My Secret Love Affair with James Sugg

Sorry about that. My fault, I got the "Best Actor" title from another source. Happy enough that he's one of several best actors...

James did not win "BEST ACTOR" simply because we do not have categories. Either the reporter that wrote the story your posting is derrived from (and never checked with the source, me) was misinformed or was the victim of a newspaper headline writer that didn't get it.

Anyway, here's the citation and the press release. Congrats Pig Iron- James -and Philly.

A seductive, plummy-voiced ringmaster in the circus of the human mind. A tremulous, possibly autistic man struggling to put down the roots he’s never had. Two components of one troubled soul, yet this actor played both, with exquisite wit and delicate precision. We can’t call this decision a no-brainer, but the judges found it easy to vote an Obie for his performance in Chekhov Lizardbrain to JAMES SUGG

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2009 VILLAGE VOICE OBIE WINNERS ANNOUNCED

The 54th Annual Village Voice OBIE Awards were presented on Monday, May 18, 2009 at a ceremony held at the newly landmarked Webster Hall in Manhattan. Co-hosted by former OBIE winners Martha Plimpton and Daniel Breaker, the awards were presented by Anne Hathaway, Brian d’Arcy James, Gavin Creel, John Shea, Karen Olivo, Kate Mulgrew, Marc Kudisch and Nilaja Sun.

Martha Plimpton won an OBIE in 2002 for her performance in Hobson's Choice. She charmed us as Gladys Bumps in this season’s revival of Pal Joey. Ms. Plimpton moves elegantly between the stage, television and film.

Daniel Breaker is a 2008 OBIE Award winner for his performance in Passing Strange and is appearing on Broadway now in the musical Shrek The Musical. Trained at Juilliard, Mr. Breaker is an accomplished actor, singer and dancer.
Informally structured, with no strict categories, The Village Voice OBIE Awards honor artists and productions of excellence in every aspect of theater. Unlike most theater awards, The Village Voice OBIE Awards publish no nominations. In the conviction that creativity is not competitive, the judges may give multiple OBIEs in any category, or even invent new categories, to reward exceptional artistic merit.
As he has for the past three years, the Voice’s chief theater critic, Michael Feingold, chaired this year’s OBIE Awards committee. His fellow judges included Voice critic Alexis Soloski and six guest judges: freelance writer and Voice contributor Eric Grode; critic Andy Propst of Americantheaterweb.com, also a Voice contributor; actress-playwright Eisa Davis, an OBIE Award winner for her performance in Passing Strange and author of the recent Angela’s Mixtape; actor-playwright Ty Jones, 2003 OBIE Award winner for his performance in The Blacks; playwright-director Moises Kaufman, 2004 OBIE Award winner for his direction of I Am My Own Wife, currently represented on Broadway by 33 Variations; and playwright-director Chay Yew, 2007 OBIE Award winner for his direction of Durango.

OBIE WINNERS 2008-09

Lifetime Achievement Award
EARLE HYMAN

Best New American Play (includes a cash prize of $1000)
RUINED by Lynn Nottage (Manhattan Theater Club)

Performance

Francois Battiste, THE GOOD NEGRO (Public Theater)

Quincy Tyler Bernstine, RUINED (Manhattan Theater Club)

Kevin T. Carroll, sustained excellence of performance

Saidah Arrika Ekulona, RUINED (Manhattan Theater Club)

Jonathan Groff, PRAYER FOR MY ENEMY (Playwrights Horizons) and THE SINGING FOREST (Public Theater)

Birgit Huppuch, TELEPHONE (Foundry Theatre)

Russell Gebert Jones, RUINED (Manhattan Theater Club)

Aaron Monaghan, THE CRIPPLE OF INISHMAAN (Atlantic Theater Co.)

Sahr Ngaujah, FELA! (37 Arts)

Lorenzo Pisoni, HUMOR ABUSE (Manhattan Theater Club)

James Sugg, CHEKHOV LIZARDBRAIN (Pig Iron Theatre Company)

John Douglas Thompson, OTHELLO (Theatre for a New Audience)

Music and Lyrics

Stephen Sondheim, ROAD SHOW (Public Theater)

Directing

David Cromer, OUR TOWN (Barrow Street Theatre)

Katie Mitchell, THE WAVES (National Theatre of Great Britain / Lincoln Center Great Performances “New Visions” Series)

Ken Rus Schmoll, TELEPHONE (Foundry Theatre)

Design

Toni-Leslie James, sustained excellence of costume design
(w/special reference to WIG OUT, Vineyard Theatre)

David Korins, sustained excellence of set design
(w/special reference to WHY TORTURE IS WRONG..., Public Theater)

Special Citations

Sarah Benson (director) and Louisa Thompson (set designer), BLASTED (Soho Rep)

David Esbjornson (director) and Christian Camargo (actor), HAMLET (Theatre for a New Audience)

The Ross Wetzsteon Award (includes a cash prize of $2000.)

HERE Arts Center

OBIE Grants ($10,000 divided equally among three theaters)

The Classical Theatre of Harlem

The Chocolate Factory

Lark Play Development Center

For more information about the Obie Awards, please visit: Obies.villagevoice.com

Thanks to our generous sponsors: Macy’s, Virgin America, Metro PCS, Le Tourment Vert, Sierra Nevada, Sea Grape Wines, Fragoli, Pal Talk.com, Harlequin Books, Likeme.net, Crumpler, Highline Studios, Webster Hall