04/23/2013
Tickets are almost sold out!!
Dear Bay Area Theatre Folk,
The Bay Area’s longest-running theatre awards event is coming to Oakland on May 6.
The SF Bay Area Theatre Critics Circle Awards honors the best in live theatre in the Bay Area.
This year, for the first time in its 37-year history, the program, “A Gala Awards and Dance Party” will be held in Oakland – at the fabled art deco California Ballroom.
The party is open to the public, but tickets are limited.
We think your readers will want to know so that fans of live theatre can join us in the fun.
All details are in the press release below& attached, along with a jpg of our lively graphic.
A shorter calendar announcement is at the end of the release.
Best,
John McMullen
SFBATCC
BAY AREA THEATER CRITICS CIRCLE AWARDS SHOW FEATURES GALA DANCE PARTY
Critics Circle Invites Theatre Fans to “Dance With the Winners” at “Gala Theatre Awards & Dance Party,” Monday, May 6 at California Ballroom in Oakland
CONTACT: John McMullen 510-652-3879
[email protected]
San Francisco. April 17, 2013. The San Francisco Bay Area Theatre Critics Circle will bestow 60 awards on Bay Area theatre artists at its 37th annual theatre awards. The “Theatre Awards Gala & Dance Party” is on Monday, May 6 from 6:30 to 10:30 p.m. at the lovely art deco California Ballroom, 1736 Franklin Street in Oakland’s uptown business district.
For the first time the Critics Circle will hold its Awards Gala in the East Bay.
The theme for the Gala is as new as the venue – a big, blow-out dance party with live band and a catered smorgasbord to help sustain the party-goers’ energy.
“We’ve held the Awards in San Francisco for years, and the East Bay is past due,” said Theatre Critics Circle President Barry Willis.“
“We were able to book the California Ballroom, which is a gem of a venue,” Willis added. “It’s in the safe and accessible uptown business district of Oakland, half a block from the 19th St BART station, with lots of street parking around, so everything fell into place.”
Oakland Mayor Jean Quan will deliver the welcoming address. Special awards will honor actor James Carpenter, Kim Taylor PR, and Exit Theatre. A special proclamation will be presented to Actors Equity on their 100th Anniversary.
Providing live music for this night of food, drink, dancing, and awards will be the Tal Ariel Rockin’ Band; Tal won the Award for Outstanding Music Director last year. Leanne Borghesi, two-time award winner, is flying in from NYC to sing.
Hot Chinese food and a smorgasbord are included. Wine and beer will be served at the hosted bar, and an ongoing raffle of prizes will pepper the evening.
The Theatre Critics Circle nominates and votes for awards to outstanding theatre artists for their 2012 work in categories such as Director, Principal and Featured Male and Female Actors, Music Director, Choreographer, Original Script, Designers of Costumes, Sets, Lights , and more. To find out who is nominated, go to www.CriticsCIrcle.org
Bay Area theatre organizations nominated this year include:
North Bay:
6th Street Playhouse, Cinnabar Theatre, Curtain Theater Company, Marin Shakespeare Company, Marin Theatre Company, Mountain Play, New Spreckels Theatre Company, Novato Theater Company, Ross Valley Players, Shakespeare At Stinson.
South Bay:
Foothill Music Theatre, San Jose Repertory Theatre, TheatreWorks.
East Bay:
Aurora Theatre Company, Berkeley Repertory Theatre, California Shakespeare Theater, Center Repertory Theatre, Central Works, Impact Theatre, Playground, Masquers Playhouse, Shotgun Players, Stagebridge, Symmetry Theatre Company, Virago Theatre Company.
San Francisco:
American Conservatory Theater, Boxcar Theatre, Cameron Mackintosh Presents/SHN, Crowded Fire, The Cutting Ball Theatre, Custom Made Theatre Co., Magic Theatre, National Theatre of Great Britain/SHN, Playwrights Foundation, Ray of Light Theatre Company, SF Playhouse, The Cutting Ball Theater, Theatre Rhinoceros, Thrillpeddlers, Word for Word.
Awards Presenters will include Jonathan Moscone of California Shakespeare Theatre in Orinda, Tony Taccone of Berkeley Repertory Theatre, Melissa Hillman of Impact Theatre in Berkeley, Patrick Dooley of Shotgun Players in Berkeley, Bill English and Susi Damilano of SF Playhouse, actors Rami Magron, Cassidy Brown, Jessica Powell, DC Scarpelli, Dale Albright of Theatre Bay Area, costume designer Tammara Plankers of Masquers Playhouse, and Kelly Ground of Actors’ Equity, Linda Ayres-Frederick Critics Circle vice-president and Equity actress, and Critics Circle president Barry Willis.
If you’ve never been to the California Ballroom, you owe yourself a visit,” says Gala committee member John McMullen. “It’s a little jewel from the 1920’s. And we’re going upscale. Guests will sit at round tables with linen tablecloths, right next to the great dance floor and stage, with period mirrors and chandeliers making the place sparkle.”
You can tour the California Ballroom at http://www.californiaballroom.com
The uptown business district of Oakland is near the Paramount Theatre and upscale restaurants. “The Ambassadors”--Oakland’s security and hospitality organization--will be on patrol and available to walk guests to the cars until 11:00 p.m.
About the Critics Circle
The San Francisco Bay Area Theatre Critics Circle is a private, non-profit organization dedicated to promoting and acknowledging achievement in theatres of all types and sizes in the Bay Area by recognizing excellence and outstanding achievement in the various fields of theatre artistry.
Active since 1976, the Circle consists of reviewers in all nine Bay Area counties, across various media, who are voted into membership by existing members based on the quality and consistency of their reviews. The Circle hosts an annual awards ceremony each spring to celebrate superior work in the previous year.
Critics Circle members include Kedar K. Adour MD Linda Ayres-Frederick Ken Bullock of Adrianne Goff , Susan Cohn, Richard Connema, Mario Echevarria, John Angell Grant, Flora Lynn Isaacson , Michelle Lin, John A. McMullen II, Cari Lynn Pace Jeffrey Smith, and President Barry Willis..
The Awards Gala is sponsored in part by Actors Equity Association and Theatre Bay Area.
Critics Circle members include include Kedar K. Adour MD, VP Linda Ayres-Frederick , Ken Bullock, Adrianne Goff, Susan Cohn, Richard Connema, Mario Echevarria, John Angell Grant, Flora Lynn Isaacson , Michelle Lin, John A. McMullen II Secretary Cari Lynn Pace, Treasurer Jeffrey Smith, and President Barry Willis.
TICKETS:
Seating is limited to 300 attendees this year. As of this writing, with three weeks to go, half are sold. Advance tickets are $25; $28 at the door. Doors open at 6:30 p.m. Awards and dancing alternate until 10:30 pm.
Tickets at www.SFBATCC.org / 1-800-838-3006
For more info: John McMullen 510-652-3879 [email protected] or www.sfbatcc.org
FOR CALENDAR EDITORS
Theatre Critics Circle Awards Gala and Dance Party. Awards program for outstanding achievement to Bay Area theatre companies and performers. Public invited to Gala that includes live music, dancing, food, raffle prizes. California Ballroom, 1736 Franklin Street, Oakland on Monday, May 6th from 6:30 – 10:30 p.m. Sponsored by the SF Bay Area Theatre Critics Circle, co-sponsored in part by Actor’s Equity & Theatre Bay Area. Tickets $25 advance, $28 door. www.CriticsCircle.org / 1-800-838-3006.
