Productions
Mary’s Wedding by the Jungle Theater
Ruined by Mixed Blood Theatre
Othello by Ten Thousand Things Theater
Individual Recognition
Aaron Gabriel: Music, Madame Majesta’s Miracle Medicine Show (Interact Theater)
Katie Guentzel: Acting, My Antonia (Illusion Theater)
Allison Moore: Playwright, My Antonia (Illusion Theater)
Joseph Stanley: Scenic Design, Mulan, Jr. (Children’s Theatre Company)
Tulle & Dye: Costumes, Beauty & The Beast (Ordway Center for the Performing Arts
Regina Marie Williams: Acting, Ruined (Mixed Blood Theatre)
Wendy
Lehr (Lifetime Achievement Award) is one of the Twin Cities’ most
beloved and respected actors whose work has been seen on the stages of
The Jungle Theater (currently in The Glass Menagerie; The Gin Game,
Blithe Spirit, A Delicate Balance, Bone Dry, House of Blue Leaves), the
Guthrie (A Christmas Carol), Theatre de la Jeune Lune (Lulu, Lettice and
Lovage), Park Square Theatre (Mary Stuart, Noises Off!), Theater Latté
Da (The Full Monty), Ordway Center/Park Square (Grey Gardens), and
History Theater (Eternity). From 1966–1986, as a member of the resident
acting company at Children’s Theatre Company, she created roles in more
than 130 productions, including her signature role as Pearl Cramp in
Cinderella (which she performed from 1966 to 1999). She also served as
CTC’s associate artistic director and director of education from
1990–1998. Regionally, Wendy performed with the Arizona Theatre Company
for four seasons, as well as with Lyric Opera Cleveland, Seaside Music
Theater (FL), and Kansas City Repertory Theatre. As a director, Wendy
has directed productions for Park Square Theatre, Ordway Center and
SteppingStone Theatre. She served as artistic director of the St. Paul
Conservatory for Performing Artists from 2005–2009, which recently
renamed the Lowry Theater in downtown St. Paul the Lehr Theater in her
honor. Wendy was the recipient of the 2008 Sally Irvine Ordway Award for
Commitment to the Arts.
Kalere Payton (Emerging Artist Award)
designed the costumes for The Producing House’s Power Balladz, Penumbra
Theatre’s The Whipping Man, Park Square Theatre’s Othello, Theater Latté
Da’s Violet, and the Guthrie’s Circle Mirror Transformation. She has
designed numerous shows for the University of Minnesota, including A
Bright Room Called Day, The Wiz, The Arabian Nights, and Happy. She also
has designed costumes for Black Theatre Ensemble in George and Florida
Players. Kalere received her Master of Fine Arts from the University of
Minnesota in 2009.