That Musical About Torture Actually Kinda Rocked

If you want fame and fortune these days, write a musical. Seriously. But forget milquetoast Rodgers and Hammerstein fare. At the box office, and among the LA Drama Critics Circle, who announced their nominations earlier today, the shows leading the pack are edgy, snarky, or just downright weird.

The Hayworth Theatre’s production of Silence! The Musical, the not-as-bad-as-it-sounds parody of Hannibal Lecter and Clarice Starling’s ill-fated friendship, earned five nods for production, direction, lead actress, score, and choreography. Bad Apples, envelope-pusher Jim Leonard’s twisted take on the polyamorous threesome behind the abuse at Abu Ghraib, brought Circle X Theatre four noms including best production and writing. The only shocker was that The Book of Mormon, this season’s must-have theater ticket, pulled only three picks, for best production, musical score and musical direction.

Among quieter shows, revivals did well with Jitney (August Wilson’s seventh play in he cycle devoted to his hometown of Pittsburgh) at the Pasadena Playhouse, the Mark Taper’s Waiting for Godot, and The Fountain Theatre’s Cyrano all holding their own. Full list of nominees below.

Production

Bad Apples, Tim Wright and Jennifer A. Skinner, Circle X Theatre at Atwater Village Theatre

Cyrano, The Fountain Theatre and Deaf West Theatre at The Fountain Theatre

Jitney, South Coast Repertory’s production at The Pasadena Playhouse

Justin Love, David Elzer, Peter Schneider, and Justin Rush Productions, LLC, in association with Celebration Theatre at Celebration Theatre

Silence! The Musical, Theater Mogul/Oskar Eiriksson and MagicSpace Entertainment at The Hayworth Theatre

The Book of Mormon, Anne Garefino and Scott Rudin, Pantages Theatre

The Grönholm Method, Baby Tiger Productions, Daniel Wallace and Trish Whitehurst in association with Falcon Theatre at Falcon Theatre

War Horse, Center Theatre Group, Bob Boyett, National Theatre of Great Britain, Ostar Productions and Ken Gentry at Ahmanson Theatre

McCulloh Award for Revival (of shows between 1920 and 1980)

Heartbreak House, Theatricum Botanicum

Waiting for Godot, Center Theatre Group at Mark Taper Forum

West Side Story, Chance Theater

Lead Performance

Pascale Armand, The Convert, Center Theatre Group at Kirk Douglas Theatre

Linda Gehringer, How to Write a New Book for the Bible, South Coast Repertory

Rafael Goldstein, Hamlet, Zombie Joe’s Underground Theatre

Troy Kotsur, Cyrano, The Fountain Theatre and Deaf West Theatre at The Fountain Theatre

Christine Lakin, Silence! The Musical, Theater Mogul/Oskar Eiriksson and MagicSpace Entertainment at The Hayworth Theatre

Alan Mandell, Waiting for Godot, Center Theatre Group at Mark Taper Forum

Marco Naggar, New Jerusalem, The Interrogation of Baruch de Spinoza at Talmud Torah Congregation, Amsterdam, July 27, 1656, West Coast Jewish Theatre at Pico Playhouse

JoBeth Williams, The Fall to Earth, The Odyssey Theatre Ensemble at Odyssey Theatre

Featured Performance

Larry Bates, Jitney, South Coast Repertory’s production at The Pasadena Playhouse

William Dennis Hunt, Heartbreak House, Theatricum Botanicum

Lesli Margherita, Man of La Mancha, Musical Theatre West at The Carpenter Performing Arts Center

Michael A. Newcomer, The Bungler, A Noise Within

Jonica Patella, Hamlet, Zombie Joe’s Underground Theater

Charlie Robinson, Jitney, South Coast Repertory’s production at The Pasadena Playhouse

Ellis E.Williams, Jitney, South Coast Repertory’s production at The Pasadena Playhouse

Ensemble Performance

42nd Street, Musical Theatre West at The Carpenter Performing Arts Center

In the Red and Brown Water, The Fountain Theatre

The Color Purple, Celebration Theatre

The New Electric Ballroom, Rogue Machine at Theatre/Theater

The Savannah Disputation, The Colony Theatre

The Treatment, The Theatre @ Boston Court in Collaboration with Theatre Movement Bazaar at The Theatre @ Boston Court

Waiting for Godot, Center Theatre Group at Mark Taper Forum

Solo Performance

Mona Golabek, The Pianist of Willesden Lane, The Geffen Playhouse and Hershey Felder at The Audrey Skirball Kenis Theater at Geffen Playhouse

John Hurt, Krapp’s Last Tape, Center Theatre Group, Gate Theatre Dublin’s production at Kirk Douglas Theatre

Leslie Jordan, Fruit Fly, Celebration Theatre in association with Reaction Productions at Celebration Theatre

Writing

Bill Cain, How to Write a New Book for the Bible, South Coast Repertory

Danai Gurira, The Convert, Center Theatre Group in association with McCarter Theatre Center and Goodman Theatre at Kirk Douglas Theatre

Michael Hollinger, Ghost-Writer, International City Theatre at Long Beach Performing Arts Center

David Ives, New Jerusalem, The Interrogation of Baruch de Spinoza at Talmud Torah Congregation, Amsterdam, July 27, 1656, West Coast Jewish Theatre at Pico Playhouse

Jim Leonard, Bad Apples, Circle X Theatre at Atwater Village Theatre

Writing (Adaptation)

Stephen Sachs, Cyrano, The Fountain Theatre and Deaf West Theatre at The Fountain Theatre

Troubadour Theater Company, Two Gentlemen of Chicago, Troubadour Theater Company at Falcon Theatre

Musical Score

Ryan Johnson, Stoneface, The Rise and Fall and Rise of Buster Keaton, Sacred Fools Theater Company at Sacred Fools Theater.

