Hartford Stage

Hartford, CT, June 27, 2017 – Hartford Stage was honored with six awards during the 27th annual Connecticut Critics Circle Awards on Monday, June 26. Hartford Stage earned a total of 13 nominations in recognition of its critically-acclaimed 2016/17 season. Four mainstage productions earned awards, including The Comedy of Errors with three.

Local favorite Vanessa R Butler won Outstanding Actress in a Play for her role as Molly in T.D. Mitchell’s visceral Marine Corps drama, Queens for a Year. Broadway veteran Mia Dillon won Outstanding Featured Actress in a Play for her riveting portrayals of young Edward and Betty in Caryl Churchill’s landmark play, Cloud 9. Outstanding Featured Actor in a Play, Cleavant Derricks, charmed and delighted audiences as piano-playing Wining Boy in August Wilson’s The Piano Lesson.

Costume Designer Fabio Toblini and Sound Designer Jane Shaw were recognized for their work on The Comedy of Errors. Hartford Stage Artistic Director Darko Tresnjak, who helmed the production, won for his bold and bright, 1960s Greek isle-inspired set design.

James Lecesne, who moved Hartford Stage audiences both young and old with his hit solo show The Absolute Brightness of Leonard Pelkey, received a special award from The Connecticut Critics Circle in honor of his work with LGBTQ youth. Former Hartford Stage Artistic Director Michael Wilson presented Lecesne with the honor.

The ceremony, which celebrates the best in professional theatre in Connecticut, was held at Sacred Heart University’s Edgerton Center for the Performing Arts in Fairfield.

Vanessa R Butler

Mia Dillon

Cleavant Derricks

James Lecesne

HARTFORD STAGE

Now in its 54^th season, Hartford Stage’s mission is to enlighten, entertain, and educate by creating theatrical works of the highest caliber that have a transformative impact on audiences, the community, and its field. Led by Artistic Director Darko Tresnjak and Managing Director Michael Stotts, Hartford Stage is renowned for producing innovative revivals of classics and provocative new plays and musicals – including over 70 world and American premieres – as well as offering a distinguished education program, which reaches approximately 20,000 students annually.

Since Tresnjak’s appointment in 2011, Hartford Stage has presented the world premieres of the new musical Anastasia by Terrence McNally, Stephen Flaherty and Lynn Ahrens – currently on Broadway; Rear Window with Kevin Bacon; Reverberation by Matthew Lopez; Big Dance Theatre’s Man in a Case with Mikhail Baryshnikov; Breath & Imagination by Daniel Beaty; A Gentleman's Guide to Love and Murder on Broadway, winner of four 2014 Tony Awards, including Best Musical and Best Direction of a Musical by Tresnjak; and Quiara Alegría Hudes’ Water by the Spoonful, winner of the 2012 Pulitzer Prize for Drama.

Hartford Stage has earned many of the nation’s most prestigious awards, including the 1988 Tony Award for Outstanding Regional Theatre. Other national honors include Outer Critics Circle, Drama Desk, OBIE, and New York Critics Circle awards. Hartford Stage has produced nationally renowned titles, including the New York transfers of Enchanted April; The Orphans' Home Cycle; Resurrection (later retitled Through the Night); The Carpetbagger's Children; and Tea at Five.

# # #

Hartford Stage Takes Home Six Connecticut Critics Circle Awards

The Comedy of Errors Scores Three Wins; James Lecesne Honored for Work with LGBTQ Youth