HISTORY OF THE OSTRANDER THEATRE AWARDS
The Ostrander Awards primary purpose is to celebrate theatre artists in the city of Memphis and surrounding communities by promoting excellence, fellowship and appreciation for all the people who make this large extended family so wonderful. Originally referred to as simply the Memphis Theatre Awards, the name was changed to the Ostranders in honor of beloved local actor Jim Ostrander, who was taken from us far too early in his life. Jim was an incredibly talented actor and kind, funny, wonderful soul, and the Ostrander Awards attempts at all times to live up to the memory and legacy of Jim and all the other quality artists and quality humans that have built and maintained our community over the decades.
Hosted first in June 1984 at the Old Daisy, the original awards were a collaboration of the Memphis Arts Council and Memphis magazine. The original panel of judges included Walter Armstrong, Gene Crain, Amy Dietrich, Levi Frazier, Stephen Haley, Emily Ruch, C. Lamar Wallis, and Miriam DeCosta Willis.
Executive Directors
1983-1986: Walter Armstrong (served as lead judge)
1986-2011: Janie McCrary
2011-2017: Lindsey Roberts
2017-Present: Elizabeth Perkins
ORGANIZATION & STRUCTURE
The Memphis Ostranders are governed by a Board of Directors. Day to day operations shall be handled by the Executive Director and coordinators, as approved by the Board of Directors.
Seven administrative judges serve as the leadership of the judging panels. They are charged with the responsibility to:
Attend as many eligible productions as possible
Conduct an annual review of the judging handbook and scoring rubric
Assist the Executive Director in training new judges
Serve as tie-breakers for any final ballots resulting in ties for nominees or winners in a category
The number of judges assigned to each division will be dependent on the number of productions submitted for adjudication. The Executive Director has the sole responsibility for assigning judges to productions.
Administrators of participating theatres are encouraged to attend the annual summer board meeting to review the prior year and provide feedback for the coming adjudication year.
The Memphis Ostranders operates on a July 1 - June 30 calendar year. Shows that open within those dates will be considered for that year’s awards. Shows opening after June 30 will be considered as part of the next season.
The Memphis Ostranders operates as a non-profit entity. Costs of running the corporation and administering the awards process is covered by member dues, admission receipts, individual donations, and corporate sponsorships and grants.
TABULATION RULES
The ballot data will be averaged as follows:
The sum of the received scores shall be normalized by multiplying the sum by 10 and then dividing by the number of scores received (n/a shall be counted as “no scores” and shall not be counted as “score received”).
At least 7 numeric scores must be received for any element to be “qualified”. This means that any show where only 7 ballots are tabulated, any elements receiving a score of “N/A” by one or more judges shall disqualify the element regardless of other scores.
Not all award categories are awarded each year. Categories in which an insufficient number of qualifying ballots cast shall be omitted from that award year.
The top scores shall be presented to the judges at the final deliberation meeting for voting on the winner in each category
Votes for winners may only be cast by judges who attended performances of the nominees
Ties will be resolved by the administrative judge panel