The drama surrounding this year's 38th annual Drammy Awards has less to do with what's on stage and more to do with what local thespians posted online after the Drammy committee announced its nominees Wednesday.
The Drammy board—an all-volunteer panel of critics who attend around 100 shows each year—has been doling out awards since 1979. (Willamette Week founded the awards but no longer has any special role in selecting or producing them.) Nearly every year, complaints roll in—mostly from the parties who feel snubbed.
That includes John San Nicolas, an Artists Repertory Theatre mainstay.
"Don't get me wrong-I never expect to be nominated for Drammy Awards. But that doesn't stop me from BREATHING FIRE once a year when the nominees are announced. Whatever," San Nicolas posted on Facebook. "I'll just be over here, consistently doing work as good as anyone around."
There are up to 250 nominations to consider, says committee chairwoman Darr Durham.
"They just rant because they haven't been nominated," Durham says. "People from the outside looking in have misconceptions about the committee, and that's exactly what they are."
Age and gender activists are in this year.
For the first time, the Age and Gender Equity in the Arts organization will give an AGE award.
Also, surprisingly, is the Mock's Crest Productions show H.M.S. Pinafore. Mock's Crest is practically unknown in Portland's theater sphere and didn't get one nomination last year. This year, it has five.
Here's looking forward to the awards ceremony at the Newmark later this month, a notoriously showy spectacle that packs Portland's biggest theatrical personalities into tight seats for judgment.
Here are the nominees:
BEST ACTOR IN A MUSICAL
Max Artsis
Dogfight
Staged!
Brian Demar Jones
Under the Influence
Fuse Theatre Ensemble
Jared Miller
Oklahoma!
Broadway Rose Theatre Company
Joel Walker
Thoroughly Modern Millie
Broadway Rose Theatre Company
BEST ACTOR IN A PLAY
Bobby Bermea
The Set-Up
Cygnet Productions
Gavin Hoffman
The Understudy
Artists Repertory Theatre
Allen Nause
Chapatti
Corrib Theatre
Seth Rue
Blue Door
Profile Theatre
BEST ACTRESS IN A MUSICAL
Claire Avakian
Thoroughly Modern Millie
Broadway Rose Theatre Company
Courtney Freed
Falsettos
Live On Stage
Kailey Rhodes
Chicago
Metropolitan Community Theatre Project
Malia Tippets
Heathers: The Musical
triangle productions! & Staged!
BEST ACTRESS IN A PLAY
JoAnn Johnson
Mothers And Sons
Artists Repertory Theatre
Val Landrum
The Miracle Worker
Artists Repertory Theatre
Kayla Lian
Davita's Harp
Jewish Theatre Collaborative
Beth Thompson
Orlando
Profile Theatre
BEST CHOREOGRAPHY
Maija Garcia
Cuba Libre
Artists Repertory Theatre
Maria Tucker
Oklahoma!
Broadway Rose Theatre Company
Jessica Wallenfels
H.M.S. Pinafore
Mock's Crest Productions
Kent Zimmerman
Ain't Misbehavin'
Portland Center Stage
BEST COSTUME DESIGN
Sarah Gahagan
In the Next Room, or the vibrator play
Profile Theatre
Alison Heryer
Ain't Misbehavin'
Portland Center Stage
Alison Heryer
Orlando
Profile Theatre
Ashton Hull
Mr. Burns, a Post-Electric Play
Portland Playhouse
BEST DIRECTOR OF A MUSICAL
Chris Coleman
Ain't Misbehavin'
Portland Center Stage
Diane Englert
Heathers: The Musical
triangle productions! & Staged!
Bruce A. Hostetler
H.M.S. Pinafore
Mock's Crest Productions
Sharon Maroney
Oklahoma!
Broadway Rose Theatre Company
BEST DIRECTOR OF A PLAY
Michael Mendelson
The Understudy
Artists Repertory Theatre
Louanne Moldovan
The Set-Up
Cygnet Productions
Pat Patton
Waiting For Godot
Northwest Classical Theatre Collaborative
Matthew B. Zrebski
Orlando
Profile Theatre
BEST ENSEMBLE IN A MUSICAL
Ain't Misbehavin'
Portland Center Stage
Cuba Libre
Artists Repertory Theatre
In the Heights
Stumptown Stages
Thoroughly Modern Millie
Broadway Rose Theatre Company
BEST ENSEMBLE IN A PLAY
Cock
defunkt theatre
Mr. Burns, a Post-Electric Play
Portland Playhouse
Orlando
Profile Theatre
The Set-Up
Cygnet Productions
BEST LIGHTING DESIGN
Don Crossley
The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane
Oregon Children's Theatre
Kristeen Willis Crosser
The Understudy
Artists Repertory Theatre
Carl Faber
Orlando
Profile Theatre
Diane Ferry Williams
Ain't Misbehavin'
Portland Center Stage
BEST MUSIC DIRECTION
Rick Lewis
Ain't Misbehavin'
Portland Center Stage
Tracey Edson
H.M.S. Pinafore
Mock's Crest Productions
Jonathan Quesenberry
Heathers: The Musical
triangle productions! & Staged!
