The African American Council of the Arts presented its first AACTA Onyx Awards Friday at a formal dinner at the Renaissance Hotel. The 31 awards celebrated productions in the 2003-04 season staged by a half-dozen predominantly black theater and dance companies.

The dominant theme of the evening was collaboration. One of the moving spirits was the late playwright Rob Penny, quoted by actress Linda Hunt as having said, "We do our art together or not at all."

City Councilman Sala Udin, himself an actor with professional experience, put the awards in a larger context, saying, "We need better documentation and acknowledgment of black art. It extends the life of the art and renews its creators."

Started by actress Victoria Thompson Bey, who recruited a 14-person board of directors, AACTA aims to promote the arts as a tool of enlightenment and empowerment for minorities and the disadvantaged through education and incentives. The awards are its first program, designed to acknowledge excellence and gradually raise artistic standards.

Keynote speaker Glynn Turman, actor and humanitarian, spoke movingly about the power of art in his own life. Addressing the younger performers present, he said, "There is no finish line." The opportunity to create art, he said, "is in your hands. Take hold of it."

Channel 11's Vince Sims was a genial emcee. The awards alternated with musical selections by violinist Rodney McCoy and vocalists Sandy Dowe, Henry Biggs and Charles Timbers.

The awards were determined by a panel of eight judges who saw all the eligible shows. Bey confirmed that in the future, the board hopes to broaden the awards to include minority actors and creative people in other Pittsburgh theater and dance companies as well.

Presentations and acceptances were jubilant. "I'm calling my mom!" said Tracey Turner. "She needs proof!" On receiving her best actress award, Bey thanked her mother and father "for supporting me when I said I didn't want to be a nun."

Confided costume designer June Seale, "I'm the one who made them wear slips and panty hose." Ben Blakey thanked "the 90 years of gospel directors in my family." "Each time we do a piece of art, we get to grow," said Eileen Morris.

All evening, both presenters and recipients had remarked on the powerful influence of Kuntu Theatre founder Vernell Lillie. So there was a sustained standing ovation when she was announced by Udin, Penny's longtime friend, as the winner of the first Rob Penny Lifetime Achievement Award.

In accepting, Lillie said, "Nobody writes black women any better than Rob Penny!" And just in case anyone doubted it, the 73 year-old director and life force who moved to Pittsburgh from her native Texas in 1969 promised, "I'm going to die with my boots on."

2004 AACTA Onyx Awards

Plays
Best production: "Blue," New Horizon.

Direction: (tie) Eileen Morris, "Blue," and Tracey Turner, "Harriet Tubman Loved Somebody," Pittsburgh Playwrights.

Ensemble: "Hambone," Pittsburgh Playwrights.

Lighting: Jason Peroney, "She'll Find Her Way Home," Kuntu.

Sound: Michael Moats, "Blue."

Set: "When the Water Turns Clear," Pittsburgh Playwrights.

Costumes: June Seale, "Blue."

Supporting actor: Jay Jones, "When the Water Turns Clear."

Supporting actress: Eileen Morris, "Rain and Rivers," New Horizon.

Lead actress: Victoria Thompson Bey, "Rain and Rivers."

Lead actor: Art Terry, "Hambone."

Musicals
Best production: "Christmas Is Comin' Uptown," Renaissance Publications.

Direction: Eileen Morris, "Christmas ... Uptown."

Ensemble: "Black Nativity," Shona Sharif African Dance & Drum Ensemble.

Lighting: Michael Moats and Mark Southers, "Christmas ... Uptown."

Choreography: Stacee Walters, "Black Nativity."

Music direction: Trini Massie, "Black Nativity."

Costumes: Betty Pendleton, "Christmas ... Uptown."

Sets: Emory Biko, "Good Morning Revolution, Sankofa," African Grove Performance Ensemble.

Supporting actor: Ben Blakey, "Christmas ... Uptown."

Supporting actress: Mayme Williams, "Sankofa."

Lead actress: Teru Bridgett, "Christmas ... Uptown."

Lead actor: Jonathan Berry, "Black Nativity."

Dance
Best production: "Double Explosion," Mazingi & Stowers Production.

Most innovative: "Double Explosion."

Choreographer: Kim Bears-Bailey, "Fast and Furious," Pittsburgh Dance Ensemble.

Costumes: "Double Explosion."

Other
Up and coming male youth: Ruel Davis, "Hambone."

Up and coming female youth: Jessica Burch, "She'll Find Her Way Home," Kuntu.

Philanthropist: Multi-Cultural Arts Initiative.

Rob Penny lifetime achievement: Vernell Lillie.