On Monday, April 8th, the Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle announced the recipients of its 50th annual awards for distinguished achievement in theatre at the Pasadena Playhouse. This year’s winner of the Joel Hirschhorn Award for distinguished achievement in musical theatre was La Mirada’s own McCoy Rigby Entertainment & La Mirada Theatre for the Performing Arts.
The Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle was founded in 1969. It is dedicated to excellence in theatrical criticism and to the encouragement and improvement of theatre in Greater Los Angeles.
The distinguished achievement in musical theatre award is named in memory of Joel Hirschhorn, renowned songwriter, author, and theatre critic. Hirschhorn, together with his longtime collaborator Al Kasha, won Academy Awards for the theme songs “The Morning After” from “The Poseidon Adventure” (1972) and “We May Never Love Like This Again” from “The Towering Inferno” (1974). Hirschhorn and Kasha also received Oscar nominations for Best Original Score and Best Song (“Candle on the Water”) for “Pete’s Dragon” (1977), as well as two Tony nominations, for the score of “Copperfield” (1981) and for new songs they added to a 1983 Broadway revival of “Seven Brides for Seven Brothers”. On his own Hirschhorn wrote several books, including “The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Songwriting” (2001). He was a theatre critic for Variety from 1999 until his death from a heart attack in 2005.
There were four recipients of the 2018 Production award: Cambodian Rock Band (South Coast Repertory), Come From Away (Center Theatre Group/Ahmanson Theatre), Cry It Out (Echo Theater Company), and Sell/Buy/Date (Geffen Playhouse/Los Angeles LGBT Center). Awards in 17 other categories celebrated a wide range of Los Angeles theater, with 17 different productions taking home honors. In a competitive category, Tom Hanks received a lead actor award for his performance as Falstaff in The Shakespeare Center of Los Angeles production of Henry IV.
Congratulations to McCoy Rigby Entertainment & La Mirada Theatre for the Performing Arts!
Source & Image: LA Drama Critics Circle