Ovations '08

Congrats to all the companies and performers nominated for a 2008 Ovation award which recognizes achievements in L.A. area theatre. The ceremony, hosted by frequent stage returnee Neil Patrick Harris, will be held Nov. 17 at the Harriet and Charles Luckman Fine Arts Complex on the campus of Cal State University, L.A. (Tickets (213) 614-0556, www.2008ovationawards.com.

I should stress that the awards L.A. area productions since many of the multiple nominees are based several miles away.

I give you Cabrillo Musical Theatre (Thousand Oaks) which leads the field with 18 nominations, followed by Ventura's Rubicon Theatre (17), Long Beach's Musical Theatre West (16) and San Pedro's Civic Light Opera of South Bay Cities (11). Center Theatre Group (downtown L.A.) took 15 nominations.

Productions of merit according to the Ovation voters, "Miss Saigon" at CLOSBC (11 nominations), "All Shook Up" at Musical Theatre West (10), "Jekyll and Hyde" and "Singin' in the Rain" at Cabrillo Music Theatre (nine apiece). Non musical plays "Secrets of the Trade" at the Black Dahlia and "Quality of Life" at the "Geffen Playhouse" collected six nominations each.

Immediately after Ovation nominations hit the air, the various theater companies tend to do a little self-congratulation usually via an e-mail (We are honored to have been honored, etc.). One such e-mail from publicist Philip Sokoloff noted that the four time nominated "Louis & Keely Live at the Sahara." -- which premiered at the Sacred Fools Theatre -- is currently being remounted at the Matrix through Oct. 26.

This is also the show, Sokoloff said, that elicited fist fights over tickets. So if you call (800) 838-3006 or visit www.louiskeelyshow.com, best do so with a baseball bat close at hand.

If this were movie awards season, or even the Tonys in New York, you could quite easily trot out and actually see (or rent) several of the nominated entries. Not so L.A. "Louis and Keely" is one of the very few Ovation nominees still playing. Anyone headed to the Bay Area at the end of October could catch Jane Anderson's "Quality of Life" -- directed, as it was in Westwood, by the playwright _ with 3/4 of the Geffen cast including nominees Laurie Metcalf, JoBeth Williams and Dennis Boutsikaris. The run begins Oct. 24 at American Conservatory Theatre (ACT) in San Francisco.

I'll probably break these nominations down a little bit more as the ceremony draws near, although with the usual disclaimers about how few of the nominees I've actually seen.

In the meantime, you can check out the full list at http://2008ovationawards.com/