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| Stage Raw Awards | |
|---|---|
| Name | Stage Raw Awards |
| Awarded for | Achievement in theatre criticism and stagecraft |
| Presenter | Stage Raw |
| Country | United States |
| First awarded | 2009 |
Stage Raw Awards
The Stage Raw Awards are annual honors recognizing achievement across theatre criticism and stagecraft in the United States, presented by the Los Angeles–based company Stage Raw. The awards acknowledge work in Los Angeles, New York City, and regional venues, celebrating productions, performers, designers, and critics associated with institutions such as the Geffen Playhouse, Ahmanson Theatre, Mark Taper Forum, Hollywood Bowl, Center Theatre Group, La Jolla Playhouse, Old Globe Theatre, Public Theater, Lincoln Center, and Guthrie Theater.
Founded to spotlight accomplishments that mainstream ceremonies sometimes overlook, the awards cover categories spanning acting, directing, design, new works, and criticism. Recipients have included artists affiliated with companies like Steppenwolf Theatre Company, Theatre Row, Roundabout Theatre Company, Manhattan Theatre Club, Signature Theatre, Goodman Theatre, Arena Stage, Seattle Repertory Theatre, Pearl Theatre Company, and American Conservatory Theater. The awards often intersect with careers that touch institutions such as New York University, Juilliard School, Yale School of Drama, Carnegie Mellon University, Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, Guildhall School, London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art, Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, and Mountview Academy of Theatre Arts.
Stage Raw began as an online outlet covering Los Angeles performance, emerging from a milieu that included outlets like LA Weekly, Los Angeles Times, Variety, The Hollywood Reporter, Playbill, Backstage, and The New York Times arts pages. The awards were inaugurated to give formal recognition to achievements documented by the site's critics and to create a counterpoint to ceremonies such as the Tony Awards, Drama Desk Awards, Obie Awards, Lucille Lortel Awards, Olivier Awards, and Helen Hayes Awards. Early ceremonies were held at venues associated with cultural partners including Skirball Cultural Center, Walt Disney Concert Hall, Saban Theatre, and BroadStage.
Categories include Actor, Actress, Featured Performer, Director, Playwright, New Play, Musical, Revival, Scenic Design, Costume Design, Lighting Design, Sound Design, Choreography, and Critic/Journalist awards. The structure mirrors categories seen at Tony Awards, Drama League Awards, Outer Critics Circle Awards, and technical categories recognized by EMMY Awards and Grammy Awards for theatrical recordings. Specialty honors have recognized companies such as Geffen Playhouse, A Noise Within, Theatre 40, Laguna Playhouse, Long Beach Playhouse, McCarter Theatre Center, and Huntington Theatre Company.
Nominations are drawn from reviews and coverage by Stage Raw critics and contributing writers, with eligibility windows aligned to regional seasons and production runs at houses like Ahmanson Theatre, Segerstrom Center for the Arts, Pantages Theatre, and Saban Theatre. A panel of critics, artists, and industry professionals—often including alumni of New York Theatre Workshop, Second Stage Theater, Messiah College, The Old Globe, Two River Theater, Cleveland Play House, and The Huntington—vet submissions and produce shortlists. Final selections combine jury deliberation and electronic voting among accredited members, a process conceptually similar to selection methods used by the Pulitzer Prize drama juries, MacArthur Fellows Program panels, and peer voting systems at the Screen Actors Guild Awards.
Ceremonies have alternated between intimate salons and larger gala formats, staged at venues associated with presenting partners such as Broad Stage, Skirball Cultural Center, Walt Disney Concert Hall, Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel, The Geffen Contemporary at MOCA, and Pantages Theatre. Presenters and performers historically include artists with credits at Broadway, West End, Kennedy Center, Sydney Opera House, Schaubühne, and Comédie-Française. The events combine staged tributes, excerpts, and filmed montages referencing productions from houses like La MaMa Experimental Theatre Club, The Public Theater, Playwrights Horizons, Kitchen Theatre Company, Clubbed Thumb, and Rattlestick Playwrights Theater.
Winners have included performers and makers with ties to institutions such as Roundabout Theatre Company, Manhattan Theatre Club, Atlantic Theater Company, Steppenwolf Theatre Company, Goodman Theatre, South Coast Repertory, Victory Gardens Theater, The Humana Festival of New American Plays, New Dramatists, National Endowment for the Arts, and Theatre Communications Group. Repeat winners and record-holders include artists whose careers intersected with Tony Awards and Olivier Awards recognition, as well as designers who have worked on productions at Royal National Theatre, Manchester International Festival, Edinburgh Festival Fringe, and Vienna Burgtheater.
The awards have influenced regional programming decisions and bolstered promotional campaigns for productions at venues such as La Jolla Playhouse, Old Globe Theatre, Segerstrom Center for the Arts, and Center Theatre Group. Critics and industry observers from outlets like Variety, The Hollywood Reporter, Los Angeles Times, LA Weekly, Playbill, and Backstage have noted the awards' role in elevating local visibility for emerging playwrights and small companies. Institutional partners and educational programs at Yale School of Drama, Juilliard School, New York University, Carnegie Mellon University, and Royal Academy of Dramatic Art have used recognitions to highlight alumni achievements.
Category:Theatre awards