A Little Acclaim for the Fringe Festival

Mon, Jun 6, 2011 at 1:14 pm

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Since the 2011 Cincinnati Fringe Festival kicked off on June 1, a panel of three dedicated theater experts have been evaluating performances for recognition through the Acclaim Awards. These awards are in the process of being renamed, but for the sake of clarity and brevity, I’m going to call them by their soon-to-be-former name. The panelists are veterans of the Acclaims; neither Jackie Demaline of The Cincinnati Enquirer nor I are members of the panel or involved in this process. —-

Following the first five days of Fringe performance, here are their nominations and production recommendations:

ACCLAIM NOMINATIONS

• Jimmy Hogg, for writing and creating Curriculum Vitae (pictured) (Toronto, Ontario)

• Acting ensemble (Michael Carr, Mindy Heithaus, Jeffrey K. Miller), the cast of Darker, presented by New Edgecliff (Cincinnati)

• Kevin J. Thornton, for writing and performing I Love You (We're Fucked) (Los Angeles)

• Regina Pugh, for directing Melancholy Play at Ensemble Theatre of Cincinnati (Cincinnati)

• Acting ensemble (Peter York, Jennifer Roehm, Lisa DeRoberts, Nina Yarbrough and William Selnick, ETC’s Acting Intern Company, with CCM cellist Randy Nashleanas), the cast of Melancholy Play, presented by Ensemble Theatre of Cincinnati (Cincinnati)

• Sophia L. Torres, for her choreography of Rip in the Atmosphere by Psophonia Dance Company (Houston)

• Patricia Solorzano & Sophia L. Torres, for their costuming of Rip in the Atmosphere by Psophonia Dance Company (Houston)

• Austin Bunn, for writing Denali, presented by Working Group Theatre (Iowa City, Iowa)

• Acting ensemble (Martin Andrews, Kristy Hartsgrove and Sean Lewis), the cast of Denali, presented by Working Group Theatre (Iowa City, Iowa)

• Martin Andrews, Kristy Hartsgrove, Sean Lewis and Austin Bunn, for their direction of Denali, presented by Working Group Theatre (Iowa City, Iowa)

• Four Humors Theater, for staging, props and general creativity for You Only Live Forever Once, presented by Four Humors Theater (Minneapolis)

ACCLAIM RECOMMENDED

• Acclaim Recommended: Headscarf and the Angry Bitch by Zehra Fazal (Asburn, Virginia)

• Acclaim Recommended: Curriculum Vitae by Jimmy Hogg (Toronto, Ontario)

• Acclaim Recommended: Darker by Catie O’Keefe (New Edgecliff Theatre, Cincinnati)

• Acclaim Recommended: You Only Live Forever Once by Jason Ballweber (Four Humors Theatre, Minneapolis)

This panel intends to see and evaluate every production — a significant commitment of the panel members’ time and no easy task with more than 30 shows and a demonstration of considerable interest and support for the Fringe. I’ll be back later this week with another round-up of their decisions.

For reviews of all the Fringe shows, check citybeat.com's special blog section here.