Jon Kaplan & Al Kaplan, Silence! The Musical, Theater Mogul/Oskar Eiriksson and MagicSpace Entertainment at The Hayworth Theatre

Robert Lopez, Matt Stone, and Trey Parker, The Book of Mormon, Anne Garefino and Scott Rudin at Pantages Theatre

Lori Scarlett (music and lyrics) and David Manning (music), Justin Love, David Elzer, Peter Schneider, and Justin Rush Productions, LLC, in association with Celebration Theatre at Celebration Theatre

Beth Thornley and Rob Cairns, Bad Apples, Circle X Theatre at Atwater Village Theatre

Music Direction

Michael Borth, 42nd Street, Musical Theatre West at The Carpenter Performing Arts Center

Eric Heinly, A Christmas Westside Story, Troubadour Theater Company at Falcon Theatre

Gregory Nabours, The Color Purple, Celebration Theatre

Stephen Oremus, The Book of Mormon, Anne Garefino and Scott Rudin at Pantages Theatre

Choreography

Christopher Gattelli, Silence! The Musical, Theater Mogul/Oskar Eiriksson and MagicSpace Entertainment at The Hayworth Theatre

Bill T. Jones, Fela!, Center Theatre Group, Shawn “Jay-Z” Carter, Will & Jada Pinkett Smith, Ruth & Stephen Hendel, Fela Broadway LLC in association with The National Theatre of Great Britain at Ahmanson Theatre

Tina Kronis, The Treatment, The Theatre @ Boston Court in Collaboration with Theatre Movement Bazaar at The Theatre @ Boston Court

Janet Roston, The Color Purple, Celebration Theatre

Direction

Michael Arabian, Waiting for Godot, Center Theatre Group at Mark Taper Forum

Shirley Jo Finney, In the Red and Brown Water, The Fountain Theatre

Christopher Gattelli, Silence! The Musical, Theater Mogul/Oskar Eiriksson and MagicSpace Entertainment at The Hayworth Theatre

Simon Levy, Cyrano, The Fountain Theatre and Deaf West Theatre at The Fountain Theatre

Kent Nicholson, How to Write a New Book for the Bible, South Coast Repertory

Ron OJ Parson, Jitney, South Coast Repertory’s production at The Pasadena Playhouse

Elissa Weinzimmer, Tape, Identity Productions at ArtWorks Theatre and Theatre Asylum

Set Design

Edward E. Haynes Jr., Fraternity, Ebony Repertory Theatre at Nate Holden Performing Arts Center

John Iacovelli, Waiting for Godot, Center Theatre Group at Mark Taper Forum

David Mauer and Hazel Kuang, Dirty Filthy Love Story, Rogue Machine at Theatre/ Theater

Desma Murphy, The Water’s Edge, The Road Theatre Company at Historic Lankershim Arts Center

Lighting Design

Lap Chi Chu, The Convert, Center Theatre Group at Kirk Douglas Theatre

Paule Constable (original) and Karen Spahn (additional and adaptation), War Horse, Center Theatre Group, Bob Boyett, National Theatre of Great Britain, Ostar Productions and Ken Gentry at Ahmanson Theatre

Jeremy Pivnick, Bad Apples, Circle X Theatre at Atwater Village Theatre

Dan Weingarten, No Good Deed, Furious Theatre Company at [Inside] the Ford

Costume Design

Angela Balogh Calin, Cymbeline, A Noise Within

Ellen McCartney, The Treatment, The Theatre @ Boston Court in Collaboration with Theatre Movement Bazaar at The Theatre @ Boston Court

Val Miller, Heartbreak House, Theatricum Botanicum

Leah Piehl, Intimate Apparel, The Pasadena Playhouse

Sound Design

Ben Williams, Gatz, Elevator Repair Service at REDCAT

John Zalewski, Macbeth, The Antaeus Company at Deaf West Theatre

John Zalewski, The Treatment, The Theatre @ Boston Court in Collaboration with Theatre Movement Bazaar at The Theatre @ Boston Court

CGI/Video

Anthony Beckman and Ben Rock, Stoneface, The Rise and Fall and Rise of Buster Keaton, Sacred Fools Theater Company at Sacred Fools Theater

Tei Blow, In Paris, Baryshnikov Arts Center, Dmitry Krymov Laboratory, The AG Foundation in association with the Korjaamo Culture Factory at The Broad Stage

Greg Sowizdrzal, The Pianist of Willesden Lane, The Geffen Playhouse and Hershey Felder at The Audrey Skirball Kenis Theater at Geffen Playhouse

Jason H. Thompson, No Good Deed, Furious Theatre Company at [Inside] the Ford