Two musicals received five awards, Camelot by 2nd Star Productions and Ragtime by Kensington Arts Theatre. Two plays received four awards, The Pillowman by Silver Spring Stage and Red by the Elden Street Players. Kensington Arts Theatre received the most awards, a total of seven for their productions of Ragtime and Next to Normal. Colonial Players was the only theater company to receive awards for three separate productions, 1776, Shipwrecked and Trying.

• 2nd Star Productions
• Aldersgate Church Community Theatre
• The Alliance Theatre
• The Arlington Players
• Capital City Players of DC
• Bowie Community Theatre
• Castaways Repertory Theatre
• Taking Flight Theatre Company
• Chevy Chase Players
• Colonial Players of Annapolis
• Damascus Theatre Company
• Dominion Stage
• Elden Street Players
• Fauquier Community Theatre
• Greenbelt Arts Center
• Hard Bargain Players
• Kensington Arts Theatre
• Laurel Mill Playhouse
• Little Theatre of Alexandria
• McLean Community Players
• Montgomery Playhouse
• Port City Playhouse
• Port Tobacco Players
• Prince George’s Little Theatre
• Prince William Little Theatre
• Providence Players of Fairfax
• Reston Community Players
• Rockville Little Theatre
• Rockville Musical Theatre
• St. Mark’s Players
• Silver Spring Stage
• Tantallon Community Players
• Vienna Theatre Company

Winners for outstanding technical achievements.

Outstanding Set Design in a Musical (TIE)

• Jared Davis, Avenue Q, Dominion Stage
• Jane B. Wingard, Camelot, 2nd Star Productions

Outstanding Set Design in a Play

• John Downing and Bill Glikbarg, Twentieth Century, Little Theatre of Alexandria

Outstanding Set Construction in a Musical

• Hector Lorenzini, Avenue Q, Dominion Stage

Outstanding Set Construction in a Play

• Richard Gilpin and Zachary Ball, Brighton Beach Memoirs, Port Tobacco Players

Outstanding Set Painting in a Musical

• Jane B. Wingard, Camelot, 2nd Star Productions

Outstanding Set Painting in a Play

• Mary Speed and Brian Garrison, Red, Elden Street Players

Outstanding Set Decoration and Set Dressing in a Musical

• Jane B. Wingard and Gail Bagaria, Camelot, 2nd Star Productions

Outstanding Set Decoration and Set Dressing in a Play

• Paul Hennesy and Mike Mattheisen, Is He Dead?, Providence Players of Fairfax

Outstanding Properties in a Musical

• Joanne D. Wilson, Camelot, 2nd Star Productions

Outstanding Properties in a Play

• Susan d. Garvey, Red, Elden Street Players

Outstanding Lighting Design in a Musical

• Tommy Scott, Fiddler on the Roof, Port Tobacco Players

Outstanding Lighting Design in a Play

• Ken and Patti Crowley, 33 Variations, Little Theatre of Alexandria

Outstanding Sound Design in a Musical

• Kevin DeMine, Avenue Q, Dominion Stage

Outstanding Sound Design in a Play

• Sean Doyle, Shiloh Rules, Port City Playhouse

Outstanding Costume Design in a Musical

• Linda Swann, Camelot, 2nd Star Productions

Outstanding Costume Design in a Play

• Mary Wakefield, The Tempest, Rockville Little Theatre

Outstanding Makeup Design in a Musical

• Shemika Berry, The Wiz, Tantallon Community Players

Outstanding Makeup Design in a Play

• Sally Cusenza, The Pillowman, Silver Spring Stage

Outstanding Hair Design in a Musical

• Beverly Hill van Joolen, 1776, Colonial Players of Annapolis

Outstanding Hair Design in a Play

• Rachel Royall, Life with Father, Aldersgate Churtch Community Theatre

Outstanding Special Effects

• Joshua McKerrow, Kat McKerrow, Maya Wilcox, The Lieutenant of Inishmore, Laurel Mill Playhouse

Winners for outstanding performances by an actor or actress.

Outstanding cameo in a musical

• Lydia Kivrak as ‘Grandma Tzeitel’, Fiddler on the Roof, Port Tobacco Players

Outstanding cameo in a play

• Jeffrey Gangwisch as ‘James’, The Lieutenant of Inishmore, Laurel Mill Playhouse

Outstanding featured actress in a musical

• Eben K. Logan as ‘Sarah’, Ragtime, Kensington Arts Theatre

Outstanding featured actor in a musical

• Ryan Burke as ‘Dan’, Next to Normal, Kensington Arts Theatre

Outstanding featured actress in a play

• Christina Enoch Kemmerer as ‘Player #1’, Shipwrecked, Colonial Players of Annapolis

Outstanding featured actor in a play (TIE)

• Chris Daileader as ‘Michal’, The Pillowman, Silver Spring Stage
• Robert Tucker as ‘Player #2’, Shipwrecked, Colonial Players of Annapolis

Outstanding lead actress in a musical

• Emily Zickler as ‘Diana’, Next to Normal, Kensington Arts Theatre

Outstanding lead actor in a musical

• Sayne-Kharyi Lewis as ‘Colehouse Walker’, Ragtime, Kensington Arts Theatre

Outstanding lead actress in a play (TIE)

• Karen Grim as ‘Sarah Schorr’, Trying, Colonial Players of Annapolis
• Mary-Anne Sullivan as ‘Dr. Katherine Brandt’, 33 Variations, Reston Community Players

Outstanding lead actor in a play

• Chad W. Fornwalt as ‘Katurian’, The Pillowman, Silver Spring Stage

Winners for outstanding achievement in overall production.

Outstanding Stage Combat Choreography

• William T. Fleming, The Pillowman, Silver Spring Stage

Outstanding Choreography

• Darnell Morris and Eben K. Logan, Ragtime, Kensington Arts Theatre

Outstanding Music Direction

• Mayumi B. Griffie, Ragtime, Kensington Arts Theatre

Outstanding Direction of a Musical

• Evan Hoffmann, Caroline or Change, Elden Street Players

Outstanding Direction of a Play

• Gloria DuGan, Red, Elden Street Players

Outstanding Musical

• Ragtime, Kensington Arts Theatre

Outstanding Play

• Red, Elden Street Players

Wins sorted by theatre and show.

2nd Star Productions

• Camelot
  • Outstanding Costume Design in a Musical, Linda Swann
  • Outstanding Properties in a Musical, Joanne D. Wilson
  • Outstanding Set Decoration in a Musical, Jane B. Wingard and Gail Bagaria
  • Outstanding Set Design in a Musical, Jane B. Wingard
  • Outstanding Set Painting in a Musical, Jane B. Wingard

Aldersgate Church Community Theatre

• Life with Father
  • Outstanding Hair Design in a Play, Rachel Royall

Colonial Players

• 1776
  • Outstanding Hair Design in a Musical, Beverly Hill van Joolen
• Shipwrecked
  • Outstanding Featured Actor in a Play, Robert Tucker as “Player #2”
  • Outstanding Featured Actress in a Play, Christina Enoch Kremmerer as “Player #1”
• Trying
  • Outstanding Lead Actress in a Play, Karen Grim as “Sarah Schorr”

Dominion Stage

• Avenue Q
  • Outstanding Set Construction in a Musical, Hector Lorenzini
  • Outstanding Set Design in a Musical, Jared Davis
  • Outstanding Sound Design in a Musical, Kevin DeMine

Elden Street Players

• Caroline or Change
  • Outstanding Direction of a Musical, Evan Hoffmann
• Red
  • Outstanding Direction of a Play, Gloria DuGan
  • Outstanding Play
  • Outstanding Properties in a Play, Susan d. Garvey
  • Outstanding Set Painting in a Play, Mary Speed

Kensington Arts Theatre

• Next to Normal
  • Outstanding Featured Actor in a Musical, Ryan Burke as “Dan”
  • Outstanding Lead Actress in a Musical, Emily Zickler as “Diana”
• Ragtime
  • Outstanding Choreography, Darnell Morris & Eben K. Logan
  • Outstanding Featured Actress in a Musical, Eben K. Logan as “Sarah”
  • Outstanding Lead Actor in a Musical, Sayne-Kharyi Lewis as “Colehouse Walker”
  • Outstanding Music Direction, Mayumi B. Griffie
  • Outstanding Musical

