Exactly When Is That Elly Season, And Whassup With John Hancock?

Juan Ramos E-Mailed regarding the cutoff dates of the Elly Awards:

Hi Marc,

I'm somewhat blog challenged and for whatever reason was unable to send a comment to Andrea St. Clair's post on this year's Elly nominations. You and Ray Fisher shared her sentiments, so I'm passing this message onto you to pass on to them as a comment:

"Do keep in mind that the Elly nominations and awards (like the Oscars) are for shows produced in the previous year i.e. 2005. Weren't "Sweeney Todd" and "Man of La Mancha" 2006 productions? If so, they will be considered for 2006 nominations to be announced accordingly in August of 2007. I know there is a cutoff date for consideration (May or June). Performances after that time are rolled over to the next year for consideration. Check with SARTA for specifics. "

Thank you Marc.

Juan Ramos

Hi Juan:

I wondered about this question, so I looked at the Elly Award judging form for 2006-2007, and they say:

Season

The Elly season begins July 1 and ends June 30.

Presumably this is their standard season, applicable to 2005-2006 as well.

Shows that straddle the line are treated in an irregular manner. For example, DMTC's "The King & I", which straddled the line in 2005, is nominated for awards this year. My understanding is that DMTC's "Oklahoma!", which straddles the line this year, was also eligible for nominations this year. Inconsistent!

Thus, both RSP's "Sweeney Todd" (Jan. '06) and WOH's "Man Of La Mancha" (Mar. '06) were eligible for nominations this year. And both Ray and Andrea are unhappy their shows didn't get any more nominations than they did (Costumes - Laurie Everly-Klassen; and Musical Direction - Dan Pool; for 'La Mancha,' and that's it). Alas!

Well, like Mel Brooks says, it's "good to be the King!"

Marc

(P.S.: Sorry I haven't been able to get over to visit John. It's just the normal busy-ness of the summer, but it's vital to get over there soon).

Juan replies:

Hi Marc,

Thank you for the thorough research. Go figure. By the way, John is now at home. The dining room area now houses his hospital bed, etc. He is healing well. His external hardware is scheduled to be removed in a couple of weeks, to be replaced by some sort of casts he is able to deal with. His arm fractures have healed and he is able to transfer himself from bed to wheelchair, etc. He is telecommunicating to his job which helps pass the time and confinement heebee jeebees. If you do have time to visit, give him a call.