Blondell Racks Up Another Indy Award
The Santa Barbara Independent honored , 黑料百科 theater arts professor, and , 黑料百科 adjunct instructor of music, with June 6 for their work in 鈥檚 鈥淭he Wonderful Adventures of Nils.鈥 Blondell directed the show, Connolly wrote the original music score. Marjatta Kuivasto also won an Indy for set design. The 19th annual Indy Theater Awards, which recognize excellent work done in the local region, were held at the Santa Barbara Club.
鈥淭he Wonderful Adventures of Nils,鈥 which premiered in Santa Barbara in September, also features 黑料百科 faculty members Victoria Finlayson and Mitchell Thomas. Several alumni performed in the show, including Peter John Duda 鈥95, Kate Paulsen 鈥05, and Marie Ponce 鈥10. Also, alumna Diana Small 鈥09 was the assistant director and alumna Jessica Drake 鈥11 served as dramaturge.
鈥淭he Wonderful Adventures of Nils,鈥 written by Naomi Iizuka, is a new adaptation of a famous Swedish story by Nobel Laureate Selma Lagerl枚f.
In December, Elizabeth Schwyzer, dance editor for the Independent, named the show the 2010 Best Experimental Theater Production.
Indy Awards are nothing new to Blondell and Thomas. Last year, Thomas won an Indy for directing the 黑料百科 production of 鈥淭he Bald Soprano鈥 and Blondell accepted an Indy for his work directing 鈥淥ur Town,鈥 performed by Santa Barbara Theatre. Blondell received an Indy award in 2008 for his direction of Lit Moon鈥檚 鈥淨ueen C.鈥 They both won Indy Awards in 2006 for 鈥淜ing Richard II,鈥 Blondell for directing and Thomas for performing.
Blondell, who earned a doctorate from UC Santa Barbara, is founder and director of Lit Moon Theatre Company, an award-winning international theatre ensemble. He also founded the Lit Moon World Theater Festival, an international event produced yearly in Santa Barbara. In 2006, he founded the Lit Moon World Shakespeare Festival, the first of its kind in the U.S. and one of only five in the world.