Laurel Mill Playhouse

• The Lieutenant of Inishmore
  • Outstanding Cameo in a Play, Jeffrey Gangwisch as “James”
  • Outstanding Special Effects, Joshua McKerrow et al

Little Theatre Of Alexandria

• 33 Variations
  • Outstanding Light Design in a Play, Ken & Patti Crowley
• Twentieth Century
  • Outstanding Set Design in a Play, John Downing & Bill Glikbarg

Port City Playhouse

• Shiloh Rules
  • Outstanding Sound Design in a Play, Sean Doyle

Port Tobacco Players

• Brighton Beach Memoirs
  • Outstanding Set Construction in a Play, Richard Gilpin & Zachary Ball
• Fiddler on the Roof
  • Outstanding Cameo in a Musical, Lydia Kivrak as “Grandma Tzeitel”
  • Outstanding Light Design in a Musical, Tommy Scott

Providence Players

• Is He Dead?
  • Outstanding Set Decoration in a Play, Paul Hennesy & Mike Mattheisen

Reston Community Players

• 33 Variations
  • Outstanding Lead Actress in a Play, Mary-Anne Sullivan as “Dr. Katherine Brandt”

Rockville Little Theatre

• The Tempest
  • Outstanding Costume Design in a Play, Mary Wakefield

Silver Spring Stage

• The Pillowman
  • Outstanding Featured Actor in a Play, Chris Daileader as “Michal”
  • Outstanding Lead Actor in a Play, Chad W. Fornwalt as “Katurian”
  • Outstanding Makeup Design in a Play, Sally Cusenza
  • Outstanding Stage Combat Choreography, William T. Fleming

Tantallon Community Theatre

• The Wiz
  • Outstanding Makeup Design in a Musical, Shemika Berry

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Fifteen companies received awards this year. The Arlington Players‘ production of A Little Night Music received the most awards of the musicals, with five, including Outstanding Musical. Fauquier Community Theatre received four awards for Into the Woods, as did Kensington Arts Theatre for Sunday in the Park with George. Providence Players received the most awards, with two plays (Side Man and You Can’t Take it With You) each receiving four awards. The Colonial Players production Going to St. Ives received three awards, including Outstanding Play. Fifteen companies received awards this year.

ShowBizRadio followed the ceremony live, the archive is available.

Winners for outstanding technical achievement

• Outstanding Costume Design in a Musical: Eleanor Dicks, Sunday in the Park with George, Kensington Arts Theatre
• Outstanding Costume Design in a Play: Robbie Snow, You Can’t Take It With You, Providence Players of Fairfax
• Outstanding Hair Design in a Musical: Bette Williams, A Little Night Music, The Arlington Players
• Outstanding Hair Design in a Play: Beth Harrison, You Can’t Take It With You, Providence Players of Fairfax
• Outstanding Lighting Design in a Musical: Kevin Boyce, Night of the Living Dead, The Musical, Kensington Arts Theatre
• Outstanding Lighting Design in a Play: Chip Gertzog, Side Man, Providence Players of Fairfax
• Outstanding Makeup Design in a Musical: Tim Kirk, Into the Woods, Fauquier Community Theatre
• Outstanding Makeup Design in a Play: Beth Harrison, You Can’t Take It With You, Providence Players of Fairfax
• Outstanding Properties in a Musical: Richard Perryman & Peter Fakoury, Into the Woods, Fauquier Community Theatre
• Outstanding Properties in a Play: Susan Kaplan, Side Man, Providence Players of Fairfax
• Outstanding Set Construction in a Musical: Ryan Mudd, The Sound of Music, Port Tobacco Players
• Outstanding Set Construction in a Play: John Downing, Heaven Can Wait, Little Theatre of Alexandria
• Outstanding Set Decoration and Set Dressing in a Musical: Tim Kirk, Into the Woods, Fauquier Community Theatre
• Outstanding Set Decoration and Set Dressing in a Play: Lisa Church & Chip Gertzog, You Can’t Take It With You, Providence Players of Fairfax
• Outstanding Set Design in a Musical: John Merritt, Ryan Mudd, Ben Simpson, The Sound of Music, Port Tobacco Players
• Outstanding Set Design in a Play: Raedun Knutsen & Chip Gertzog, Side Man, Providence Players of Fairfax
• Outstanding Set Painting in a Musical: Nancy Daugherty, Into the Woods, Fauquier Community Theatre
• Outstanding Set Painting in a Play: Jane B. Wingard, Bloody Murder, 2nd Star Productions
• Outstanding Sound Design in a Musical: Kevin Garrett, Sunday in the Park with George, Kensington Arts Theatre
• Outstanding Sound Design in a Play: Jimmy Gertzog & Chip Gertzog, Side Man, Providence Players of Fairfax
• Outstanding Special Effects: Jordan Rose & Doe B. Kim, Sunday in the Park with George, Kensington Arts Theatre

Winners for outstanding performance by an actor or actress

• Outstanding cameo in a musical (TIE): Chrissy Barnett Miller as “Jolene Oakes”, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, Damascus Theatre Company AND Brenda Parker as “Church Soloist”, The Color Purple, Tantallon Community Players
• Outstanding cameo in a play: Mark Yeager as “Beverly Weston”, August Osage County, Reston Community Players
• Outstanding featured actress in a musical: Annie Coffman as “Anne Egerman”, A Little Night Music, The Arlington Players
• Outstanding featured actor in a musical: Stephen Deininger as “Tateh”, Ragtime, Laurel Mill Playhouse
• Outstanding featured actress in a play: Gayle Nichols-Grimes as “Vernadette Simms”, The Dixie Swim Club, Port City Playhouse
• Outstanding featured actor in a play: John Shackelford as “Max Levene”, Heaven Can Wait, Little Theatre of Alexandria
• Outstanding lead actress in a musical: Jennifer Lyons Pagnard as “Mrs. Lovett”, Sweeney Todd, Little Theatre of Alexandria
• Outstanding lead actor in a musical: Fred Nelson as “Tevye”, Fiddler on the Roof, 2nd Star Productions
• Outstanding lead actress in a play: Lolita-Marie as “May N’Kame”, Going to St. Ives, Colonial Players of Annapolis
• Outstanding lead actor in a play: Matt Baughman as “Charlie Gordon”, Flowers for Algernon, Elden Street Players

Winners for outstanding achievement in overall production

• Outstanding Stage Combat Choreography: Carl Brandt Long, Deathtrap, McLean Community Players
• Outstanding Choreography: Taurean Maray Barber, The Color Purple, Tantallon Community Players
• Outstanding Music Direction: John-Michael d’Haviland, A Little Night Music, The Arlington Players
• Outstanding Direction of a Musical (TIE): Christopher Dykton, A Little Night Music, The Arlington Players AND Craig Petinatti, Sunday in the Park with George, Kensington Arts Theatre
• Outstanding Direction of a Play: Edd Miller, Going to St. Ives, Colonial Players of Annapolis
• Outstanding Musical: A Little Night Music, The Arlington Players
• Outstanding Play: Going to St. Ives, Colonial Players of Annapolis

Winners sorted by theatre and show

2nd Star Productions

• Bloody Murder
  • Outstanding Set Painting in a Play, Jane B. Wingard
• Fiddler on the Roof
  • Outstanding Lead Actor in a Musical, Fred Nelson as “Tevye”

Arlington Players

• A Little Night Music
  • Outstanding Direction of a Musical, Christopher Dykton
  • Outstanding Featured Actress in a Musical, Annie Coffman as “Anne Egerman”
  • Outstanding Hair Design in a Musical, Bette Williams
  • Outstanding Music Direction, John-Michael d’Haviland
  • Outstanding Musical

Colonial Players

• Going to St. Ives
  • Outstanding Direction of a Play, Edd Miller
  • Outstanding Lead Actress in a Play, Lolita-Marie as “May N’Kame”
  • Outstanding Play

