Ivey Awards Wrap-up and Highlights

September 22, 10:43 AMMinneapolis Theater ExaminerZach Curtis

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The Fifth annual Ivey Awards stormed downtown Minneapolis last night, and a number of familiar and new faces were honored for their work in the last year.

The honorees for the evening included:

Little Rock, 1957  -  produced by the Youth Performance Company - written by Erin McGonagle and directed by Jacie Knight.  It was the second time the company has been honored (in 2006 they received the Ivey for The Talk: An Intercourse of Coming of Age).

Old Wicked Songs  -  produced by Theatre Latte Da - written by Jon Marans, and directed by Peter Rothstein.  This marked the second Ivey for Latte Da as well, having been honored in 2005 for La Boheme.

Tyrone and Ralph  -   produced by the History Theatre - written by Jeffrey Hatcher and directed by Ron Peluso.  The show starred Steve Hendrickson and Mark Benninghofen as Tyrone Guthrie and Ralph Rapson, the founder and the architect responsible for the original Guthrie Theater.

Sonja Parks was awarded a trophy for her stunning work in No Child at Pillsbury House (who made it known last evening via Facebook that the show will return in February 2010).

Chris Griffith’s wonderful puppets for Minnesota Jewish Theater’s Herschel and the Hannukah Goblins earned him Ivey recognition (a thrill in itself to see technical elements honored at such a high level).

The same can be said for Ivey’s recognition of Sean Healy’s evocative sound design for Shipwrecked! at the Jungle Theatre.

Christina Baldwin and Jennifer Baldwin Peden got a nod for their performances in the aptly titled Sister Stories for Nautilus-Music Theater.

Director Greg Banks was honored for his visually stunning promenade staging of Romeo and Juliet at the Children’s Theatre Company.

Luverne Siefert’s performance in the title role of Workhaus Collective’s 800 Words: The Transmigration of Philip K. Dick wowed Ivey evaluators, and the award wowed Siefert himself, who ended his speech with an elated “This is just so cool!”

Probably the most expected award of the evening was also the most deserved - Greta Ogelsby was honored for her tremendous performance in Caroline, or Change at the Guthrie Theater.

The Emerging Artist award went to Emily Gunyou Halaas, who in the past few years has turned in tremendous performances in productions of King Lear at Starting Gate, The Deception at Jeune Lune, and most recently My Name is Rachel Corrie with Emigrant Theater.

Improv impressario Dudley Riggs was given the Lifetime Achievement award, honoring a career of over 50 years, and the creation of one of the most important satirical comedy groups in the country - the Brave New Workshop.

Highlights for the evening included:

Greta Olgesby’s breathtaking performance of “Lot’s Wife” from Caroline, or Change - even with a nearly full house at the State Theater , you could have heard a pin drop in the auditorium at the climax of the song.

Peter Rothstein (Theatre Latte Da) lamenting that he had told his mother not to come tonight (a story later echoed by Gunyou Halaas about her own mother) because he was “sure he wouldn’t win anything”.  Also wonderful was Rothstein’s acknowledgement of his longtime musical director Denise Prosek.

Amelia English's hilarious "I'm not Sean Healy" speech, explaining that he was ill and had told her she would have to go up if he won anything - she was saved by Jungle Artistic Director Joel Sass.

A terrifically funny and touching video reply from Senator Al Franken honoring Riggs’ Lifetime Award.  Franken said of Riggs, “...if it were not for Dudley, I would not be where I am now.  I’d be in my fourth term.”

Also, on another humorous note, kudos need to go to presenters and past Ivey winners Garry Geiken and Matt Rein, who introduced Siefert’s Ivey with the quickest and most efficient introduction in Ivey history.

The after-party was held in the State lobby and the adjoining LaSalle Plaza, and included karaoke, dancing and some hardcore hobnobbing among the Twin Cities theater community’s finest.  Although a few things were left to be desired ($15 for a plastic glass of wine?), the party’s relocation for previous Ivey’s (the Crystal Court at IDS) provided far more space and comfort levels, and gave access to several other restaurants and  entertainment options.