Founded in 1989, the LA Stage Alliance Ovation Awards are the only peer-judged theatre awards in Los Angeles, created to recognize excellence in theatrical performance, production and design in the Greater Los Angeles area. Each year, 400 productions compete in 29 Ovation Categories, and are evaluated by a pool of 250 vetted Ovation Voters, who are all currently working theatre professionals. The Awards are presented at the end of each year in a black-tie ceremony at a prominent Greater Los Angeles theatre.
How Ovation Voters are Selected:
The voter pool currently consists of roughly 250 voters each year, split into 'Tier One' voters and 'Tier Two' voters. Voters are recruited each year in May/June/July, so they can begin voting on September 1, the first day of the Ovation Awards Season. If you are interested in becoming a voter, check back on this page in May 2012 to download the application.
Tier One Voters
Tier One voters are current or past members of the Ovation Rules Committee, and current artistic directors of theatre companies that are producing Ovation-eligible productions.
Tier One voters do not have to apply to be voters. They are automatically accepted every season to be voters, as long as they have fulfilled their obligations as voters in the previous season and have completed the training requirements each year.
Tier One voters commit to voting on at least 10 productions in the course of the season, but are not permitted to vote on productions at their own theatre if they are an artistic director or a named artist on the ballot.
If a Tier One artistic director voter leaves their position as the AD during an Ovation season, they may complete the season as a voter, but must apply as a Tier Two voter to continue as a voter in the next season.
Ovation Rules Committee members are permanent Tier One voters, even if they leave the Committee, unless the Ovation Rules Committee and the Board of Governors specifically move to remove them from the voter pool.
If you are an Artistic Director who would like to become a voter, please contact LA STAGE at Ovations@LAStageAlliance.com
Tier Two Voters
Tier Two voters must submit an application to be accepted as an Ovation voter. Their application is independently and anonymously scored by several members of the Ovation Rules Committee (the committee members cannot see the name of the applicant). If the applicant scores in a high enough percentile, they are accepted as a voter for the upcoming season. If they score in too low of a percentile, they are not invited to be voters for the upcoming season. If they score in between, they are asked to come in for a fifteen minute interview with the Ovation Rules Committee, after which they Committee decides if they are invited to be a voter or not.
Tier Two voters serve a one-year term, followed by indefinite two-year terms. At the end of each term, they must apply again with a new application/interview process to be approved for the next season.
Tier Two voters commit to voting on at least 25 productions in the course of the season at at least 20 unique producing organizations (and at least 15 of which must be in venues with 99 seats or fewer), and are not permitted to vote on productions where they are a named artist on the ballot. If the voter does not make their 25/20/15 minimums, they are not permitted to renew as a voter for the following season, though they may re-apply again one year later.
Voter Training, Codes of Conduct, and Memberships
All voters must attend an in-person training with LA Stage Alliance staff every year before the season begins. In addition, they must submit a new Voter Code of Conduct every year, and Tier Two voters must join LA Stage Alliance as a 'Dedicated Supporter' ($100/year). This annual supporter dues is more than counterbalanced by the money the voter saves during the year by getting free tickets to productions (which is, at minimum, upwards of $250).