Damascus Theatre Company

• Dirty Rotten Scoundrels
  • Outstanding Cameo in a Musical, Chrissy Barnett Miller as “Jolene Oakes”

Elden Street Players

• Flowers for Algernon
  • Outstanding Lead Actor in a Play, Matt Baughman as “Charlie Gordon”

Fauquier Community Theatre

• Into the Woods
  • Outstanding Makeup Design in a Musical, Tim Kirk
  • Outstanding Properties in a Musical, Richard Perryman & Peter Fakoury
  • Outstanding Set Decoration in a Musical, Tim Kirk
  • Outstanding Set Painting in a Musical, Nancy Daugherty

Kensington Arts Theatre

• Night of the Living Dead, The Musical
  • Outstanding Light Design in a Musical, Kevin Boyce
• Sunday in the Park with George
  • Outstanding Costume Design in a Musical, Eleanor Dicks
  • Outstanding Direction of a Musical, Craig Pettinati
  • Outstanding Sound Design in a Musical, Kevin Garrett
  • Outstanding Special Effects, Jordan Rose & Doe B. Kim

Laurel Mill Playhouse

• Ragtime
  • Outstanding Featured Actor in a Musical, Stephen Deininger as “Tateh”

Little Theatre Of Alexandria

• Heaven Can Wait
  • Outstanding Featured Actor in a Play, John Shackelford as “Max Levene”
  • Outstanding Set Construction in a Play, John Downing
• Sweeney Todd
  • Outstanding Lead Actress in a Musical, Jennifer Lyons Pagnard as “Mrs. Lovett”

McLean Community Players

• Deathtrap
  • Outstanding Stage Combat Choreography, Carl Brandt Long

Port City Playhouse

• The Dixie Swim Club
  • Outstanding Featured Actress in a Play, Gayle Nichols-Grimes as “Vernadette Simms”

Port Tobacco Players

• The Sound of Music
  • Outstanding Set Construction in a Musical, Ryan Mudd
  • Outstanding Set Design in a Musical, John Merritt, Ryan Mudd, Ben Simpson

Providence Players

• Side Man
  • Outstanding Light Design in a Play, Chip Gertzog
  • Outstanding Properties in a Play, Susan Kaplan
  • Outstanding Set Design in a Play, Raedun Knutsen & Chip Gertzog
  • Outstanding Sound Design in a Play, Jimmy Gertzog & Chip Gertzog
• You Can’t Take it With You
  • Outstanding Costume Design in a Play, Robbie Snow
  • Outstanding Hair Design in a Play, Beth Harrison
  • Outstanding Makeup Design in a Play, Beth Harrison
  • Outstanding Set Decoration in a Play, Lisa Church & Chip Gertzog

Reston Community Players

• August Osage County
  • Outstanding Cameo in a Play, Mark Yeager as “Beverly Weston”

Tantallon Community Theatre

• The Color Purple
  • Outstanding Cameo in a Musical, Brenda Parker as “Church Soloist”
  • Outstanding Choreography, Taurean Maray Barber

Copenhagen by Michael Frayn is an account of a meeting between Nobel prize winners Neils Bohr and Werner Heisenberg in 1941.

Certain stories require multiple exposures to the material so you can make sense of the story. One example of this is Tom Stoppard’s play Arcadia. The first time I saw Arcadia I was a bit bored, a bit frustrated, and more than a little confused about what was happening. Afterwards I remember saying “I need to see that again to understand it.” Now that I’ve seen Arcadia several times and stage-managed it once, it is one of my favorite plays. Copenhagen is in the same category: an interesting, yet confusing, play that requires multiple viewings to understand it.

Copenhagen‘s three characters, Niels Bohr, his wife Margrethe, and former colleague Werner Heisenberg spend two hours talking about the impact of a particle. Now from the outset one may be saying to oneself the universal question: “So what’s so great about a particle?” The impact of the discussion is that this particle is the first step towards the eventual creation of the atom bomb. Both Bohr and Heisenberg then spend the next two hours attempting to unlock the ramifications of what this discovery will mean for the world and humanity.

Copenhagen is a talking heads production. In Act I Werner Heisenberg (Ben Swiatek) gets himself pretty worked up in his defense of who should be allowed to have certain information. The German seems adamant that it not go to the Nazis. Swiatek has a strong sparing partner in John Decker as Neils Bohr. The two bounce ideas around the room as they try to make their ideas known and come out ahead. Bohr’s wife Margrethe (Mary Ann McAlister) tries to keep some semblance of peace between the two men. McAlister at times came across as too wishy-washy, but portrayed an excellent referee between the two most brilliant thinkers. In Act II Swiatek does not seem to get as animated, but more philosophical whereas Bohr gets angrier. At one point Heisenberg began an orbit around the stage area, matching a line in the script, but then stopped upstage. It may have been interesting to see him continue as if trying to prove his theory with a visual demonstration. The three have good pacing and the timing is well done.

The set was simply the stage’s playing area, with three black wooden chairs on three intertwined circles painted on the floor. There were times when the chair movement seemed to tell as much of a story as the story itself. The two men coming closer and then moving farther apart coincided with the discussion. Jason Wells’ lighting was interesting, primarily using white and blue lights to convey a coldness to the action.

Copenhagen is an interesting show if you are a student of philosophy, history and physics. If you don’t have a background in those fields, prepare for a slog through some deep material.

Director’s Note

Michael Frayn’s Copenhagen is a dramatic exploration of a 1941 meeting between two nobel prize-winning physicists: Niels Bohr, a Dane, and Werner Heisenberg, a German, who was also Bohr’s former colleague and protege. In the years since, Bohr and Heisenberg never agreed on what was said, or even where exactly the conversation took place. But one thing is certain — their relationship was never the same. In Copenhagen, the two physicists, along with Bohr’s wife , Margrethe, explore what may have happened — and how horrifyingly different the outcome of the war might have been had the rupture not occurred.

The characters exist in a kind of afterlife, caught in the memory of a specific time. Vivid ghosts resketching the moments or their greatest uncertainty, they drift into personal, isolated remembrances of grief and loss, then into the warmth of collaboration and argument as they try to make sense of it all.

Frayn’s eloquent script draws analogies to human experience from physics concepts. Heisenberg’s uncertainty principle asserts that both the position and the momentum of a particle cannot simultaneously be known. Bohr’s concept of complementarity mean means you can observe things as a wave or a particle, but not both at once.

So it is with people and the contradictory truths about them. As Bohr puts it, “We have to choose one way of seeing them or the other. But as soon as we do we can’t know everything about them.” Bohr and Heisenberg are father (figure) and son, mutual sounding boards; they are also enemies on opposite sides of war. Margrethe is a gracious hostess who supports and balances her husband; she also fiercely challenges the two men. The relationships form and reform, observable as one thing one moment, and another thing the next.

When one learns about an event from history, it is in a very real sense happening again at that moment. “The past becomes the present inside your head,” as Margrethe says. The creation of the atomic bomb, for the student or the lover of history books, unfolds not just as a story, but also as an event, with urgency and suspense. For Copenhagen‘s characters, this moment from 1941 happens again as they remember it-the isolated moment of a particle, and then becomes a wave as three people are carried into the action once more.

We have so many versions of our histories, collective and individual. Who did what, when, and why? All the positive and negative charges laid to one another’s accounts…what do they add up to, the lives saved and the lives lost?

Whether or not you were alive during World War II, it is part of human history, and part of you. It will be part of your children and their children. According to Einstein, energy only changes form; it never disappears. Even after the lights fade on these actors, the people they portray will remain.

