This year marks the 11th year that the Richmond Theatre Critics Circle has sponsored The Artsies, the community’s recognition of excellence in Richmond-area theatre. This year’s celebration will be held Sunday, October 7 at the November Theatre. It will be hosted by two of Richmond’s most popular actors, Alexander Sapp and Jessi Johnson.
In the 2016-17 season, Sapp was awarded two acting Artsies: one for Best Actor in a Musical (5th Wall Theatre’s “The Toxic Avenger”) and one for Best Supporting Actor in a Musical (Virginia Repertory Theatre’s “1776”). He was last seen playing Jamie in TheatreLAB’s production of “The Last Five Years.”
In the 2015-16 season, Johnson won an Artsie for Best Supporting Actress in a Play for her work in TheatreLAB’s “Mr. Burns: A Post-Electric Play.” She is currently on stage in the Cadence/Virginia Rep production of “The Christians.”
The theme of this year’s event is “Location, Location, Location.” Richmond has numerous distinctive spaces that have been converted into performance venues, including a former radiator repair shop, a decommissioned firehouse and a 350-year-old grist mill. Richmond theater companies without permanent homes have staged plays in a wide variety of intriguing spaces, including restaurants and bars, community centers, museums, strip malls, and a Tudor mansion brought to America from England. As part of this year’s event, we will celebrate our various venues in all of their sometimes challenging and frequently enlightening glory.
All proceeds from Artsies ticket sales will go to the Theatre Artists Fund of Greater Richmond. Formal attire is encouraged for the awards ceremony, which is open to the public. Tickets for the event are $20 and will go on sale in August through Virginia Repertory Theatre at va-rep.org or (804) 282-2620. Additional event details will be released this summer.