Member Awards

The Albert Nelson Marquis Lifetime Achievement Award of Who's Who has been bestowed upon playwright-actress-director-artistic Director Melba LaRose.  Melba has been listed in 4 editions of Who's Who for many decades.  This honor comes on the heels of the 2019 Acker Award, which she received in March at Theatre for the New City.

Five full-length plays have been selected for staged readings at the Garry Marshall Theatre in their New Works Festival to be held July 14-16 in Burbank CA, and one of them is LEFTOVERS by Ellen Wittlinger. The play is set in the basement of Edie's house where she talks often with her husband who has been dead for 30 years. When her daughters and grandchildren arrive for Thanksgiving, old wounds are opened and old secrets unearthed.

Independent theatre director Kathi E.B. Ellis and playwright Nancy Gall-Clayton were honored to be named a Finalist for the Collaboration Award from the Women Arts Media Coalition. Since 1998, they have collaborated on a variety of projects, including the following:

• working together on several dozen plays, including a full-length commissioned and produced by Looking for Lilith Theatre Company 
• presenting workshops across Kentucky and at Southeastern Theatre conventions
• guiding survivors at the Center for Women & Families to tell their stories in play format
• creating and organizing SWAN Day (Support Women Artists Now) programs showcasing the talent of area women of all ages performing in numerous genres 

Although it did not win the first prize, the play "Ulisse, l'ultimo inganno" - Ulysses, the Last Deception -  received a special mention in the second place.

Two short films that I wrote and directed, "The Dinner Guest," and "Dirty Little Secret" (both adapted from my short plays) have won  "Awards of Excellence" from the Best Shorts Awards Competition.

BAMBOOZLED, a comedy about family valuables by Patricia Milton, produced at Central Works Theatre in 2018, was honored by SF Bay Area Theatre Critics Circle, 2018 Awards, in these categories:

Finalist, Outstanding Production, San Francisco/East Bay

Finalist, Outstanding Ensemble

Finalist, Best Leading Actress, Stacy Ross as Rochelle

My play THE SUMMER DRESS was a finalist in this competition.

My script, "Before Lesbians", received 2nd place for the 2018 Henley Rose Playwright Competition for Women. As a result, the script will receive a staged reading in Knoxville, TN sometime this spring. 

BAMBOOZLED, finalist for seven 2018 Theatre Bay Area awards, was awarded four:

Outstanding Production

Outstanding Ensemble

Outstanding Lead Actor awards, for Chelsea Bearce and Stacy Ross.

Diane Baia Hale's full-length historical drama THE MARBLE MUSE has been named a finalist for Jewish Ensemble Theatre's 2019 JETFest and will receive a staged reading this summer in West Bloomfield, Michigan.