Photo Gallery

Photos by Caitlin Dennis

Cast

• Niels Bohr: John Decker
• Werner Heisenberg: Ben Swiatek
• Margrethe Bohr: Mary Ann McAllister

Production Staff

• Producer: Alicia Goodman
• Director: Heather Benjamin
• Stage Manager: Jacob Kresloff
• Lighting Designer: Jason Wells
• Sound Designer: Heather Benjamin
• Sound Coordinator: Kevin O’Connell
• Lighting and Sound Execution: Ric Andersen, David Engoron, Alicia Goodman, Ken Kemp, Sarah Ramsdell, Trevor Williams
• Scene Painting: Ric Andersen, Heather Benjamin, Alicia Goodman
• Costume Coordinator: Jacy Barber
• Dramaturg: Bob Ashby
• Publicity: Laura Andruski
• Graphic Design: Mitten Design
• Photography: Caitlin Dennis Photography
• House Managers: Nancy Blum, Emily Mullin, Kevin O’Connell

Disclaimer: Rockville Little Theatre provided two complimentary media tickets to ShowBizRadio for this review. RLT also purchased advertising on the ShowBizRadio web site, which did not influence this review. And two SBR staff members (Jacob Kresloff and Bob Ashby) were involved with this production.

You too can support independent media’s support of the arts by purchasing advertising on the ShowBizRadio web site.

You too can support independent media’s support of the arts by purchasing advertising on the ShowBizRadio web site.

Third, a play by Wendy Wasserstein is a serious play about a serious issue: life. Told through the eyes of an English professor at a small, liberal New England college, Laurie Jameson has a lot on her plate. She has a father with Alzheimer’s who wonders off so much that Laurie now has to wear a beeper to locate him. One of her daughters is a lesbian whose partner is cheating on her, and the other daughter is home from college trying to find herself and not be like her mom; a close friend has cancer, and a conservative student she believes plagiarized a paper on King Lear. Oh, and she is going through menopause and experiences hot flashes throughout the play. As humorous as this sounds, Third is actually a very deep look into the human psyche.

Laurie Jameson (Sarah Holt) is a total left-winger. Quite full of herself, angry, enjoys name dropping both dead authors and sections of her curriculum vitae. Her unhappiness comes out unexpectedly, as she is trying to play the supermom, as long as her daughter, husband, father, friends and students all see it her way. Holt does a remarkable performance in building up the anger until it spills out in a confrontation between herself and Woodson Bull III. He prefers being addressed as Third, she likes Woody. Third, played by Alex Badalov, is a Republican (strike one), wrote a paper about King Lear in which he disagreed with Dr. Jameson’s view (strike two), and is at school on a wrestling scholarship (strike three). Third and Dr. Holt are great sparing partners who are able to defend their views articulately. Unfortunately Holt is the professor with the grade book and the tenure, so it would appear the chips are stacked against Third. Badalov balanced showing respect and frustration for Dr. Jameson. There was a very funny scene where Third freely expounded on his opinions of dr. Jameson at the bar where he worked.

Nancy Gordon (Jill Goodrich), a colleague and friend of Laurie’s who is going through cancer treatments and has taken time off from teaching to heal, ends up siding with Third at the Faculty hearing. Of course this does not go over well with Holt and the two exchange some hot words and their friendship is ended. Goodrich is equally passionate in defending the last third of her life. Her emotions come out as very real and paint a good picture of how one’s life can be spent in misery or by experiencing hope through love. She made Dr. Gordeon the most real and in touch with her life experiences.

The final two characters are Laurie’s daughter Emily played by Diana Partridge and Laurie’s father Jack played by Stuart Rick. Both characters were believable. Emily was ready to enter the world, just not along the path her mother would prefer. Emily’s boyfriend is older and established. Emily likes that and of course her mother does not. Partridge and Holt also have a strong scene together near the end of the show, where we begin to see Dr. Jameson as a bit more human. Stuart Rick has a small role, but an important one as it shows Laurie there are some things that cannot be fixed just by yelling loud enough or being angry. Jack’s Alzheimer’s was played very realistically and the bond shared between father and daughter in act two was quite sweet.

Set Designer Maggie Modig used a creative vision in designing the Third set. In Act I everything was ramrod straight. There was no room for bending or altering the set which was used as an office, bench, living room, or dorm room depending on the scene. Act II revealed everything slightly askew as Dr. Jameson’s world sort of tilted. Set changes were smooth and well-timed, and kept a nice flow going during the performance. By playing so many scenes in small areas on the large stage, disruptions caused by lengthy scene changes were avoided.

The blowing leaves and the snow falling were executed well. Sound and lights were also well-timed. During the lightning and thunder scene in act II there needed to be more of a reaction to the rain and loud thunder. It may have been Jack’s disease that kept him from having a reaction, but Laurie should have reacted. Some of the sounds of the rcorded voices were also too loud and distracting. Sound cues were executed very well, reacting to what we’d see on stage.

Rockville Little Theatre’s Third was well acted and thought-provoking, and is a show that will have you come away evaluating where you are in your life’s journey. First: do you need to go? Second, do you need to stay? Or third, do you need to change paths altogether?

Director’s Note

Shortly after I agreed to direct this play, I came across the following passage in an introduction to Pride and Prejudice:

“Jane Austen’s book is, most importantly, about pre-judging and re-judging. It is a drama of recognition-re-cognition, that act by which the mind can look again at a thing and if necessary make revisions and amendments until it sees the thing as it really is. As such it is thematically related to the dramas of recognition which constitute the tradition of Western tragedy-Oedipus Rex, King Lear, Phedre” (Tony Tanner, Penguin English Library, 1972).

It felt a bit like turning to the back of a book and accidentally stumbling on the answer. Three decades before Third was written, this essayist raised, in regard to the same two works of literature Laurie Jameson teaches in this play (Pride and Prejudice and King Lear), the question of how our perceptions shape our identity. What he found, as Wendy Wasserstein did, is that the process of unmasking one’s own assumptions and most cherished beliefs is not only difficult; it can be completely unmooring. In Third, both Laurie and Jack insist they are who they are and they know what they know. So who do become when the things you thought you knew turn out not to be true? Lear, who calls himself a “dragon” in Act I, says in Act V, “Pray do not mock me./ I am a very foolish fond old man.” Elizabeth Bennet’s humiliating discovery that she has been “wretchedly blind” about Darcy, though less tragic, is no less momentous; she realizes ruefully, “Till this moment, I never knew myself.”

Part o f the reason for the characters’ confusion is their unpredictable environment. Third is set in a world of contradictions, not the least of which is middle age, a time in which Wendy Wasserstein wrote, “things become simultaneously more absurd and overwhelmingly real.” Laurie’s father reverts to childhood at the same time as her daughter becomes an adult; her contemporary, Nancy, looking into the face of her own mortality, finds instead rebirth of a completely unexpected kind. Nothing assured, except the steady forward march of time and its unshakeable companions: disappointment, aging, illness, injustice. But autumn always follows summer, it is equally true that spring follows the winter; as Laurie says, “it’s a question of renewal.”

I am more grateful than I can express to the team of people that has brought Third to life with me: my tireless producers; my designers and crew, who don’t seem to know the word “no”; the peerless Jeff McDermott, for going above and beyond; and, most of all, this remarkable cast, who fearlessly embraced their characters’ ambiguities and contradictions. I salute you.

Photo Gallery

Photos by Dean Evangelista

Cast

• Laurie: Sarah Holt
• Nancy: Jill Goodrich
• Third: Alex Badalov
• Jack: Stuart Rick
• Emily: Diana Partridge
• Recorded Voices: David Dieudonne, Alex Gold, Devon Seybert, Maile Zox

Production Staff

• Producers: Mandy Keating and Dominique Marro
• Director: Lizzi Albert
• Assistant Director: Jeff McDermont
• Stage Manager: Patrick Miller
• Assistant Stage Manager: Stephanie Robinson
• Set Designer: Maggie Modig
• Master Carpenter: David Levin
• Scenic Artist: Maggie Modig
• Construction Crew: Laura Andruski, Eric Henry, Tom Lin, Carl Modig, Robert Ullino
• Properties Designer: Andrea Kibbe
• Set Dressing Designer: Jeff McDermott
• Lighting Designer: Peter Caress
• Lighting Execution: Asma Husna
• Sound Designer: Kevin O’Connell
• Sound Execution: Mike Taylor
• Costume Designer: Crystal Fergusson
• Program Design: Caroline Duffy
• Publicity: Ken Kemp
• Photographer: Dean Evangelista
• Stage Crew: Sheila Golabi, Meem Haque, Mina Haque and Amina Mainuddin
• Load-in Crew: Bruno Falcon, Dean Fiala, William Kolodrubetz, Xaq Rothman, Paul Valentine
• Audition Hosts: Patrick Miller and Collette Moore
• Usher Coordinator: Paula Cook
• Opening Night Reception Coordinator: Fran Levin

Disclaimer: Rockville Little Theatre provided two complimentary media tickets to ShowBizRadio for this review.

