Alliance and Actor’s Express win majority of Suzis, others honored for contributions

In a theater season heavy with noteworthy productions, it was the Alliance Theatre’s musical version of Water for Elephants that dominated this year’s Suzi Bass Awards on November 13. A world premiere based on the celebrated 2006 Sara Gruen novel which will open on Broadway in spring 2024, the production took home nine Suzis, including Best Musical and Best World Premiere. 

Christopher Moses, the Alliance’s co-artistic director, was not able to attend but offered a statement the following day. “What an honor for a show that has received national attention for its upcoming Broadway run to be roundly celebrated by our local Atlanta artistic community,” he said. 

“The creative team, led by the incomparable Jessica Stone, deserves every accolade coming their way.  I’m so grateful that Atlanta audiences and the Suzi Bass Awards will always be part of the Water for Elephants origin story and will no doubt help to propel the show to future success.”

Directed by Kayce Grogan-Wallace and hosted by Grogan-Wallace and Gina Rickicki, the 2023 Suzi Bass Awards recognized work from the metro Atlanta 2022-23 season of theater. The event began in 2003 as a way to remember Bass, a popular character actress known for decades of theater work and films such as Fried Green Tomatoes. This year’s award show was held at the DeKalb History Center and was a simpler event with only one musical number — an array of songs from nominated musicals, performed by students of School of the Arts and Central Gwinnett High School.  

Alliance Theatre led all winners with 15 awards total, including three each for The Many Wondrous Realities of Jasmine Starr-Kidd and The Boy Who Kissed the Sky. 

Actor’s Express also had a big night, nabbing six awards. The theater company took home Best Play for Joshua Harmon’s drama Prayer for the French Republic, while Carolyn Cook won an Outstanding Principal Performer Suzi for her role as matriarch Marcelle. 

According to Actor’s Express Artistic Director Freddie Ashley, he produced Prayer for the French Republic in part because of its timeliness. “It is upsetting that, in a few short months, it has become even more so,” he said. “Every person has the right to a life free from the fear of violence, death, displacement and genocide. This play upholds that value.” 

Express’ relationship with playwright Harmon dates back to 2010 when he was a playwright in residence at the theater. “I believe Prayer for the French Republic is his greatest play to date, and it delicately and compellingly tells the story of a family at a crossroads. I also think that Josh is perhaps the greatest chronicler of the contemporary Jewish experience writing for the American theater today,” Ashley said.

Prayer will be making its Broadway debut in December. 

Sekou Laidlow and Cara Mantella also won principal and featured acting awards, respectively, for their work in Actor’s Express’ Jesus Hopped the ‘A’ Train, while the company’s Lizzie was named as Best Outstanding Ensemble in a Musical.

Kira Rockwell was awarded the Gene Gabriel Playwriting Award for her world premiere Oh, to Be Pure Again at Actor’s Express. She began writing the play sitting at a Starbucks in 2018 and tweaked it up until opening night this year. Rockwell moved to Atlanta one year ago after she wrapped up a Master of Fine Arts from Boston University. “Atlanta has a rich theater scene that is growing and becoming what it wants to be,” she said. “This is a huge honor, and it feels like a big confirmation that I am in the right place. I feel home.”

Mary Nye Bennett’s role as Diana in Jennie T. Anderson Theatre’s and Atlanta Lyric Theater’s Next to Normal won her Outstanding Principal Performer in a Musical. It was a popular victory, as she tied with Ryan Vasquez, who starred as Jacob in Water for Elephants. 

No award show pleases everyone, yet there was overwhelming consensus for several winners. The Spirit of Suzi Award went to The Overture Series at the Jennie T. Anderson Theatre under the direction of Jono Davis, who has staged 16 productions and worked with close to 500 actors, musicians and designers. Volunteer of the Year was Julianne Taft, the board chair at Synchronicity Theatre, while LaWanda Green, operations manager at Horizon Theatre Company, received the Callboard Award, recognizing the work of a stage manager or technical crew, front-of-house staff or production staff at a Suzi theater. 

The house manager at Theatrical Outfit for the last 18 years, Wendell Johnson, was presented with the Suzi Lifetime Achievement Award. Previously, he was house manager and light board operator at Horizon Theatre. “This award isn’t just the highlight of my 70s. It’s the highlight of my life,” he said in his rousing acceptance speech.

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Jim Farmer is the recipient of the 2022 National Arts and Entertainment Journalism Award for Best Theatre Feature and a nominee for Online Journalist of the Year. A member of five national critics’ organizations, he covers theater and film for ArtsATL. A graduate of the University of Georgia, he has written about the arts for 30-plus years. Jim is the festival director of Out on Film, Atlanta’s LGBTQ film festival, and lives in Avondale Estates with his husband, Craig, and dog, Douglas.