• Gregory A. Falls Sustained Achievement Award
• Outstanding Actor
• Outstanding Actress
• Outstanding Director
• Person to Watch
• Outstanding Production
• Theatre of the Year
• Outstanding Costume Designer
• Outstanding Lighting Designer
• Outstanding Music and Sound Designer
• Outstanding Scenic Designer
• Outstanding Playwright

A native of Virginia, Mr. Walker was raised overseas, first in Morocco and Spain, then in Turkey and Lebanon. He did his undergraduate work at Middlebury College, and is a double alum of the University of Washington: MA (Drama/Directing, 1970). Through most of the nineties he headed the MFA Directing Program at the University of Washington. Mr. Walker is also a member of the Ensemble Studio. Regional directing credits include Seattle Repertory Theatre, Intiman Theatre, ACT, Berkeley Repertory Theatre, Milwaukee Repertory Theatre, Delaware Theatre Company, TheatreVirginia, Syracuse Stage, Merrimack Rep, Origin Theatre (NYC), Tacoma Actor’s Guild, theatre simple, Seattle Shakespeare Festival (now Company), Buffalo Studio Arena, Repertory Theatre of St. Louis, American Stage Festival, Sundance Playwrights Festival, Actors Repertory Theatre (Portland), and the Ensemble Studio Theatre.

Since the eighties, Mr. Walker has worked with the NEA as a panelist and on-site reporter. He is also an established actor, translator and adapter, currently working on editing an anthology of never-before-published,”lost”, late 19th/early 20th century, American, urban crime, pulp, “tabloid” melodramas.

Click here for a comprehensive bio of Mr. Walker (PDF format).

The most phenomenal work I’ve seen possibly EVER… Pitch perfect in his approach and singing… Eric was a whirling dervish of energy… A great feat.

Charles is always surprising in each new role… Intense, compelling storytelling at its best. He just gets better and better. Every character is so meticulously crafted and thoroughly embodied that his technique is invisible and only the raw humanity is on display.

MJ Sieber is always excellent and always authentic. A consummate artist at the height of his power.

Ray’s intensity and commitment to the craziest of characters makes him a joy to watch. In every performance Ray gives the depth of his soul to the audience. With sensitivity and compassion few others possess he gives us characters that truly change us. Subtle, great character work, and emotionally grounded. Simple and powerful, he never gave it all away.

Hans is a powerhouse. There’s nothing he can’t do. Great to see an already respected actor take it to the next level. Brilliant performance. Stunning work. As part of a wave of creativity, Altwies sustained a riveting evening of solo theater that distilled the essence of Homer’s epic, underlining its ever-relevant humanity. An extraordinary solo performance in which a timeless storyteller carries a cultural artifact through history, bringing it to life on a Seattle stage.

Totally standout performance… This young man was phenomenal in a role that was vocally, physically and emotionally heavy. What an amazing talent in such a young performer. Young focused energy. Great audience connection. Fabulous voice.

We don’t care where she pops up next, just as long as she’s there. One of Seattle’s great treasures, delivering firecracker performance after firecracker performance. Allgood is all things an actress/singer should be.

Maria embodied the grace and intellectual piquancy of Emily Dickinson in this piece, making the audience feel like they had really gotten to know this historic poet. Beautiful and subtle. She brings an openness to the stage that is rarely experienced.

Search is a challenging play for even multiples of actors, much less one. Terri made this character her own and had to play many more small parts. She mastered the art of solo performance pieces and made it look effortless.

A once-in-a-lifetime theatre experience, as delicate and severe as the human body and spirit itself. Beautiful [acting]… a harsh story [filled] with love, humor and pathos.

A fabulous, honest, heartbreaking performance! So captivating to watch on stage! Her performance was raw, painfully real, and driven from the heart. An actress who always leaves everything on stage, and touches us on a profound level. Virtuosic.

Marianne was amazing. A veteran actress in peak form. Beautiful and sensitive performance.

You cannot deny the artistic vision that stemmed from having Mr. Armstrong at the helm. David Armstrong took a musical that was notably difficult to stage throughout the years and made of it one of the best pieces of theatre in Seattle for years. No one in this town loves musicals more than David, and nobody understands them better.

Luminous staging of this challenging, rewarding elegy for the political and cultural tumult of the 1960s. [Kurt] keeps the pace brisk through the ideological battles… This production is alive with interesting characters, real meaning, and – let’s face it – really awesome music.

This was a fantastic, well acted, well-directed show.  One of the best shows of the year.
Laramie was seamless in its transitions and the way each talented actor’s energy was focused into portraying their multiple characters with great sensitivity and honesty.

Just the right man for the The Trip to Bountiful, an actors’ director too long absent from Seattle.

She is a staple in the industry and is constantly creating new works and new ways to enjoy a performance. Easily one of the finest directors in the region – her shows are always strongly visionary and yet collaborative treats. Daniels always brings intelligence, expertise and insight to her productions. Daniels is one of Seattle’s best directors, and she did a phenomenal job with these shows, demonstrating both a higher intellectual commitment to the theatre, as well as the ability to find the humanity in complex socio-political drama.

The show was tight, flowed beautifully, and leapt off the stage. It was clear to see the director embodied the show but also made it her own, with whimsical scene changes and a great sense of humor. Jane Jones is a master storyteller. She used the magic of the medium of the theatre as the genesis for most “effects” in the show, and the result was powerful and memorable.