• 2nd Star Productions
• Aldersgate Church Community Theatre
• The Alliance Theatre
• The Arlington Players
• Capital City Players of DC
• Bowie Community Theatre
• Castaways Repertory Theatre
• Taking Flight Theatre Company
• Chevy Chase Players
• Colonial Players of Annapolis
• Damascus Theatre Company
• Dominion Stage
• Elden Street Players
• Fauquier Community Theatre
• Greenbelt Arts Center
• Hard Bargain Players
• Kensington Arts Theatre
• Laurel Mill Playhouse
• Little Theatre of Alexandria
• McLean Community Players
• Montgomery Playhouse
• Port City Playhouse
• Port Tobacco Players
• Prince George’s Little Theatre
• Prince William Little Theatre
• Providence Players of Fairfax
• Reston Community Players
• Rockville Little Theatre
• Rockville Musical Theatre
• St. Mark’s Players
• Silver Spring Stage
• Tantallon Community Players
• Vienna Theatre Company

The nominations are provided by category and then by theater.

The Award Presentation will be held on March 17th at the Birchmere in Alexandria, Virginia. Tickets can be purchased for $15.50 at the Birchmere Box Office or through Ticketmaster (additional fees will apply). Last year the ceremony sold out, so order your tickets early!

In each of the thirty-eight categories, five nominees were selected based on the average scores of eight judges. In some categories, due to score ties, more than five nominees are announced. Nominations are provided in alphabetical order by nominee.

Nominations for outstanding technical achievements

Outstanding Set Design in a Musical

• Bill Brown & Chad Wheeler, Meet Me in St. Louis, Damascus Theatre Company
• Matt Karner, Sunday in the Park with George, Kensington Arts Theatre
• Tim Kirk & Martha Lynch, Into the Woods, Fauquier Community Theatre
• Russell Kopp, A Little Night Music, Arlington Players
• John Merritt, Ryan Mudd, Ben Simpson, The Sound of Music, Port Tobacco Players

Outstanding Set Design in a Play

• John Coscia, You Can’t Take It With You, Providence Players of Fairfax
• John Downing, Heaven Can Wait, Little Theatre of Alexandria
• John Downing, Witness for the Prosecution, Little Theatre of Alexandria
• Raedun Knutsen & Chip Gertzog, Side Man, Providence Players of Fairfax
• Jane B. Wingard, The Lion in Winter, 2nd Star Productions

Outstanding Set Construction in a Musical

• Matt Karner & Joel Richon, Sunday in the Park with George, Kensington Arts Theatre
• Tim Kirk & Kirk Noé, Into the Woods, Fauquier Community Theatre
• Jim Korte & Bill Rippey, Meet Me in St. Louis, Damascus Theatre Company
• Ryan Mudd, The Sound of Music, Port Tobacco Players
• Joe Stine & John Merritt, The Wizard of Oz, Port Tobacco Players

Outstanding Set Construction in a Play

• John Coscia, You Can’t Take It With You, Providence Players of Fairfax
• John Downing, Heaven Can Wait, Little Theatre of Alexandria
• John Downing, Witness for the Prosecution, Little Theatre of Alexandria
• Chip Gertzog et al, Side Man, Providence Players of Fairfax
• Bernie Gmiter, Bob Schroth, Bill Glikbarg, Deathtrap, McLean Community Players
• Timothy Hinton & David Johnson, August Osage County, Reston Community Players
• John Merritt, To Kill A Mockingbird, Port Tobacco Players

Outstanding Set Painting in a Musical

• Nancy Daugherty et al, Into the Woods, Fauquier Community Theatre
• Jill Hanger, Rhonna Johnson, Betsy Stevens, The Sound of Music, Port Tobacco Players
• Ronna Johnson, The Wizard of Oz, Port Tobacco Players
• Jane B. Wingard, Fiddler on the Roof, 2nd Star Productions
• Jane B. Wingard, Oklahoma, 2nd Star Productions

Outstanding Set Painting in a Play

• Erin Cumbo et al, Someone Who’ll Watch Over Me, Port City Playhouse
• Chip Gertzog, Side Man, Providence Players of Fairfax
• Mary Hutzler, Heaven Can Wait, Little Theatre of Alexandria
• Jane B. Wingard, Bloody Murder, 2nd Star Productions
• Jane B. Wingard et al, The Lion in Winter, 2nd Star Productions

Outstanding Set Decoration and Set Dressing in a Musical

• Sheila Draper, The Sound of Music, Port Tobacco Players
• Lindsey Hays, A Little Night Music, Arlington Players
• Ronna Johnson, The Wizard of Oz, Port Tobacco Players
• Tim Kirk, Into the Woods, Fauquier Community Theatre
• Maria Littlefield, Meet Me in St. Louis, Damascus Theatre Company

Outstanding Set Decoration and Set Dressing in a Play

• Lisa Church & Chip Gertzog, You Can’t Take It With You, Providence Players of Fairfax
• Edd Miller, Chapter Two, Colonial Players of Annapolis
• Kathy White, Side Man, Providence Players of Fairfax
• Dinnie Whitson, Cathy Farnsworth, Christine Whitson, Deathtrap, McLean Community Players
• Jane B. Wingard et al, The Lion in Winter, 2nd Star Productions

Outstanding Properties in a Musical

• Avery Burns, A Little Night Music, Arlington Players
• Terri Fortney-Beinert, The Sound of Music, Port Tobacco Players
• Maria Littlefield, Meet Me in St. Louis, Damascus Theatre Company
• Richard Perryman et al, Into the Woods, Fauquier Community Theatre
• Joanne D. Wilson, Fiddler on the Roof, 2nd Star Productions

Outstanding Properties in a Play

• Emily Besuden, Jerry Gideon, Dick La Porte, Deathtrap, McLean Community Players
• Mary Jo Ford & Alexandra Lee, August Osage County, Reston Community Theatre
• Chip Gertzog, You Can’t Take It With You, Providence Players of Fairfax
• Susan Kaplan, Side Man, Providence Players of Fairfax
• Robbie Snow et al, Sleuth, Providence Players of Fairfax
• Joanne D. Wilson, The Lion in Winter, 2nd Star Productions

Outstanding Lighting Design in a Musical

• Kevin Boyce, Night of the Living Dead, The Musical, Kensington Arts Theatre
• Garret R. Hyde, Fiddler on the Roof, 2nd Star Productions
• Tim Kirk, Into the Woods, Fauquier Community Theatre
• Ben Levine, Sunday in the Park with George, Kensington Arts Theatre
• B. Keith Ryder, A Little Night Music, Arlington Players
• Tommy Scott, The Sound of Music, Port Tobacco Players

Outstanding Lighting Design in a Play

• Ken & Patti Crowley, August Osage County, Reston Community Players
• Ken & Patti Crowley, Cantorial, Little Theatre of Alexandria
• Frank Florentine & Shirley Panek, Chapter Two, Colonial Players of Annapolis
• Chip Gertzog, Side Man, Providence Players of Fairfax
• Bob Zeigler, Deathtrap, McLean Community Players

Outstanding Sound Design in a Musical

• Keith Bell, A Little Night Music, The Arlington Players
• Kevin Garrett, Sunday in the Park with George, Kensington Arts Theatre
• Tim Kirk, Into the Woods, Fauquier Community Theatre
• Matt Rowe, Night of the Living Dead, The Musical, Kensington Arts Theatre
• Gerhard Straub, The Wizard of Oz, Port Tobacco Players

Outstanding Sound Design in a Play

• Chris Alpiar, Equus, Taking Flight Theatre Company
• Jamie Coupar, The Beauty Queen of Leenane, Silver Spring Stage
• Jimmy Gertzog & Chip Gertzog, Side Man, Providence Players of Fairfax
• Stan Harris, Flowers for Algernon, Elden Street Players
• Janice Rivera, Cantorial, Little Theatre of Alexandria

