Broadway veteran Lee Roy Reams hosted the 7 PM awards gala that honored the work of theatre companies in the greater St. Louis area (nine were recognized with awards). The Repertory Theatre of St. Louis earned ten Kline Awards, including Outstanding Production of a Play for The Little Dog Laughed, and director Rob Ruggiero was awarded for his work on the Rep stagings of Little Dog and Ella.
The Black Rep earned three Kline Awards for its production of Sarafina!, which took the prize for Outstanding Production of a Musical.
Highlights of the Kevin Kline nominations (with winners in bold and marked by an asterisk) 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)
TIE! *Jeffrey D. Pruett (Pippin, Stray Dog Theatre)
TIE! *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) For further information and a complete list of winners, visit www.kevinklineawards.org.