Sonoma Arts Live collects two Marquee Theater nominations

The Marquee Theater Journalists Association – a one-year-old alliance of Sonoma County arts writers – yesterday announced the nominations for the group’s first-ever Marquee Theater Journalists Awards, to be presented in Santa Rosa on Monday, Nov. 14. Amongst the nominees are Sonoma Arts Live, named in two categories for its acclaimed 2015 production of Stephen Sondheim’s controversial “Assassins.”

The show, in which a motley group of real-life would-be killers swap stories, was produced in association with Narrow Way Stage Company. It picked up a nomination for Outstanding Musical Production, with Trevor Hoffman and Skylar Evans named as co-directors, and another for Outstanding Supporting Performance, naming Adam Blankenship for his work as the mysterious Balladeer.

Also named for Best Musical Production are Sonoma State University’s staging of Sondheim’s “Into the Woods,” and three from Rohnert Park’s Spreckels Theatre Company: “Kismet,” “The Light in the Piazza” and “Disney’s The Little Mermaid.”

Blankenship’s nomination for Outstanding Supporting Performance in a Musical puts him alongside Sonoma’s Abbey Lee, who portrayed sweet-hearted Arabella Rittenhouse and the scheming Mrs. Whitehead in the Marx Brothers’ “Animal Crackers” at 6th Street Playhouse.

Also nominated in that category are Jacinta Gorringe, for her performance as Mrs. Rittenhouse in “Animal Crackers,” “Shirley Nilsen-Hall as Mrs. Higgins in 6th Street’s “My Fair Lady” and Fernando Siu, who played the fishy Flounder in Spreckels’ “The Little Mermaid.”

“I’m thrilled that ‘Assassins’ continues to get attention and be part of the conversation about local theater,” says Jaime Love, Executive Artistic Director of Sonoma Arts Live. “It was a thrilling collaborative production, and we hope to working with those same actors, directors and other talented theater artists more in the future.”

The Marquee Theater Journalists Awards – named for the beloved Marquee Theater that once stood in Santa Rosa’s Railroad Square – is comprised of four Sonoma County arts writers, including the Index-Tribune’s David Templeton, plus Santa Rosa’s Harry Duke, Sebastopol’s Barry Willis, and Rohnert Park’s Alexa Chipman.

The group formed in 2015 for the purpose of awarding excellence in Sonoma County Theater from a critical perspective, offering an alternative to other awards programs such as the Stage One Theater Arts Awards, which are chosen by popular vote from within a large group of theater artists from around the County.

The Marquee Awards are broken into 14 categories, with the production and performance awards separated by distinction as musical, comedy or drama.

Bucking tradition, the MTJA makes no distinction for gender in its performance nominations, placing male and female performances together in the same category.

On Monday, Nov. 14, at 6:30 p.m., all nominees will be honored during a casual public celebration at Local Barrel, 490 Mendocino Ave. in Santa Rosa. The announcements and presentation of certificates to awardees will take place at 7:30 p.m.