Did you watch the Oscars last night? What was your favorite montage? “Listing Each and Every Best Picture since 1929” was a big hit. “White Guys Winning Best Director Throughout History” was good too.
Anyway, now that we know who is the best at art, we can turn our attention to the second most anticipated award nominations of the year.
I hope you got your ballot into your office pool, because I am proud to announce the nominees for the 2007 Ateh Person of the Year! These awards recognize excellence in theatrical volunteerism, or more specifically: service to the Ateh Theater Group.
And the nominees are -
Jesse Wood: Jesse was a last minute board op replacement delivered by the angels to save The Girl Detective. His task required running between a sound board and spotlight that were separated by fifteen feet of extremely creaky balcony. Lest his travels be heard during the play, he performed a series of experiments in his off hours to discover the few silent boards in the balcony. He marked these spots with glow tape and leapt soundlessly from one to the next in order to do the work of two people.
Allison Raaum: As the Ateh prepared for an early morning, post-snowstorm performance of Alice last winter, Allison, a frequent Ateh volunteer and California native, took it upon herself to clear 4th street of snow.
Andy and Joselle Kryder: In addition to being Ateh devotees, donors and pro bono consultants, Andy and Joselle provided the Ateh with enough closing night Ferraro’s chocolate cake to fuel us through bowling, a dance party and a very early strike the next morning.
Gypsy Gifford: Our first productions of the year were funded primarily with the universal currency of deliciousness. Gypsy hosted and catered a beautiful benefit brunch for the Ateh in January. Best. Food. Ever.
Brian Morgan, Ed Terhune, Danielle Thorpe and Marie Weller: These four tended bar and served food for our brunch, accepting only enlightening oratories on the American Theater as payment.
Katie Rosin: No one would ever have heard about the Ateh without Katie. She found time to get us in the news while chasing her toddler, a future Olympic sprinter, and preparing for the birth of her new baby!
Helen French speaks in the language of love, also known as html.
Stephen Brackett, Paul Heaney, Bixby Elliot and Ben Wood painted Ateh sets into the night as we loaded into the Connelly, allowing our director to cut out early with some lame excuse about “salmonella poisoning.”
Karen Kohlhaas: Karen never misses a show and is never too busy to provide the Ateh with guidance and wisdom despite the busy schedule that being a legend of the theater requires.
Deb Martin: Deb is as generous with her time as she is with her many innovative fonts.
Chris Montgomery: The Ateh shines the Chris Symbol into the night sky to summon him whenever a videographical emergency occurs. Also, he takes the beautifulest production photos you’ve ever seen.
Lenny Collado: After distinguishing himself as the top student in two Ateh-taught classes, Lenny joined the crew of Long Distance as the world’s most exacting sound board operator.
Jake Thomas: Jake is charming and talented, but more importantly he is tall and will assist you with all your out of reach lighting instrument needs.
Josh Cohn: Josh is known as “The Slasher” not for the breadth of his horror film knowledge, but for his incisive editing of Ateh scripts. He is prescient regarding potential flaws in the structural engineering of pop-out cakes and has served as the Ateh’s Director of Director Sanity for three seasons.
Andrew Davie: Andrew carries a reminder of the Ateh with him everywhere he goes. After assisting with construction of a sink-on-wheels set piece, his hands were beautifully decorated with indelible "grout."
Dennis from Angels and Kings: Dennis didn’t hesitate to turn over the bar to a stranger who walked in off the street with some fuzzy ideas about throwing a benefit party with no planning time. After agreeing on a price of nada, the Ateh threw a wildly successful benefit for the TLC women’s shelter.
Gillian Harwin: Guests at the benefit were wowed by the musical stylings of Gillian. She takes requests and plays a fierce musical saw. (And she’s playing tomorrow.)
And finally, the Ateh Person of the year award goes to –
Hannah Miller!
Hannah is an assistant director /stage manager/actor/editor/board operator/dramaturge/stand-in/curtain sewer/therapist/scenic painter who has worked on numerous Ateh shows despite wages and conditions clearly in violation of local labor laws. Hanzy is an extremely dedicated artist with a pleasant manner that masks a formidable inner strength: she once heard a designer swearing audibly during a performance so she lifted him out of his seat and dangled him over the balcony by his foot to express her displeasure. When Hannah played the White Rabbit in the Ateh’s Alice, she was the victim of some kind of reverse All About Eve plot when her director used her influence to have Hannah’s flight back to New York grounded under the pretense of an “epic blizzard.” Always resourceful, Hannah traded her luggage for snowshoes and embarked on an arduous trek to New York. Despite having had her role usurped by her maniacal director, who vowed to "stop at nothing to play the bunny!," Hannah continues to associate with the Ateh.
Hannah enjoys heavy lifting, putting out fires, painting black things other shades of black, and being the first to arrive and the last to leave. She’s the kind of person you want blocking the open trap door with an eight foot drop as you’re spinning towards it during dance call.
Thank you and congratulations to all the nominees! Your statuettes are in the mail.
Alice's Adventures in Wonderland featuring Elizabeth Neptune as the Mock Turtle, Kathryn Ekblad as Alice, Madeleine Maby as the Griffin, and I'm there in the background as one of the the Lobster Quadrille "Lobster-ettes." Lewis Carroll is a maniac; Bridgette Dunlap is a genius.
