Copyright The Philadelphia Inquirer
The Barrymore Awards celebrated the best of Philadelphia’s regional theater Monday night at Temple Performing Arts Center, where Theatre Philadelphia spotlighted about 50 nominated productions from the 2024-25 season. Twenty-one awards were presented to 13 local companies. The top winners were Old City’s Arden Theatre Company and Olde Kensington’s Pig Iron Theatre Company, which each took home four Barrymores. Center City’s Wilma Theater — the 2024 Regional Theatre Tony Award recipient — and Inis Nua Theatre Company earned three awards apiece for multiple productions. The Wilma’s production of Branden Jacobs-Jenkins’The Comeuppance, a spooky-tinged millennial drama directed by Wilma co-artistic director Morgan Green, won three awards: outstanding overall production of a play, outstanding ensemble in a play, and outstanding sound design for Jordan McCree. “The Comeuppance brings the drama of diverging politics and experiences to a microscopic, interpersonal level,” wrote Krista Mar in her Inquirer review. “No one character is a hero, as each of them wins our empathy, especially when possessed by Death, and then loses it. The play holds a mirror to the audience and makes them confront their own biases, assumptions, and judgment.” Arden Theatre’s Intimate Apparel, a touching tale from Pulitzer-winning playwright Lynn Nottage about an African American seamstress hoping for romance, won two Barrymores. Amina Robinson earned outstanding direction of a play, and David Pica, who played love interest Mr. Marks, received outstanding supporting performance in a play. Robinson has previously won two Barrymore Awards for directing a musical for The Color Purple at Theater Horizon and Once on This Island at the Arden. Kishia Nixon, the actor behind interior designer Thalia in R. Eric Thomas’ Glitter in the Glass at Theater Exile, also won for outstanding supporting performance in a play. The Inquirer review called the new work “a nimble, nerdy, and very funny play that tries to answer some very tough questions.” For outstanding leading performances in a play, both awards went to the stars of InterAct Theatre Company’s Rift, or White Lies. Matteo Scammell and Jered McLenigan played two brothers on opposite sides of the political spectrum and each night they alternated roles. (The Barrymores does not divide acting award categories by gender.) In musical categories, Pig Iron Theater’s production of Poor Judge, which ran at the Wilma Theater as part of the 2024 Fringe Festival, took home three awards: outstanding overall production of a musical, outstanding media design for Mike Long, and outstanding music direction for Alex Bechtel. The eccentric show, conceived and led by Philadelphia legend Dito van Reigersberg (aka Martha Graham Cracker), is a trippy journey through alt-rock singer Aimee Mann’s catalog, enhanced by fascinating live video taping. Everyone in the ensemble for the September 2024 production played Aimee with delightfully weird and unexpectedly profound results. It was such a success that the Wilma is bringing it back for another run in January. Bechtel also won the award for outstanding original music for People’s Light’s production of Peter Panto: A Musical Panto. It’s the second year in a row that the composer has been recognized for his original music; last year he won for Alice in Wonderland: A Musical Panto. Peter Panto earned another Barrymore as well: Connor McAndrews, who played Smee, won for outstanding supporting performance in a musical, alongside actor Sevon Askew, who won in the same category for playing Benny in Arden Theatre’s RENT. Inis Nua’s Drip, a solo comedy that ran at Fergie’s Pub, won two Barrymores recognizing director Kyle Metzger and actor Max Gallagher for outstanding leading performance in a musical. The story follows a teen who desperately wants to build a synchronized swim team but doesn’t actually know how to swim. The Inquirer review said the show was “a small bit of joy that makes a heartfelt statement through its casting and earnestness, reminding us in the final number that whoever we are, we should all ‘make, make, make a splash.’” Also winning for leading performance in a musical was Danny Wilfred, who played Parmesan in Gay Mis, a queer parody of Les Misérables from Philly drag queen Eric Jaffe’s Jaffe St. Queer Productions. Gay Mis took home the Barrymore for outstanding ensemble in a musical as well. The Philadelphia Award for Social Insight, which comes with a $25,000 prize, went to Esperanza Arts Center for Nichos, a world premiere about Mexican history based on interviews with immigrants in Philly and their families. For a second year in a row, Theatre Philadelphia did not grant its F. Otto Haas Award for an Emerging Artist, which spotlights up-and-coming Philadelphia actors with a $15,000 cash prize. The organization said it has been unable to grant the award after losing funding. “The F. Otto Haas Award for an Emerging Artist was a meaningful part of our celebration of Philly theatre for many years,” said Theatre Philadelphia in a statement. “While the F. Otto Haas Award is no longer being presented, we remain deeply grateful for the years of support that made it possible and continue to honor emerging artists across the region through our ongoing recognition programs.” See the full list of winners (bolded) below. Outstanding Overall Production of a Play Outstanding Direction of a Play Outstanding Ensemble in a Play Outstanding Leading Performance in a Play Outstanding Supporting Performance in a Play Outstanding Movement/Choreography in a Play Outstanding Overall Production of a Musical Outstanding Direction of a Musical Outstanding Leading Performance in a Musical Outstanding Supporting Performance in a Musical Outstanding Choreography/Movement in a Musical Outstanding Music Direction Outstanding Ensemble in a Musical Outstanding New Work Outstanding Outdoor Production Outstanding Set Design Outstanding Costume Design Outstanding Lighting Design Outstanding Media Design Outstanding Sound Design Outstanding Original Music