Outstanding Costume Design in a Musical

• Pat Brennan, The Sound of Music, Port Tobacco Players
• Pat Brennan, The Wizard of Oz, Port Tobacco Players
• Eleanor Dicks, Sunday in the Park with George, Kensington Arts Theatre
• Grant Kevin Lane, A Little Night Music, The Arlington Players
• Susan Noé & Martha Lynch, Into the Woods, Fauquier Community Theatre

Outstanding Costume Design in a Play

• Patricia Kratzer et al, Enchanted April, Silver Spring Stage
• Jean Schlichting & Kit Sibley, Heaven Can Wait, Little Theatre of Alexandria
• Robbie Snow, You Can’t Take It With You, Providence Players of Fairfax
• Linda Swann, The Lion in Winter, 2nd Star Productions
• Beth Terranova, Cinderella Waltz, Colonial Players of Annapolis
• Beth Terranova, Going to St. Ives, Colonial Players of Annapolis

Outstanding Makeup Design in a Musical

• Heather Bauer & Kaitelyn Bauer, The Wizard of Oz, Port Tobacco Players
• Kristina Friedgen, Sweeney Todd, Little Theatre of Alexandria
• Eric Jones, Sunday in the Park with George, Kensington Arts Theatre
• Tim Kirk & Rebecca Carver, Into the Woods, Fauquier Community Theatre
• Larissa Norris, Dreamgirls, Dominion Stage

Outstanding Makeup Design in a Play

• Laurie T. Freed & Cast, Enchanted April, Silver Spring Stage
• Beth Harrison, Side Man, Providence Players of Fairfax
• Beth Harrison, You Can’t Take It With You, Providence Players of Fairfax
• Sheila Hyman & Shemika Berry, The Taming of the Shrew, Castaways Repertory Theatre
• Sue Pinkman, Lend Me A Tenor, Reston Community Players

Outstanding Hair Design in a Musical

• Shemika Berry, The Color Purple, Tantallon Community Players
• Kristina Friedgen, Sweeney Todd, Little Theatre of Alexandria
• Malca Giblin, Dreamgirls, Dominion Stage
• Malca Giblin, Sunday in the Park with George, Kensington Arts Theatre
• Bette Williams, A Little Night Music, The Arlington Players

Outstanding Hair Design in a Play

• Beth Harrison, You Can’t Take It With You, Providence Players of Fairfax
• Chanukan Jane Lilburne, Heaven Can Wait, Little Theatre of Alexandria
• Robin Parker & Hannah Wolf, All the King’s Women, Little Theatre of Alexandria
• Gina Quaye, Going to St. Ives, Colonial Players of Annapolis
• Arthur Rodger, Flowers for Algernon, Elden Street Players
• Bette Williams, Witness for the Prosecution, Little Theatre of Alexandria

Outstanding Special Effects

• John Decker & Kevin Boyce, Night of the Living Dead, The Musical, Kensington Arts Theatre
• Chip Gertzog, You Can’t Take It With You, Providence Players of Fairfax
• Tim Kirk, Into the Woods, Fauquier Community Theatre
• Keith Linville, Joe Stine, John Merritt, The Wizard of Oz, Port Tobacco Players
• Jordan Rose & Doe B. Kim, Sunday in the Park with George, Kensington Arts Theatre

Nominations for outstanding performances by an actor or actress

Outstanding cameo in a musical

• Joseph Aquilina as “Kyle,” Legally Blonde, Reston Community Players
• Chrissy Barnett Miller as “Jolene Oakes,” Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, Damascus Theatre Company
• Karen Batra as “Marge MacDougall,” Promises, Promises, The Arlington Players
• Erica Drezek as “Berthe,” Pippin, Greenbelt Arts Center
• Brenda Parker as “Church Soloist,” The Color Purple, Tantallon Community Players

Outstanding cameo in a play

• Katherine Bisulca as “Sales Girl,” Red Scare on Sunset, Prince William Little Theatre
• Bob Burnett as “Beverly Carlton,” The Man Who Came to Dinner, Fauquier Community Theatre
• Carleigh Jones as “Doris,” The Hollow, Laurel Mill Playhouse
• Stuart Orloff as “Teen Charlie,” Flowers for Algernon, Elden Street Players
• Yvonne Paretzky as “Addie,” The Little Foxes, Rockville Little Theatre
• Shelley Rochester as “Mrs. Winsley,” Stop Kiss, Silver Spring Stage
• Mark Yeager as “Beverly Weston,” August Osage County, Reston Community Players

Outstanding featured actress in a musical

• Annie Coffman as “Anne Egerman,” A Little Night Music, The Arlington Players
• Amy Dolan as “The Mother Abbess,” The Sound of Music, Port Tobacco Players
• Annie Ermlick as “Sister Mary Amnesia,” Nunsense, The Alliance Theatre
• Shanice Jones as “Sofia,” The Color Purple, Tantallon Community Players
• Molly Hicks Larson as “Paulette Buonofuonte,” Legally Blonde, Reston Community Players
• Anne Marie Pinto as “Petra,” A Little Night Music, The Arlington Players

Outstanding featured actor in a musical

• Stephen Deininger as “Tateh,” Ragtime, Laurel Mill Playhouse
• Michael J. Galizia as “Jud Fry,” Oklahoma, 2nd Star Productions
• Malcolm Lee as “Jimmy Early,” Dreamgirls, Dominion Stage
• Gary Saddon as “Ali Hakim,” Oklahoma, 2nd Star Productions
• Stephen Yednock as “Nicely-Nicely Johnson,” Guys and Dolls, Tantallon Community Players

Outstanding featured actress in a play

• Monica Garcia as “Mother McGee,” Cinderella Waltz, Colonial Players of Annapolis
• Lorraine Magee as “Virginia,” Clean House, Elden Street Players
• Gayle Nichols-Grimes as “Mattie Fae Aiken,” August Osage County, Reston Community Players
• Gayle Nichols-Grimes as “Vernadette Simms,” The Dixie Swim Club, Port City Playhouse
• Shelley Rochester as “Costanza,” Enchanted April, Silver Spring Stage
• Lois A. Stanziani as “Helga ten Dorp,” Deathtrap, McLean Community Players

Outstanding featured actor in a play

• Chuck Dluhy as “Roma,” Glengary Glen Ross, Elden Street Players
• Michael Kharfen as “Levene,” Glengary Glen Ross, Elden Street Players
• Stuart Rick as “Benjamin Hubbard,” The Little Foxes, Rockville Little Theatre
• John Shackelford as “Max Levene,” Heaven Can Wait, Little Theatre of Alexandria
• Kevin Wallace as “Victor Fleming,” Moonlight and Magnolias, Colonial Players of Annapolis

Outstanding lead actress in a musical

• Madeline Botteri as “Monica,” Rooms, A Rock Romance, Kensington Arts Theatre
• Shawnee Louise Coleman-Lining as “Effie Melody White,” Dreamgirls, Dominion Stage
• Andrea Gerald as “Cellie,” The Color Purple, Tantallon Community Players
• Jennifer Lyons Pagnard as “Mrs. Lovett,” Sweeney Todd, Little Theatre of Alexandria
• Farrell Parker as “Dot/Marie,” Sunday in the Park with George, Kensington Arts Theatre

Outstanding lead actor in a musical

• Ryan Burke as “Georges/George,” Sunday in the Park with George, Kensington Arts Theatre
• Eric Jones as “Ian,” Rooms, A Rock Romance, Kensington Arts Theatre
• Fred Nelson as “Tevye,” Fiddler on the Roof, 2nd Star Productions
• Gabriel T. Potter as “Freddy Benson,” Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, Damascus Theatre Company
• Brent Stone as “Fredrik Egerman,” A Little Night Music, The Arlington Players

