices. Your goal in recognizing some of the brightest lights on the scene is commendable—but it should go above and beyond whether or not a little non-Equity group like Out of Hand “comps” you to see “Meds.”
 
How about picking a number, any number, and holding each of your 20 categories to it? When you’re citing seven lead actresses in a play—never mind that Judy Leavell (“The Lady With All the Answers”) and Vicki Ellis Gray (“When Something Wonderful Ends”) were snubbed—why limit the lead actors to a mere five, an effective slap in the face to ignored performances by Chris Kayser (“The Merchant of Venice”), David Kronawitter (“The Poetry of Pizza”) and Thomas Piper (“Doubt”) that were every bit as good, or better?
 
Some of the musical categories seem padded, as though you could probably get by with as few as two or three nominees. Lead actress Natasha Drena (“The Last Five Years,” “Annie Get Your Gun”) is competing against herself, as is supporting actor Googie Uterhardt (“Five Course Love,” “Little Shop of Horrors”). “Leads” Courtenay Collins and Craig Meyer are nominated for their ensemble roles in “Jacques Brel.” On the featured front, Meyer is nominated for understudying a part in “Forever Plaid,” and I couldn’t even tell you who Bryan Terrell Clark was among the chorus boys of “Sophisticated Ladies.” Ditto Harriet Foy and Marva Hicks, as two of the interchangeable and nondescript “Women of Brewster Place.” Felicia Boswell played one of three street urchins in “Little Shop,” but what distinguished her from the rest of the trio is a puzzlement.
 
I’m not entirely convinced that musicals deserve their separate categories, anyway. Doesn’t it simply make it easier for them to win awards? Maybe it’s just me, but not one of this year’s nominees holds a candle to any of the nominated best plays. Not surprisingly, among 23 head-to-head nominees in the Suzis’ four design fields (sets, lights, costumes and sound), only one of them is from a musical. Your press release promises selections from all five nominated musicals at next week’s ceremony—they could be the death of me, since I usually time my cigarette breaks around those incessant production numbers during the Tonys or Oscars—and yet nothing at all about how many scenes we might get from the five nominated plays. (Let me guess: None.)
 
Those other awards prohibit it, and so ought the Suzis: No one should be cited twice in the same category. By all means, mention Donna Biscoe for featured actress in “Doubt,” and then give her second nomination to her equally deserving “Gee’s Bend” co-star Shontelle Thrash instead. Pick whichever Tess Malis Kincaid performance you like (even if it isn’t “The Last Schwartz”), and then open up a slot for Marguerite Hannah (robbed for her work in “A Song for Coretta”). Richard Garner gets tapped for both of the shows he directed last season (“Eurydice,” “Richard III”), while Gary Yates gets tapped for none of the three he directed ("Pure Confidence," “Gee’s Bend,” “Blue Door”)—what’s up with that?
 
In closing, do you folks accept unsolicited votes? If they aren’t too late to count, please mark my absentee ballot accordingly (see below).