Trick was incredible in Speech and Debate as well as in The 13th of Paris.

No matter when or where I watch Angela perform, she breathes energy, life and originality into her roles. She is a truly versatile and dynamic actress.

Marc takes the neo-burlesque world by storm as Miss(ter) Waxie Moon, a gender-bending queer boylesque lady performer sensation. Classically trained in ballet, modern dance, and acting at Juilliard and the University of Washington, he entertains and thrills audiences, while challenging their notions of gender, sexuality, and art.

Patrick manages a variety of roles, and in each one he has a compelling presence. He’s one of the few actors I’ve seen who can just “be there” on stage.

Brandon is single-handedly bringing contemporary musical theatre to Seattle. His company, Contemporary Classics, has consistently introduced high-quality productions of contemporary musicals. Goes to show that the musical is alive and well. Loved everything he did this year.

The perfect person to nominate for this award. This young woman is constantly putting everything she has into her theatre work.

Best costumes I’ve seen in a long time.

Schmeater has a teeny tiny budget… Julia worked miracles. The costumes absolutely seemed authentic…

Swoon-worthy 1950s style costumes turned a musical based on a Voltaire novel into a high fashion statement… It was a beautiful show. Elegant yet simple design that accomplished exactly what it
set out to do.

Magnifique!

The costumes were glorious. Truly every show Sarah has done in Taproot’s 2010 season has been magnificent, but add the details of the dresses, original hats (designed and built by Sarah), the gloves, and the corsetting for [Charley's Aunt], and you get a clear picture of a designer possessed with skill, artistry, and a delightful whimsy!

Gorgeous subtle period details in a gorgeous subtle play.

His use of light [in Candide]… made for a radiant and transporting design. That show has so many locations and shifts, and Tom managed to do it all with grace and artistry.

Holder’s beautiful lighting shifts helped make this show — a homecoming of sorts for former Intiman head Bart Sher — a breath of fresh air: rich and full, without feeling over-produced.

Every design he does is appropriate, subtle and drives the action. L.B. Morse masterfully moves the audience from location to location and through time with subtle shifts of light, color and texture.

This man designed lights but he also designed shadows, which must be 10 times as hard. His designs are not intrusive and only add to the stories each show tells. He has a great ability of taking a hole-in-the-wall space and making the design look great!

Edd is a versatile, talented musician who can also be a likeable presence on stage as he plays. As musical director for
Man of La Mancha, Edd Key did a remarkable job transforming the usually large-scale musical into something intimate and even acoustic at times. Bravo!

Eerie, very limited soundscape gave just the right audio touches to this production. Breathtaking and beautifully done. His original score was moving and thought-provoking as the play unfolded.

RJ is an amazing musician and we are lucky he is staying in Seattle and not rushing away to a big career in New York.

Acoustic talent at its finest! So adaptable and creative — really understands how to support the productions he works on. Awesome!

Everything Brendan does with sound and music adds to the productions he works on dramatically. In RoboPop! his original score told the story in a play without words. In Yankee Tavern his sound design evoked a New York bar so strongly it became the fifth character. Brendan’s work is always top of the line.

In a play that revolves so closely around music (Opus), the sound designer is vastly important, and Matt Starritt rises to the challenge. Inventive, fun, and added so much to the overall production.

Beautifully done.

This elaborate 19th century drawing room set had to move on and off stage and make room for the trolley and outdoors… big and beautiful.

Annex does great things on an almost non-existent budget, so this set
[in Senses] with sleek boardroom morphing into underground lab was amazing and actually moved! David’s set was remarkable in a small space with a small budget; it revealed two entirely separate, detailed environments.

I am so glad and thankful that Seattle was able to be home (even if for a short time) to this wonderful piece of theater. It does exactly what theater should and can do. Beautiful set… and a deeply moving story.

Andrea is creative and edgy and we should look for great things from her. The surreal futurism [of the set of Robopop!] was at once album cover, street scape, battlefield, and love nest; and each beautiful and terrible. All this, while leaving room for a dozen dancing actors on a rather small stage!

First of all, Smucker’s characteristic clean lines, planes and angles were a suprising and refreshing change from the often filled-up stages we see at musicals. I like everything I see of Mr. Smuckers’… Designing for the round is a challenge, but this scenic design [at ACT] surpassed that challenge.

Her adaptation brought the book
Emma to life and mirrored the insouciant heroine that Austen wrote about. Terrific.

This latest effort is ambitious and well-crafted and confirms Dietz’s ability to address significant issues of contemporary American life in an entertaining format. It was compelling, funny, heartbreaking.

Scotto writes really interesting pseudo science fiction plays and this one postulates a future easy-to-imagine would come true. Intriguing and enjoyable subjects that challenge. A fresh, imaginative and accomplished work.

Exploring the author of Nancy Drew and The Hardy Boys and the empire they built was much more interesting and deep than one might originally think. The subject of women’s suffrage was successfully woven in and explored.

Scot is one among dozens of extremely talented and under-appreciated local playwrights. His wicked sense of humor and that certain heartbreak that accompanies it keeps him at the top of my list always.

Great play that makes me excited for what else she has up her sleeve. She has wonderful ideas and brings them to fruition with what appears to be ease and elegance. Brilliant! A Seattle treasure!