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The Alliance Theatre dominated the Suzi Bass Award nominations announced last week, scoring 62 total nods for seven shows from their 2021-22 season – including the most-nominated musical and play.
Trading Places: The Musical, adapted from the classic 1983 comedy film, was the most recognized show, receiving 15 nominations, including Outstanding Production of a Musical and Outstanding World Premiere Production. The most nominated play was the Alliance’s new take on A Christmas Carol, starring Andrew Benator as Ebenezer Scrooge, which returns to the stage this holiday season. It received nine Suzi nods.
The awards, which honor the best of Atlanta theater, will be announced November 14 at the Southwest Arts Center in the city of South Fulton. This is the first time that competitive Suzis will be given since 2018. The nominees for the 2019 competitive prizes were announced, but no prizes were given for that season. In fall 2020, Suzi organizers announced that they wouldn’t give a full slate of awards for the COVID-19 interrupted season, instead giving Spirit of Suzi prizes to these organizations: Atlanta Artist Relief Fund; Atlanta Theatre Artists for Justice; Black Leaders Advocacy for Cultural Theatre; the Coalition for Racial Equity in Atlanta Theatre; and I.D.E.A. ATL (Inclusion, Diversity and Equity in the Arts Atlanta).
This season, Aurora Theatre and Actor’s Express tied as the second-most nominated theaters behind the Alliance, both receiving 15 nominations for their productions.
In a change from previous years, the acting awards will no longer be separated by gender. Instead, two prizes will be given in principal and featured performer categories, with 10 to 11 nominees.
For some first-time acting nominees, this recognition is incredibly heartening.
Charlie Thomas, who was nominated as featured performer in a play for his work in Bootycandy at Actor’s Express, said he was happy for his play’s five-person cast, including his nominated castmates Caleb Clark and Parris Sarter.
“The icing on the cake is being nominated with my fellow castmates because that show was a dream,” he said. “I share my nomination with all five of us, actually. We are very, very blessed.”
Thomas said it was particularly thrilling to see his name alongside other Atlanta actors he has long admired.
“Since I’ve moved to Atlanta, Enoch King and Neal Ghant were two major artists who I immediately aspired to work like,” he said. “To watch my name in the same category as them made me emotional. That was the biggest personal achievement, to stand next to people I consider my artistic role models.”
King received two nominations for his work this year, as Featured Performer in a Play for the Alliance’s Toni Stone and as Principal Performer in a Play for The Light at Horizon Theatre. His Light co-star Cynthia D. Barker was nominated in the same category.
Robin McGee, who portrayed an iconic civil rights activist in the one-woman show Fannie: The Music and Life of Fannie Lou Hamer, at Kenny Leon’s True Colors Theatre Company, received her first Suzi nomination for the play. It was McGee’s first show on an Atlanta stage; the actress moved from Tacoma, Washington, during the pandemic.
“Being a newcomer to the Atlanta theatre scene as of a year and a half ago, I must say I am ecstatic,” McGee said in a message. “To have been nominated among some of the most amazingly talented actors of Atlanta, all I can say is that I’m truly blessed by God!”
Jasmine Renee Ellis, nominated alongside co-star Amitria Fanae for her work in the musical Marie and Rosetta, thanked True Colors for trusting her with the role of famed gospel singer Marie Knight.
“This category has some heavy hitters, and I’m just grateful to be amongst them,” Ellis said in a message. “I would have never guessed I’d be nominated for my first-ever principal role in a musical – a two-person show at that. I’m speechless. This show pushed me beyond my comfort zone, and my co-star (Fanae) has become a sister, even after the curtain closed.”
This year’s winners of the Lifetime Achievement Award, Spirit of Suzi Award, Volunteer of the Year Award and Gene-Gabriel Moore Playwriting Award will be announced closer to the event.
