Odds & Ends: Lucille Lortel Awards Set 2020 Date at Skirball Center & More

Here's a quick roundup of stories you might have missed today.

Lucille Lortel Awards Set 2020 Date at NYU's Skirball Center
Mark your calendar! The 35th Annual Lucille Lortel Awards, honoring outstanding achievement off-Broadway, will be held on May 3 at the NYU Skirball Center for Performing Arts. The Off-Broadway League and the Lucille Lortel Theatre Foundation have also announced that Tim Sanford, exiting artistic director of Playwrights Horizons, will be presented with this year's Lifetime Achievement Award. Pulitzer-finalist playwright Anna Deavere Smith (Fires in the Mirror) has been selected as the latest name to appear on the Playwrights' Sidewalk. Nominations in competitive categories for the 2020 Lortel Awards will be announced on April 2. For a look at last year's winners, click here.

Michael Wartella to Perform Solo Show at The Green Room 42
Michael Wartella, the former Broadway.com vlogger who will soon star as real-life rocker Dion DiMucci in Paper Mill Playhouse's The Wanderer, will share his vocal talents in a solo show in New York City later this month. Wartella's show will appear at midtown hot spot The Green Room 42 on January 24 at 9:30pm. The concert will include brand-new original music straight from Wartella's new debut solo album as well as some old Broadway favorites performed with a folk-rock twist. Wartella has appeared on Broadway in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Tuck Everlasting and Wicked.

Jason Sherwood Selected as Production Designer for 2020 Oscars
Jason Sherwood, the celebrated theater scenic designer who nabbed a 2019 Emmy Award for his design of Fox's Rent: Live, has been chosen as production designer for the 2020 Academy Awards, to be held on February 9 in Los Angeles. Sherwood is known in theater circles for his dazzling scenic design of The View UpStairs, which earned him nominations for Lortel, Drama Desk and Hewes Design Awards. His theater design credits also include Living on Love, Cruel Intentions, This Ain't No Disco and the upcoming Endlings. Sherwood follows in the footsteps of prior Oscars designers with stage cred, including Tony nominee David Korins (Hamilton, Beetlejuice), who designed last year's Academy Awards. Check out the list of this year's Oscar nominees here.

The Courtroom to Play a Pair of Return Engagements in New York City
The theater troupe Waterwell has announced the return of The Courtroom, a re-enactment of deportation proceedings featuring text arranged from real court transcripts by Tony nominee Arian Moayed. The popular theatrical event will appear at off-Broadway's Lucille Lortel Theatre on February 12 at 7:00pm and uptown's Symphony Space on March 9 at 7:00pm. Casting for both performances will be announced at a later date.

1973 Musical Seesaw to Play Off-Broadway Run at Theatre Row
Seesaw is headed back to the New York stage. The 1973 Tony-nominated musical will reappear next month at off-Broadway's Theatre Row in a new production from J2 Spotlight Musical Theater Company, directed by Robert Schneider. Performances are set to run from February 13-23. Featuring a book by original director-choreographer Michael Bennett and a score by Cy Coleman and Dorothy Fields, Seesaw follows Jerry Ryan, a reserved lawyer from Omaha who flees to New York City looking for a change in his life. There he meets Gittel Mosca, a single, lovable lunatic who lives life to the fullest. The musical includes such songs as "It's Not Where You Start, It's Where You Finish," "Welcome to Holiday Inn" and "Nobody Does It Like Me." The off-Broadway cast will include Kyle Caress, Chaz Alexander Coffin, Katie Griffith, Caleb Grochalski, Morgan Hecker, Stephanie Israelson, Halle Mastroderardino, J Savage and Andy Tighe.