How often do you find Talking Heads frontman David Byrne and veteran actress Frances Sternhagen mentioned in the same story, let alone at the same place at the same time? Well, lightning struck Monday night at Greenwich Village’s Webster Hall, where both the singer and the actress received OBIE Awards for their work in theater.
Sternhagen and co-octogenarian Lois Smith were both given lifetime achievement awards (presented by Meryl Streep, no less), while Byrne and co-writer Fatboy Slim took home a prize for their music and lyrics to the Public Theater’s current, extended hit, “Here Lies Love.”
Other notable OBIE winners included Ayad Akhtar for his Pulitzer-winning “Disgraced” sharing the Playwriting prize with Annie Baker’s “The Flick,” and Lisa D’Amour’s “Detroit” and Julia Jarcho’s “Grimly Handsome” both grabbing $500 paychecks for Best New American Play.
Founded 58 years ago by the publisher of the Village Voice, the OBIE Awards honor both Off and Off-Off-Broadway productions. The New York Times reports that longtime Voice theater critic Michael Feingold, who chairs the OBIE judging committee but was laid off from the struggling weekly last week, is in talks to continue administering the award.
Below are the 2012-13 OBIE Award recipients:
Performance
Eisa Davis
Sustained Excellence
Brandon J. Dirden
The Piano Lesson (Signature Theatre)
Shuler Hensley
The Whale (Playwrights Horizons)
Matthew Maher
Sustained Excellence
Paul Thureen
Blood Play (The Debate Society/Bushwick Starr)
Playwriting
Ayad Akhtar
Disgraced (LCT3)
Annie Baker
The Flick (Playwrights Horizons)
Direction
Lear deBessonet
The Good Person Of Szechuan (Foundry Theatre/La MaMa)
John Rando
All In The Timing (Primary Stages)
Ruben Santiago-Hudson
The Piano Lesson (Signature Theatre)
Eric Ting
We Are Proud To Present A Presentation... (Soho Rep)
Design
Laura Jellinek
Sustained excellence of Set Design
Clint Ramos
Sustained excellence of Costume Design
Special Citations
David Levine and Marsha Ginsberg
HABIT (Crossing the Line Festival/FIAF & PS122)
Dave Malloy and Rachel Chavkin
NATASHA, PIERRE & THE GREAT COMET OF 1812 (Ars Nova)
Nature Theater of Oklahoma
LIFE AND TIMES: EPISODES 1-4 (Public Theater/SoRep)
Music/Lyrics
David Byrne & Fatboy Slim
HERE LIES LOVE (Public Theater)
The Ross Wetzsteon Award (with check for $1000.)
Clubbed Thumb
Grants
Fulcrum Theater ($1,000)
Half Straddle ($1,000)
Best New American Play (tie w/$500 to each playwright)
Lisa D’Amour, Detroit
Julia Jarcho, Grimly Handsome
Lifetime Achievement
Lois Smith
Frances Sternhagen
- by David Lefkowitz
