(© Joan Marcus)
The 27th Annual Elliot Norton Awards, honoring the best in Boston-area theater, were presented at a ceremony at Harvard University’s Sanders Theatre on Monday, May 11.
Numerous shows took home top awards, include the Huntington Theatre Company’s visiting production of Carrie Fisher’s Wishful Drinking, North Shore Music Theatre’s Show Boat, American Repertory Theatre’s Endgame, SpeakEasy Stage’s The Seafarer and The History Boys, Lyric Stage’s Speech and Debate, and Orfeo Group’s Look Back in Anger.
Among the notable acting winners were actors Elizabeth Aspenlieder (Bad Dates), Marianna Bassham (Blackbird), Kate Burton (The Corn Is Green), Will Lyman (Exits and Extrances and The Oil Thief), and Fred Sullivan Jr. (As You Like It and Blithe Spirit). Former Huntington Theatre artistic director Nicholas Martin won for his direction of both She Loves Me and The Corn Is Green, while Joyce Van Dyke won the Outstanding New Script prize for The Oil Thief.
The late Paul Benedict received a posthumous award “for his indelible presence in Boston theater and on the national stage.” In addition, New Repertory Theatre’s outgoing artistic director Rick Lombardo took home the Elliot Norton Prize for Sustained Excellence.
This year’s selection committee included Terry Byrne, Carolyn Clay, Iris Fanger, Louise Kennedy, Joyce Kulhawik, Sandy MacDonald, Robert Nesti, Ed Siegel, and Caldwell Titcomb.
