Drammy Awards

 The mission of the Drammy Committee is to increase the attention paid to live theatre produced in Portland by recognizing, rewarding, and celebrating outstanding work at a public event.

The Drammys originally began as “the Willies” in 1979, initiated by Stephanie Oliver and Bob Sitton of Willamette Week. Today, the Drammy Committee continues as a loosely organized group of professionals representing various areas of the industry who volunteer their time.

A history of the Drammy Committee can be found in 25yearsandcounting (PDF) by Richard Wattenberg, part of the 2004 25th Anniversary Program.

For the awards to be as inclusive as possible, the Drammy Committee currently maintains the following requirements for consideration:

• The production is locally produced. Company members may come from out of town, but the production itself must be developed here. We define “local” as within in the Portland city limits. The only exceptions  (for historical reasons) are Lakewood Theatre and Broadway Rose; both of these companies also widen our ability to include musical theatre in our awards process.
• The production must run locally for a MINIMUM of NINE (9) performances (not including previews) in a single run, to be eligible for Drammy consideration.  PLEASE NOTE that we can never GUARANTEE Drammy coverage, though we try our best to ensure that all eligible shows are covered.
• For an otherwise eligible production to be considered, at least one month’s notice in advance of opening night is required. Please provide us with the title, company, venue, run dates, performance schedule, and who to contact for tickets. If you don’t want us to come, let us know that, too. Drop us a line at drammyawards@gmail.com. (For those established companies with announced seasons, we know what’s coming from you, and have you on our schedule. Thank you!)
• The producing company provides two complimentary tickets to up to 10 Drammy Committee members, and must make these tickets available for all performances open to the public. Companies can express their preference for when committee members attend based on sales, but “blackout dates” for committee members may result in a show not being eligible. Committee members are sensitive to ticket availability and will try to attend performances with lower attendances, or occasionally request one ticket per member for selling-out shows, so as not to displace paying customers.
• In general, we do not consider remounts.
• As of the 2014-2015 season, we no longer attend shows in locations without safe wheelchair access. Companies wishing to know more about these requirements should contact the RACC and Oregon Arts Commission for assistance in understanding and meeting the standards. 
• Given our limited resources, we have also chosen not to cover productions that are a direct product of a school curriculum, nor genres of opera, readers’ theatre, performance art, cabaret, sketch comedy, improvisation and movement or dance theatre. We also do not cover shows that are still being work-shopped, or “works in progress,” for the same reason that we do not attend previews; we want to give all productions the best possible chance of an award.

The Drammy season runs from mid-May to mid-May. A production must have closed before mid-May in order to be considered for awards presented the same year. Shows still running by mid-May will be included in the following season.

The Committee provides the current roster of its members to all theatres.  Members individually contact box offices or designated “Drammy contact people” to make  reservations. Please let us know if you have someone designated to deal with Drammy ticketing.

We monitor theatre listings to identify and reach out to new companies throughout the year. New companies are encouraged to contact us at  drammyawards@gmail.com if they wish to be considered for Drammy awards. (At least one month’s notice is required prior to opening night–see above in the criteria for eligibility.)

The Committee meets several times during the season to discuss productions that have closed by each meeting time, thus giving each production a timely review. In May the entire season of work is examined and discussed. Please download our awarding process document for full details of how we score and determine finalists and winners (PDF).

To be considered for an award, a work must  have been seen by an absolute  minimum of seven Committee members.

 Any Drammy Committee member involved in a production will recuse himself/herself from all discussion and voting regarding that production. Any committee members whose affiliations — familial, professional or other — with artists under consideration may compromise the impartiality of the adjudication process will recuse themselves from all discussion and voting regarding such artists’ work.

In 2013 the Drammy Committee decided, by majority vote, to return to a system of pre-published finalists. Each season, therefore, there will be four pre-published finalists in each of the major categories, all of whom will receive a certificate, with the actual Drammy Award recipient announced on the night of the ceremony. For the 1999-2013 procedure, click here (PDF).

 Winners are announced at the annual Drammy Awards ceremony in June. A list of winners is published the following day on the Drammy Awards Web site and is usually carried by local media.

Some statistics from recent seasons:

• 2014-2015 – The Committee considered 118 productions, from which nearly 250 nominations were made.
• 2013-2014 – The Committee considered 116 productions, from which over 250 nominations were made.

 The list of shows reviewed during the season is updated after each meeting of the Drammy Committee. If your show qualifies for consideration (see above), the Committee makes every effort to see it. Sometimes, a show escapes our notice, particularly those with a compressed run.

More information as it becomes available.

The Drammy Awards ceremony is free and open to the public. The costs of the event are covered through reserved seat and program ad sales, cash contributions, in-kind donations, and a great deal of volunteer support.

The Drammy Committee is a program of the Portland Civic Theatre Guild, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. In addition, the Drammy Committee is sponsored by the Culver Glass Company and Melvin Mark Companies. Our media sponsor is KZME.

To make a tax-deductible donation to support the Drammy Awards, contact us at drammyawards@gmail.com. Currently we can only accept checks. Donations are acknowledged by return mail.

Committee membership changes from year to year; visit the COMMITTEE page for a list of current members. Check out the drop down menu for Committee Bios.

Vacancies are filled in late spring for the following season. Typically, candidates are nominated by sitting Committee members. Candidates are interviewed  and approved by consensus of the Committee. Attention is given to balance representatives from each industry field (e.g., technical theatre, performance, directing, etc.).

To find out more about serving on the Drammy Committee, send e-mail to drammyawards@gmail.com.

To link your theatre’s website to the Drammy Awards website, please send an e-mail to drammyawards@gmail.com.

To offer a correction to information on the Drammy Awards Web site, send an e-mail to drammyawards@gmail.com.

To offer feedback on the Drammy Awards, send an e-mail to drammyawards@gmail.com.

Please click on this link for Barbara Conable’s essay, “My First Year on the Drammy Committee.” (PDF)