The fifth Moscow Debut award ceremonies, hosted by the House of Actors and the Debut Center, were held on Monday at the House of Actors.
Of all the theatrical prizes that are dispensed each year, the Debut awards are arguably the most gratifying. They are given to artists of various theatrical professions who in the past season - in this case, the 1998-1999 campaign - made their professional bow. They are presented in an atmosphere lacking pomp but filled with camaraderie, and the majority of invitees are not A-list faces, but the working partners of the nominees.
The theatricalized ceremonies this year imitated an invasion of aliens from a planet that has everything but genius. Their mission was to seek out carriers of "genius genes" to take back with them into outer space. In fact, winners this year will enjoy an all-expenses-paid week vacation in Spain.
And the winners are:
-Best Actor: Ilya Bledny as Khlestakov in "The Inspector General" at the Dzhigarkhanyan Theater.
-Best Actress: Yekaterina Stulova as Masha in "The Latest News in Menswear" at the Debut Center.
-Best Supporting Actor: Andrei Rogozhin as Lucky Zhenya in "Dog's Waltz" at the Mayakovsky Theater.
-Best Supporting Actress: Maria Skosyreva as Katya Volkova in "The Competition" at the Et Cetera Theater.
-Best Designer: Natalya Zorabova and Irina Korina for "A Midsummer Night's Dream" at the Chekhov Moscow Art Theater.
-Best Role in a Musical Production: Marina Prudenskaya as Carmen in "Carmen" at the Stanislavsky and Nemirovich-Danchenko Musical Theater.
-Best Dancer: Anastasia Goryacheva in "Agony" and "Cipollino" at the Bolshoi Theater.
-Best Critic: Yekaterina Antonova for articles in various publications.
Awards in the categories of Best Director and Best Playwright were not given.
- John Freedman
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