Outstanding lead actress in a play

• Lolita-Marie as “May N’Kame,” Going to St. Ives, Colonial Players of Annapolis
• Heather Quinn as “Dr. Cora Gage,” Going to St. Ives, Colonial Players of Annapolis
• Lee Slivka as “Barbara Fordham,” August Osage County, Reston Community Players
• Mary Suib as “Violet Weston,” August Osage County, Reston Community Players
• Jo Sullivan as “Jennie Malone,” Chapter Two, Colonial Players of Annapolis

Outstanding lead actor in a play

• Dann Alagna as “Zed,” Cinderella Waltz, Colonial Players of Annapolis
• Matt Baughman as “Charlie Gordon,” Flowers for Algernon, Elden Street Players
• Phil Hosford as “Ralph Wantage,” Frozen, Rockville Little Theatre
• Sandy Irving as “Richard Nixon,” Frost/Nixon, Greenbelt Arts Center
• Ryan Manning as “Max Levene,” Lend Me A Tenor, Reston Community Players

Nominations for outstanding achievement in overall production

Outstanding Stage Combat Choreography

• Steve Lada, August Osage County, Reston Community Players
• Steve Lada, Equus, Taking Flight Theatre Company
• Carl Brandt Long, Deathtrap, McLean Community Players
• Carl Brandt Long, Man of La Mancha, McLean Community Players
• Kevin Robertson, The Taming of the Shrew, Castaways Repertory Theatre

Outstanding Choreography

• Richelle “Rikki” Howie, Dreamgirls, Dominion Stage
• Martha Lynch, Into the Woods, Fauquier Community Theatre
• Taurean Maray Barber, The Color Purple, Tantallon Community Players
• Vincent Musgrave, A Chorus Line, Rockville Musical Theatre
• Corinne Shumaker, The Music Man, Fauquier Community Theatre

Outstanding Music Direction

• LaVar Betts, The Color Purple, Tantallon Community Players
• John-Michael d’Haviland, A Little Night Music, The Arlington Players
• John-Michael d’Haviland, Dreamgirls, Dominion Stage
• John-Michael d’Haviland, Spring Awakening, Dominion Stage
• David Rohde, Sunday in the Park with George, Kensington Arts Theatre

Outstanding Direction of a Musical

• Brian Douglas, Fiddler on the Roof, 2nd Star Productions
• Christopher Dykton, A Little Night Music, The Arlington Players
• Craig Petinatti, Sunday in the Park with George, Kensington Arts Theatre
• Joshua Redford, Legally Blonde, Reston Community Players
• Charla Rowe, The Color Purple, Tantallon Community Players

Outstanding Direction of a Play

• Gloria DuGan, Flowers for Algernon, Elden Street Players
• Jimmy Gertzog, Side Man, Providence Players of Fairfax
• Ron Giddings, Moonlight and Magnolias, Colonial Players of Annapolis
• Edd Miller, Going to St. Ives, Colonial Players of Annapolis
• Andrew JM Regiec, August Osage County, Reston Community Players

Outstanding Musical

• A Little Night Music, The Arlington Players
• Dreamgirls, Dominion Stage
• Sunday in the Park with George, Kensington Arts Theatre
• The Color Purple, Tantallon Community Players
• The Sound of Music, Port Tobacco Players

Outstanding Play

• August Osage County, Reston Community Players
• Flowers for Algernon, Elden Street Players
• Going to St. Ives, Colonial Players of Annapolis
• Moonlight and Magnolias, Colonial Players of Annapolis
• Side Man, Providence Players of Fairfax

Nominations sorted by theatre and show

2nd Star Productions

4 productions received 14 nominations total

Bloody Murder

• Outstanding Set Painting in a Play: Jane B. Wingard

Fiddler on the Roof

• Outstanding Direction of a Musical: Brian Douglas
• Outstanding Lead Actor in a Musical: Fred Nelson as “Tevye”
• Outstanding Light Design in a Musical: Garret R. Hyde
• Outstanding Properties in a Musical: Joanne D. Wilson
• Outstanding Set Painting in a Musical: Jane B. Wingard

Oklahoma

• Outstanding Featured Actor in a Musical: Michael J. Galizia as “Jud Fry”
• Outstanding Featured Actor in a Musical: Gary Saddon as “Ali Hakim”
• Outstanding Set Painting in a Musical: Jane B. Wingard

The Lion in Winter

• Outstanding Costume Design in a Play: Linda Swann
• Outstanding Properties in a Play: Joanne D. Wilson
• Outstanding Set Decoration in a Play: Jane B. Wingard et al
• Outstanding Set Design in a Play: Jane B. Wingard
• Outstanding Set Painting in a Play: Jane B. Wingard et al

Alliance Theatre

1 production received 1 nomination

Nunsense

• Outstanding Featured Actress in a Musical: Annie Ermlick as “Sister Mary Amnesia”

Arlington Players

2 productions received 14 nominations total

A Little Night Music

• Outstanding Costume Design in a Musical: Grant Kevin Lane
• Outstanding Direction of a Musical: Christopher Dykton
• Outstanding Featured Actress in a Musical: Annie Coffman as “Anne Egerman”
• Outstanding Featured Actress in a Musical: Anne Marie Pinto as “Petra”
• Outstanding Hair Design in a Musical: Bette Williams
• Outstanding Lead Actor in a Musical: Brent Stone as “Fredrik Egerman”
• Outstanding Light Design in a Musical: B. Keith Ryder
• Outstanding Music Direction: John-Michael d’Haviland
• Outstanding Musical
• Outstanding Properties in a Musical: Avery Burns
• Outstanding Set Decoration in a Musical: Lindsey Hays
• Outstanding Set Design in a Musical: Russell Kopp
• Outstanding Sound Design in a Musical: Keith Bell

Promises, Promises

• Outstanding Cameo in a Musical: Karen Batra as “Marge MacDougall”

Castaways Repertory Theatre

1 production received 2 nominations

The Taming of the Shrew

• Outstanding Makeup Design in a Play: Sheila Hyman & Shemika Berry
• Outstanding Stage Combat Choreography: Kevin Robertson

Colonial Players

4 productions received 15 nominations total

Chapter Two

• Outstanding Lead Actress in a Play: Jo Sullivan as “Jennie Malone”
• Outstanding Light Design in a Play: Frank Florentine & Shirley Panek
• Outstanding Set Decoration in a Play: Edd Miller

Cinderella Waltz

• Outstanding Costume Design in a Play: Beth Terranova
• Outstanding Featured Actress in a Play: Monica Garcia as “Mother McGee”
• Outstanding Lead Actor in a Play: Dann Alagna as “Zed”

Going to St. Ives

• Outstanding Costume Design in a Play: Beth Terranova
• Outstanding Direction of a Play: Edd Miller
• Outstanding Hair Design in a Play: Gina Quaye
• Outstanding Lead Actress in a Play: Lolita-Marie as “May N’Kame”
• Outstanding Lead Actress in a Play: Heather Quinn as “Dr. Cora Gage”
• Outstanding Play

Moonlight and Magnolias

• Outstanding Direction of a Play: Ron Giddings
• Outstanding Featured Actor in a Play: Kevin Wallace as “Victor Fleming”
• Outstanding Play

Damascus Theatre Company

2 productions received 6 nominations total

Dirty Rotten Scoundrels

• Outstanding Cameo in a Musical: Chrissy Barnett Miller as “Jolene Oakes”
• Outstanding Lead Actor in a Musical: Gabriel T. Potter as “Freddy Benson”

Meet Me in St. Louis

• Outstanding Properties in a Musical: Maria Littlefield
• Outstanding Set Construction in a Musical: Jim Korte & Bill Rippey
• Outstanding Set Decoration in a Musical: Maria Littlefield
• Outstanding Set Design in a Musical: Bill Brown & Chad Wheeler

Dominion Stage

2 productions received 8 nominations total

Dreamgirls

• Outstanding Choreography: Richelle “Rikki” Howie
• Outstanding Featured Actor in a Musical: Malcolm Lee as “Jimmy Early”
• Outstanding Hair Design in a Musical: Malca Giblin
• Outstanding Lead Actress in a Musical: Shawnee Louise Coleman-Lining as “Effie Melody White”
• Outstanding Makeup Design in a Musical: Larissa Norris
• Outstanding Music Direction: John-Michael d’Haviland
• Outstanding Musical

