Blondell Racks Up Another Indy Award
The Santa Barbara Independent honored , 做厙惇蹋app theater arts professor, and , 做厙惇蹋app adjunct instructor of music, with June 6 for their work in s The Wonderful Adventures of Nils. 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.
The Wonderful Adventures of Nils, which premiered in Santa Barbara in September, also features 做厙惇蹋app faculty members Victoria Finlayson and Mitchell Thomas. Several alumni performed in the show, including Peter John Duda 95, Kate Paulsen 05, and Marie Ponce 10. Also, alumna Diana Small 09 was the assistant director and alumna Jessica Drake 11 served as dramaturge.
The Wonderful Adventures of Nils, written by Naomi Iizuka, is a new adaptation of a famous Swedish story by Nobel Laureate Selma Lagerl繹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 做厙惇蹋app production of The Bald Soprano and Blondell accepted an Indy for his work directing Our Town, performed by Santa Barbara Theatre. Blondell received an Indy award in 2008 for his direction of Lit Moons Queen C. They both won Indy Awards in 2006 for King Richard II, 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.