Jeffrey Childs
Oklahoma!
Broadway Rose Theatre Company
BEST ORIGINAL MUSIC
Adrian Baxter
The Set-Up
Cygnet Productions
Ernie Lijoi, Kevin Laursen, and Lawrence Rush.
Under the Influence
Fuse Theatre Ensemble
Rory Stitt
The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane
Oregon Children's Theatre
Matthew B. Zrebski
Chrysalis
Oregon Children's Theatre (Young Professionals)
BEST ORIGINAL SCRIPT
Noah Dunham
How to Stop Dying
Action/Adventure Theatre
Ernie Lijoi
Under the Influence
Fuse Theatre Ensemble
Sacha Reich + Jamie Rea
Davita's Harp
Jewish Theatre Collaborative
Claire Willett
Dear Galileo
Playwrights West
BEST PIT ENSEMBLE
Chicago
Metropolitan Community Theatre Project
Cuba Libre
Artists Repertory Theatre
Mame
Lakewood Theatre Company
Oklahoma!
Broadway Rose Theatre Company
BEST PRODUCTION OF A MUSICAL
Ain't Misbehavin'
Portland Center Stage
H.M.S. Pinafore
Mock's Crest Productions
Heathers
triangle productions! & Staged!
Under the Influence
Fuse Theatre Ensemble
BEST PRODUCTION OF A PLAY
Cock
defunkt theatre
Orlando
Profile Theatre
The Set-Up
Cygnet Productions
The Understudy
Artists Repertory Theatre
BEST SCENIC DESIGN
Tony Cisek
Ain't Misbehavin'
Portland Center Stage
Stephen Dobay
In the Next Room, or the vibrator play
Profile Theatre
Tal Sanders
Orlando
Profile Theatre
Tim Stapleton
Waiting For Godot
Northwest Classical Theatre Collaborative
BEST SOUND DESIGN
Rodolfo Ortega
Blue Door
Profile Theatre
Richard E. Moore
The Drunken City
Theatre Vertigo
Seth Nehil
Time, A Fair Hustler
Hand2Mouth
Scott Thorson
Sex With Strangers
Portland Center Stage
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR IN A MUSICAL
Troy Pennington
The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee
Broadway Rose Theatre Company
James Sharinghousen
Oklahoma!
Broadway Rose Theatre Company
Blake Stone
Heathers: The Musical
triangle productions! & Staged!
Joe Theissen
Thoroughly Modern Millie
Broadway Rose Theatre Company
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR IN A PLAY
David Bodin
Twelfth Night
Portland Shakespeare Project
Gavin Hoffman
Great Expectations
Portland Center Stage
Matthew Kerrigan
In the Next Room, or the vibrator play
Profile Theatre
Todd Van Voris
The New Electric Ballroom
Third Rail Repertory Theatre
BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS IN A MUSICAL
Cassi Q. Kohl
H.M.S. Pinafore
Mock's Crest Productions
Amanda Pred
Heathers: The Musical
triangle productions! & Staged!
Danielle Purdy
The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee
Broadway Rose Theatre Company
Emily Sahler
Thoroughly Modern Millie
Broadway Rose Theatre Company
BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS IN A PLAY
Crystal Ann Muñoz
Twelfth Night
Portland Shakespeare Project
Jamie Rea
A Doll's House
Shaking the Tree
Anne Sorce
Time, A Fair Hustler
Hand2Mouth
Beth Thompson
In the Next Room, or the vibrator play
Profile Theatre
BEST YOUNG PERFORMER
Annabel Cantor
Ramona Quimby
Oregon Children's Theatre
Morgan Fay
The Wrestling Season
Oregon Children's Theatre (Young Professionals)
Agatha Olson
The Miracle Worker
Artists Repertory Theatre
Kai Tomizawa
Junie B. Jones: The Musical
Oregon Children's Theatre
LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD
Beth Harper
Willamette Week