Richmond Theatre Community Circle announces 15th annual Artsies nominations

August 21, 2023. The 15th Richmond Theatre Community Circle (formerly Richmond Theatre Critics Circle) Awards (“Artsies”), the community’s recognition of excellence in Richmond-area theater, will be held at the November Theatre on Sunday, October 8th. More details will follow.

The Richmond Theatre Community Circle announces the following nominees for this year’s Artsies. The 2022-23 nominees are:

Best Musical

• Beautiful: The Carole King Musical, Virginia Repertory Theatre (Virginia Rep)
• Gabriel: The Musical, Firehouse Theatre (Firehouse)
• Ghost Quartet, Firehouse
• Head over Heels, Richmond Triangle Players (RTP)

Best Direction (Musical)

• PJ Freebourn, Ghost Quartet, Firehouse
• Rick Hammerly, Beautiful: The Carole King Musical, Virginia Rep
• Lucian Restivo, Head over Heels, RTP
• Foster Solomon, Gabriel: The Musical, Firehouse

Best Lead Performance (Musical)

• Lukas D’Errico, Head over Heels
• Grey Garrett, Beautiful: The Carole King Musical
• Calvin Malone, Head over Heels
• Jerold Solomon, Gabriel: The Musical
• Debra Wagoner, Honky Tonk Laundry, Virginia Rep

Best Supporting Performance (Musical)

• Logan Foster, Beautiful: The Carole King Musical
• Katie Goffman, Beautiful: The Carole King Musical
• Sydnee Graves, Gabriel: The Musical
• Zachary A. Myers, Head over Heels
• Shannon Schilstra, Head over Heels

Best Musical Direction

• Billy Dye, Gabriel: The Musical
• Kim Fox, Head over Heels
• Jason Marks, Beautiful: The Carole King Musical
• Amy L. Oblinger, Ghost Quartet

Best Choreography

• Nicole Morris-Anastasi, Head over Heels
• Nicole Morris-Anastasi, Ghost Quartet
• Simeon Rawls, Beautiful: The Carole King Musical

Outstanding Achievement in Costume Design (Musical)

• Sue Griffin, Beautiful: The Carole King Musical
• Laura Vitale, Head over Heels

Outstanding Achievement in Lighting Design (Musical)

• Andrew Bonniwell, Ghost Quartet
• Joe Doran, Beautiful: The Carole King Musical
• Michael Jarett, Head over Heels
• Steven Koehler, Honky Tonk Laundry
• Todd Labelle, Gabriel: The Musical

Outstanding Achievement in Set Design (Musical)

• Frank Foster, Beautiful: The Carole King Musical
• Frank Foster, Head over Heels
• Dasia Gregg, Gabriel: The Musical
• Todd Labelle, Ghost Quartet
• Tom Width, Keep on the Sunny Side, Swift Creek Mill Theatre (Swift Creek Mill)

Outstanding Achievement in Sound Design (Musical)

• Joey Luck, Head over Heels
• Jacob Mishler, Beautiful: The Carole King Musical

Best Play

• Gaslight, Swift Creek Mill Theatre
• The Inheritance, RTP
• The Light, Yes, And! Theatrical Company (Yes, And!)
• The School for Lies, Richmond Shakespeare
• Uncle Vanya, Richmond Shakespeare

Best Direction (Play)

• Irene Kuykendall, Gaslight
• Lucretia Marie, The Light
• Jan Powell, Uncle Vanya
• Lucian Restivo, The Inheritance
• James Ricks, The School for Lies

Best Lead Performance (Play)

• Lukas D’Errico, The Inheritance
• Grey Garrett, Placebo, Yes, And!
• Deejay Gray, The Inheritance
• Katrinah Carol Lewis, The Light
• Matt Mitchell, The School for Lies
• Adam Turck, The Inheritance
• Lindsey Zelli, Gaslight
• Lindsey Zelli, The School for Lies

Best Supporting Performance (Play)

• Emily Berry, The Comedy of Errors, Richmond Shakespeare
• Axle Burtness, Gaslight
• Kylee Márquez-Downie, The School for Lies
• Dorothy “Dee D.” Miller, How Black Mothers Say I Love You, RTP
• Alexander Sapp, Placebo
• Tatjana Shields, How to Bruise Gracefully, Cadence Theatre in partnership with Virginia Rep
• Sara Dabney Tisdale, The School for Lies
• Eddie Webster, The Inheritance

Outstanding Achievement in Costume Design (Play)

• Anna Bialkowski, Uncle Vanya
• Carolan Corcoran, Miss Bennet: Christmas at Pemberley, Virginia Rep
• Cora Delbridge, The School for Lies
• Sue Griffin and Marcia Hailey, Steel Magnolias, Virginia Rep
• William Luther, Christmas on the Rocks, RTP

Outstanding Achievement in Lighting Design (Play)

• Gretta Daughtrey, Uncle Vanya
• Joe Doran, A Soldier’s Story, Swift Creek Mill
• Michael Jarett, The Inheritance
• Lynne M. Hartman, Miss Bennet: Christmas at Pemberley
• BJ Wilkinson, After December, Virginia Rep

Outstanding Achievement in Set Design (Play)

• Tennessee Dixon, After December
• Frank Foster, The Inheritance
• Vinnie Gonzalez, Lewiston, HATTheatre
• Chris Raintree, Chicken & Biscuits, Virginia Rep
• Mercedes Schaum, Miss Bennet: Christmas at Pemberley

Outstanding Achievement in Sound Design (Play)

• Candace Hudert, The Light
• Joey Luck, After December
• Lucian Restivo, The Inheritance
• James Ricks, Uncle Vanya
• James Ricks, All’s Well That Ends Well

Ernie McClintock Best Ensemble Acting

• A Soldier’s Play, Swift Creek Mill Theatre
• How Black Mothers Say I Love You, Richmond Triangle Players
• The Inheritance, Richmond Triangle Players
• The School for Lies, Richmond Shakespeare
• Uncle Vanya, Richmond Shakespeare

Breakout Performance

• Calie Bain, Uncle Vanya
• Lukas D’Errico, The Inheritance/Miss Bennet: Christmas at Pemberley/Head over Heels
• Theresa Mantiply, Christmas on the Rocks
• Nakia Young-El, Steel Magnolias
• Lindsey Zelli, Gaslight/Uncle Vanya/The School for Lies

Best Original Work

• After December created by Bo Wilson and directed by Rick Hammerly, Virginia Repertory Theatre
• Cross Stitch Bandits created by Sanam Laila Hashemi and Steven Burneson and directed by Sharon Ott, Cadence Theatre in partnership with Virginia Rep
• Gabriel: The Musical written by Jerold Solomon, Foster Solomon, and Ron Klipp, with music and lyrics by Ron Klipp, and directed by Foster Solomon, Firehouse Theatre
• How to Bruise Gracefully created by Brittany Fisher and directed by Melissa Mowry, Cadence Theatre in partnership with Virginia Rep