NYC ARTS applauds Jonathan Hammond on his 2010 Obie Award for his performance (Michael) in The Boys in the Band. Started in 1955 by the then fledgling Village Voice, the Obie Awards recognize excellence in Off-Broadway and Off-Off-Broadway theater. See below for a full list of this year’s winners.
Hammond was a guest editor for NYC ARTS during the 40th anniversary revival of The Boys in the Band, sharing his experience of the play: "The Boys in the Band has been the most exciting and rewarding experience of my career so far. This is an amazing and daring production of a ground-breaking play. A production that Mart Crowley, the playwright himself, has said has been the ‘most personally rewarding’ for him. We are really touching people with this production; reminding all of who gay people were, who they are now and who they hope to become.
Regardless of one’s orientation, these men’s stories touch upon every human soul’s journey as they struggle with making peace with all that they are. The cast is sensational. It’s the best ensemble I have ever worked with."
Hammond is now preparing for yet another production by The Transport Group, a musical that begins in July. For more information on Hammond’s career, see JonathanHammond.com.
Below are the places the Obie Award-winner relaxes when he’s between shows.
55th Annual Obies Award Winners
The Sustained Achievement Award
David Greenspan
Best New American Play (includes a $1000 prize)
Annie Baker, Circle Mirror Transformation and The Aliens
Performance
Reed Birney, Tracee Chimo, Peter Friedman, Deirdre O’Connell, Heidi Schreck, ensemble Circle Mirror Transformation
Dane DeHaan, The Aliens
Jonathan Hammond, The Boys in the Band
Marc Damon Johnson, The Brother/Sister Plays
Laurie Metcalf, A Lie of the Mind
Wendell Pierce, sustained excellence of performance
Juliet Rylance, As You Like It
Rocco Sisto, sustained excellence of performance
Playwriting
Enda Walsh, The New Electric Ballroom
Directing
Sam Gold, Circle Mirror Transformation and The Aliens
Pam MacKinnon, Clybourne Park
Design / Music
Steven Dufala and Billy Blaise Dufala, machine design, Machines Machines Machines Machines Machines Machines Machines
Stephin Merritt, music & lyrics, Coraline
Tyler Micoleau, sustained excellence of lighting design
Neil Murray (sets and costumes), Malcolm Rippeth (lighting), Gemma Carrington and Jon Driscoll (projection design), Brief Encounter
Special Citations Ariane Mnouchkine & Théâtre du Soleil, Les Éphémères
Taylor Mac, The Lily’s Revenge
The Ohio Theatre Hoi Polloi (Alec Duffy, Dave Malloy, and Rick Burkhardt) and Rachel Chavkin, Three Pianos
Philippe Quesne and Gaëtan Vourc’h, L’Effet de Serge Chris Wells, The Secret City
The Ross Wetzsteon Award (includes a $1000 prize)
Foundry Theatre
Obie Grants
Harlem School of the Arts
Ontological Incubator
Vampire Cowboys