The full nominations are here. Nominations in key categories are below:
Ain’t Misbehavin’, Georgia Ensemble Theatre
Darlin’ Cory, Alliance Theatre
Mahalia: A Gospel Musical, Dominion Entertainment
Marie and Rosetta, Kenny Leon’s True Colors Theatre Company
Trading Places, Alliance Theatre
Dream House, Alliance Theatre
Fannie: The Music and Life of Fannie Lou Hamer, True Colors Theatre Company
An Iliad, Theatrical Outfit
Legacy of Light, Synchronicity Theatre
The Light, Horizon Theatre Company
Toni Stone, Alliance Theatre
Bina’s Six Apples, Alliance Theatre
Darlin’ Cory, Alliance Theatre
Dream House, Alliance Theatre
The Pretty Pants Bandit, Georgia Ensemble Theatre
Trading Places, Alliance Theatre
Outstanding Social Justice Production:
Dream House, Alliance Theatre
Fannie: The Music and Life of Fannie Lou Hamer, True Colors Theatre Company
The New Black Fest’s Hands Up, Alliance Theatre
The Light, Horizon Theatre Company
Toni Stone, Alliance Theatre
Ricardo Aponte – Rodgers & Hammerstein’s Cinderella, Aurora Theatre
Susan V. Booth – Darlin’ Cory, Alliance Theatre
S.Renee Clark – Ain’t Misbehavin’, Georgia Ensemble Theatre
Kenny Leon – Trading Places, Alliance Theatre
Patdro Harris – Mahalia: A Gospel Musical, Dominion Entertainment
Lisa Adler – Roe, Horizon Theatre Company
Keith Arthur Bolden and Alexis Woodard – The New Black Fest’s Hands Up, Alliance Theatre
Marguerite Hannah and Lydia Fort – The Light, Horizon Theatre Company
Tinashe Kajese-Bolden – Toni Stone, Alliance Theatre
Leora Morris – A Christmas Carol, Alliance Theatre
Ain’t Misbehavin’, Georgia Ensemble Theatre
Baskerville: A Sherlock Holmes Mystery, Theatrical Outfit
The Bluest Eye, Synchronicity Theatre
Bright Half Life, Theatrical Outfit
The New Black Fest’s Hands Up, Alliance Theatre
Vanity Fair, Georgia Ensemble Theatre
The Wolf at the End of the Block, Theatrical Outfit
Marcello Audino – Rodgers & Hammerstein’s Cinderella, Aurora Theatre
Jewl Carney – Darlin’ Cory, Alliance Theatre
Shameka Dwight – Mahalia: A Gospel Musical, Dominion Entertainment
Mark Kudisch – Trading Places, Alliance Theatre
Josh Lamon – Trading Places, Alliance Theatre
Michael Longoria – Trading Places, Alliance Theatre
Marcie Millard – Rodgers & Hammerstein’s Cinderella, Aurora Theatre
Maria Rodriguez-Sager – Darlin’ Cory, Alliance Theatre
Don Stephenson – Trading Places, Alliance Theatre
Emily Whitley – Heathers: The Musical, Actor’s Expres
Sun Mee Chomet – Bina’s Six Apples, Alliance Theatre
Caleb Clark – Bootycandy, Actor’s Express
Rob Cleveland – Red Speedo, Actor’s Express
Neal Ghant – A Christmas Carol, Alliance Theatre
Valeka Jessica – Intimate Apparel, Actor’s Express
Enoch King – Toni Stone, Alliance Theatre
Daniel Parvis – Hometown Boy, Actor’s Express
Asia Rogers – A Christmas Carol, Alliance Theatre
Parris Sarter – Bootycandy, Actor’s Express
Charlie Thomas – Bootycandy, Actor’s Express
Geoffrey D. Williams – Toni Stone, Alliance Theatre
Jeremy Aggers – Darlin’ Cory, Alliance Theatre
Jasmine Renee Ellis – Marie and Rosetta, True Colors Theatre Company
Amitria Fanae – Marie and Rosetta, True Colors Theatre Company
Aneesa Folds – Trading Places, Alliance Theatre
Jackson Hurt – Rodgers & Hammerstein’s Cinderella, Aurora Theatre
Alexandria Joy – Heathers: The Musical, Actor’s Express
Maiesha McQueen – Mahalia: A Gospel Musical, Dominion Entertainment
Bryce Pinkham – Trading Places, Alliance Theatre
Gillian Rabin – Darlin’ Cory, Alliance Theatre
India Tyree – Song and Dance, Aurora Theatre
Cynthia D. Barker – The Light, Horizon Theatre Company
Andrew Benator – A Christmas Carol, Alliance Theatre
Marlon Andrew Burnley – Red Speedo, Actor’s Express
Enoch King – The Light, Horizon Theatre Company
Olivia Lampert – Bina’s Six Apples, Alliance Theatre
Robin McGee – Fannie: The Music and Life of Fannie Lou Hamer, True Colors
Rhyn McLemore – Roe, Horizon Theatre Company
Lee Osorio – An Iliad, Theatrical Outfit
Kedren Spencer – Toni Stone, Alliance Theatre
Vallea E. Woodbury – Intimate Apparel, Actor’s Express
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Benjamin Carr, a member of the American Theatre Critics Association, is an arts journalist and critic who has contributed to ArtsATL since 2019. His plays have been produced at The Vineyard Theatre in Manhattan, as part of the Samuel French Off-Off Broadway Short Play Festival, and the Center for Puppetry Arts. His novel Impacted was published by The Story Plant in 2021.
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