The awards ceremony will be held March 30 at the Loretto-Hilton Center.
"Beyond the statistics alone, I am impressed by the fact that at least six theaters are receiving nominations for the very first time," said Steve Isom, executive director for the Professional Theater Awards Council in a statement. "There is no sense of status quo here; the theater community continues to expand."
The Repertory Theatre of St. Louis production of Douglas Carter Beane's acerbic comedy The Little Dog Laughed leads with eight nominations, while the Muny staging of My Fair Lady followed with seven, and The Repertory Theatre of St. Louis productions of Emma and Ella followed with six nominations each. The Repertory Theatre of St. Louis was the most-nominated area theatre company, earning 32 nominations.
Kevin Kline nominations follow:
Cotton Club Revue (Unity Theatre Ensemble)
Ella (The Repertory Theatre of St. Louis)
Emma (The Repertory Theatre of St. Louis)
Sarafina (The Black Rep)
Thoroughly Modern Millie (Stages St. Louis)
Blood Knot (Upstream Theater)
Evie’s Waltz (The Repertory Theatre of St. Louis)
The Lieutenant of Inishmore (The Repertory Theatre of St. Louis)
The Little Dog Laughed (The Repertory Theatre of St. Louis)
Rabbit Hole (The Repertory Theatre of St. Louis)
Lee Patton Chiles, Complacency of Silence: Darfur (Gitana Productions)
Tim Collins, A Fire as Bright as Heaven (St. Louis Actors’ Studio)
Gregory Jones, Men With Clubs (HotCity Theatre)
Carter W. Lewis, Evie’s Waltz (The Repertory Theatre of St. Louis)
Dan Rubin and Lauren Dusek, Overexposed (OnSite Theatre Company)
Stephen Bourneuf (Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, Stages St. Louis)
Ron Himes (Sarafina, The Black Rep)
Robert Kelly (Emma, The Repertory Theatre of St. Louis)
Gary John La Rosa (Fiddler on the Roof, The Muny)
Rob Ruggiero (Ella, The Repertory Theatre of St. Louis)
Philip Boehm (Blood Knot, Upstream Theater)
Stuart Carden (The Lieutenant of Inishmore, The Repertory Theatre of St. Louis)
Eric Little (Mary’s Wedding, Echo Theatre Company)
Wayne Loui (Grace and Glorie, Insight Theatre Company)
Rob Ruggiero (The Little Dog Laughed, The Repertory Theatre of St. Louis)
Catherine Brunell (My Fair Lady, The Muny)
Casey Erin Clark (Little Women, Stages St. Louis)
Kari Ely (Thoroughly Modern Millie, Stages St. Louis)
Tina Fabrique (Ella, The Repertory Theatre of St. Louis)
Sharisa Whatley (Sarafina, The Black Rep)
Timothy Gulan (Emma, The Repertory Theatre of St. Louis)
Christopher Kale Jones (Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, Stages St. Louis)
Jeffrey D. Pruett (Pippin, Stray Dog Theatre)
Lewis J. Stadlen (The Producers, The Muny)
Robert Westenberg (My Fair Lady, The Muny)
Victoria Adams-Zischke (Rabbit Hole, The Repertory Theatre of St. Louis)
Amy Loui (Two-Headed, Black Cat Theatre)
Erika Rolfsrud (The Little Dog Laughed, The Repertory Theatre of St. Louis)
Donna Weinsting (’night, Mother, Stray Dog Theatre)
Magan Wiles (Mary’s Wedding, Echo Theatre Company)
J. Samuel Davis (Blood Knot, Upstream Theater)
Keith Jochim (Frost/Nixon, The Repertory Theatre of St. Louis)
Ben Nordstrom (Mary’s Wedding, Echo Theatre Company)
Cody Proctor (The Comedy of Errors, St. Louis Shakespeare)
David Whalen (The Lieutenant of Inishmore, The Repertory Theatre of St. Louis)
Eugene Fleming (My One and Only, The Muny)
Christopher Hickey (Smoke on the Mountain, Mustard Seed Theatre)
Aaron Lawson (High Fidelity, New Line Theatre)
Lee Roy Reams (The Producers, The Muny)
Daniel Reichard (My Fair Lady, The Muny)
Colleen M. Backer (Smoke on the Mountain, Mustard Seed Theatre)
Dani Marcus (Emma, The Repertory Theatre of St. Louis)
Angie Schworer (The Producers, The Muny)
Willena Vaughn (Cotton Club Revue, Unity Theatre Ensemble)
Zoe Vonder Haar (My Fair Lady, The Muny)
Mark Fisher (The Little Dog Laughed, The Repertory Theatre of St. Louis)
Bob Harvey (Chaim’s Love Song, New Jewish Theatre)
Joel King (Complacency of Silence: Darfur, Gitana Productions)
Jared Nell (The Comedy of Errors, St. Louis Shakespeare)
John Pierson (The Late Henry Moss, St. Louis Actors’ Studio)
Colleen M. Backer (Morning’s at Seven, Stray Dog Theatre)
Thomasina Clark (Complacency of Silence: Darfur, Gitana Productions)
Kari Ely (Chaim’s Love Song, New Jewish Theatre)
Jennifer Nitzband (The Scene, HotCity Theatre)
Jenni Ryan (Grace and Glorie, Insight Theatre Company)
Carolyn Swift (Rabbit Hole, The Repertory Theatre of St. Louis)
Cotton Club Revue (Unity Theatre Ensemble)
Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat (Stages St. Louis)
The Music Man (Stages St. Louis)
My Fair Lady (The Muny)
Sarafina (The Black Rep)
Grace and Glorie (Insight Theatre Company)
The Last Seder (New Jewish Theatre)
The Lieutenant of Inishmore (The Repertory Theatre of St. Louis)
The Little Dog Laughed (The Repertory Theatre of St. Louis)
Primal (Slightly Askew Theatre Ensemble) Tickets to the 4th annual Kline Awards can be purchased by calling (314) 531-7529 or by going to www.kevinklineawards.org.