Suzi nominations revealed to a delighted crowd of theater creatives 

It’s been a very good year for theater.

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The Suzi Bass Awards, recognizing excellence in Atlanta professional theater, announced nominations for 2024 this week. Horizon Theatre’s musical Natasha, Pierre & the Great Comet of 1812 was the most nominated production, receiving a total of 15. Dracula: The Failings of Men, a stunt-centered co-production from Havoc Movement and the Atlanta Shakespeare Company, was the most-recognized play with seven nominations.

“We’re all really over the moon about it,” said Dracula Director Jake Guinn in a statement. 

“We all love the work so much. To have that work be nominated in six different categories is so reaffirming for a small production company like us. We’re just out here trying to make theater that can inspire a sense of adventure for folks. No matter how the awards go, we’re honored to be in the same conversation as some of the folks I’ve looked up to here in the city.”

Anna Dvorak, one of the nominees for Outstanding Principal Performer in a Musical for her work in The Great Comet, said the recognition that the show received was a great compliment.

“It’s really special to see Comet acknowledged in this way,” she said in a message. “The show was powerful for a lot of reasons, but what I always come back to is the team — our unstoppable team of local creatives, cast, crew, production — everyone who touched it. That was the magic.”

Dracula will return to the Shakespeare Tavern in October, and Horizon plans a remounting of The Great Comet in 2025.

Actor’s Express was the most nominated theater of the year, scoring 27 nominations. Theatrical Outfit received 25; Aurora Theatre received 24; and The Alliance received 23.

Nominated alongside The Great Comet for best musical are Beautiful: The Carole King Musical at Aurora Theatre; Everybody’s Talking About Jamie at Actor’s Express; Passing Strange at Theatrical Outfit; and Sister Act at Aurora.

Nominated for best play are Dracula; cullud wattah at Actor’s Express; Mercury at Actor’s Express; Remember This: The Lesson of Jan Karski at Theatrical Outfit; and Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? at Theatrical Outfit.

Marshall W. Mabry IV, nominated for their work as Juicy in the Alliance Theatre production of Fat Ham, said the news was the sweetest surprise.

“When I got the role, I wanted to honor O’Shae Sibley and so many other young, Black queer people whose softness has been weaponized against them,” Mabry said. “The reward has been in every person that shared that they went on their first date with their partner to our show, came out to their families or even brought them to the theater to understand them. So this acknowledgement just makes my heart burst.”

Everybody’s Talking About Jamie actor Jill Hames said her nomination as a principal performer in a musical was an honor.

“It was the dream role that I didn’t know I had,” she said. “I’m so glad that this show got recognized for the love bomb that it was.”

Awards will be given in November.

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Benjamin Carr is an ArtsATL editor-at-large who has contributed to the publication since 2019 and is a member of the American Theatre Critics Association, the Dramatists Guild, the Atlanta Press Club and the Horror Writers Association. His writing has been featured in podcasts for iHeartMedia, onstage as part of the Samuel French Off-Off Broadway Short Play Festival and online in The Guardian. His debut novel, Impacted, was published by The Story Plant.

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