Spring Awakening

• Outstanding Music Direction: John-Michael d’Haviland

Elden Street Players

4 productions received 10 nominations total

Clean House

• Outstanding Featured Actress in a Play: Lorraine Magee as “Virginia”

Flowers for Algernon

• Outstanding Cameo in a Play: Stuart Orloff as “Teen Charlie”
• Outstanding Direction of a Play: Gloria DuGan
• Outstanding Hair Design in a Play: Arthur Rodger
• Outstanding Lead Actor in a Play: Matt Baughman as “Charlie Gordon”
• Outstanding Play
• Outstanding Sound Design in a Play: Stan Harris

Glengary Glen Ross

• Outstanding Featured Actor in a Play: Chuck Dluhy as “Roma”
• Outstanding Featured Actor in a Play: Michael Kharfen as “Levene”

Rooms, A Rock Romance

• Outstanding Set Design in a Musical: James Villarubia

Fauquier Community Theatre

3 productions received 13 nominations total

Into the Woods

• Outstanding Choreography: Martha Lynch
• Outstanding Costume Design in a Musical: Susan Noe & Martha Lynch
• Outstanding Light Design in a Musical: Tim Kirk
• Outstanding Makeup Design in a Musical: Tim Kirk & Rebecca Carver
• Outstanding Properties in a Musical: Richard Perryman et al
• Outstanding Set Construction in a Musical: Tim Kirk & Kirk Noe
• Outstanding Set Decoration in a Musical: Tim Kirk
• Outstanding Set Design in a Musical: Tim Kirk & Martha Lynch
• Outstanding Set Painting in a Musical: Nancy Daugherty et al
• Outstanding Sound Design in a Musical: Tim Kirk
• Outstanding Special Effects: Tim Kirk

The Man Who Came to Dinner

• Outstanding Cameo in a Play: Bob Burnett as “Beverly Carlton”

The Music Man

• Outstanding Choreography: Corinne Shumaker

Greenbelt Arts Center

2 productions received 2 nominations total

Frost/Nixon

• Outstanding Lead Actor in a Play: Sandy Irving as “Richard Nixon”

Pippin

• Outstanding Cameo in a Musical: Erica Drezek as “Berthe”

Kensington Arts Theatre

3 productions received 18 nominations total

Night of the Living Dead, The Musical

• Outstanding Light Design in a Musical: Kevin Boyce
• Outstanding Sound Design in a Musical: Matt Rowe
• Outstanding Special Effects: John Decker & Kevin Boyce

Rooms, A Rock Romance

• Outstanding Lead Actor in a Musical: Eric Jones as “Ian”
• Outstanding Lead Actress in a Musical: Madeline Botteri as “Monica”

Sunday in the Park with George

• Outstanding Costume Design in a Musical: Eleanor Dicks
• Outstanding Direction of a Musical: Craig Pettinati
• Outstanding Hair Design in a Musical: Malca Giblin
• Outstanding Lead Actor in a Musical: Ryan Burke as “Georges/George”
• Outstanding Lead Actress in a Musical: Farrell Parker as “Dot/Marie”
• Outstanding Light Design in a Musical: Ben Levine
• Outstanding Makeup Design in a Musical: Eric Jones
• Outstanding Music Direction: David Rohde
• Outstanding Musical
• Outstanding Set Construction in a Musical: Matt Karner & Joel Richon
• Outstanding Set Design in a Musical: Matt Karner
• Outstanding Sound Design in a Musical: Kevin Garrett
• Outstanding Special Effects: Jordan Rose & Doe B. Kim

Laurel Mill Playhouse

2 productions received 2 nominations total

Ragtime

• Outstanding Featured Actor in a Musical: Stephen Deininger as “Tateh”

The Hollow

• Outstanding Cameo in a Play: Carleigh Jones as “Doris”

Little Theatre Of Alexandria

5 productions received 15 nominations total

All the King’s Women

• Outstanding Hair Design in a Play: Robin Parker & Hannah Wolf

Cantorial

• Outstanding Light Design in a Play: Ken & Patti Crowley
• Outstanding Sound Design in a Play: Janice Rivera

Heaven Can Wait

• Outstanding Costume Design in a Play: Jean Schlichting & Kit Sibley
• Outstanding Featured Actor in a Play: John Shackelford as “Max Levene”
• Outstanding Hair Design in a Play: Chanukan Jane Lilburne
• Outstanding Set Construction in a Play: John Downing
• Outstanding Set Design in a Play: John Downing
• Outstanding Set Painting in a Play: Mary Hutzler

Sweeney Todd

• Outstanding Hair Design in a Musical: Kristina Friedgen
• Outstanding Lead Actress in a Musical: Jennifer Lyons Pagnard as “Mrs. Lovett”
• Outstanding Makeup Design in a Musical: Kristina Friedgen

Witness for the Prosecution

• Outstanding Hair Design in a Play: Bette Williams
• Outstanding Set Construction in a Play: John Downing
• Outstanding Set Design in a Play: John Downing

Mclean Community Players

2 productions received 7 nominations total

Deathtrap

• Outstanding Featured Actress in a Play: Lois A. Stanziani as “Helga ten Dorp”
• Outstanding Light Design in a Play: Bob Zeigler
• Outstanding Properties in a Play: Emily Besuden, Jerry Gideon, Dick La Porte
• Outstanding Set Construction in a Play: Bernie Gmiter, Bob Schroth, Bill Glikbarg
• Outstanding Set Decoration in a Play: Dinnie Whitson, Cathy Farnsworth, Christine Whitson
• Outstanding Stage Combat Choreography: Carl Brandt Long

Man of La Mancha

• Outstanding Stage Combat Choreography: Carl Brandt Long

Port City Playhouse

2 productions received 2 nominations total

Someone Who’ll Watch Over Me

• Outstanding Set Painting in a Play: Erin Cumbo, et al

The Dixie Swim Club

• Outstanding Featured Actress in a Play: Gayle Nichols-Grimes as “Vernadette Simms”

Port Tobacco Players

3 productions received 17 nominations total

The Sound of Music

• Outstanding Costume Design in a Musical: Pat Brennan
• Outstanding Featured Actress in a Musical: Amy Dolan as “The Mother Abbess”
• Outstanding Light Design in a Musical: Tommy Scott
• Outstanding Musical
• Outstanding Properties in a Musical: Terri Fortney-Beinert
• Outstanding Set Construction in a Musical: Ryan Mudd
• Outstanding Set Decoration in a Musical: Sheila Draper
• Outstanding Set Design in a Musical: John Merritt, Ryan Mudd, Ben Simpson
• Outstanding Set Painting in a Musical: Jill Hanger, Rhonna Johnson, Betsy Stevens

The Wizard of Oz

• Outstanding Costume Design in a Musical: Pat Brennan
• Outstanding Makeup Design in a Musical: Heather Bauer & Kaitelyn Bauer
• Outstanding Set Construction in a Musical: Joe Stine & John Merritt
• Outstanding Set Decoration in a Musical: Ronna Johnson
• Outstanding Set Painting in a Musical: Ronna Johnson
• Outstanding Sound Design in a Musical: Gerhard Straub
• Outstanding Special Effects: Keith Linville, Joe Stine, John Merritt

To Kill A Mockingbird

• Outstanding Set Construction in a Play: John Merritt

Prince William Little Theatre

1 production received 1 nomination

Red Scare on Sunset

• Outstanding Cameo in a Play: Katherine Bisulca as “Sales Girl”

Providence Players

3 productions received 19 nominations total

Side Man

• Outstanding Direction of a Play: Jimmy Gertzog
• Outstanding Light Design in a Play: Chip Gertzog
• Outstanding Makeup Design in a Play: Beth Harrison
• Outstanding Play
• Outstanding Properties in a Play: Susan Kaplan
• Outstanding Set Construction in a Play: Chip Gertzog et al
• Outstanding Set Decoration in a Play: Kathy White
• Outstanding Set Design in a Play: Raedun Knutsen & Chip Gertzog
• Outstanding Set Painting in a Play: Chip Gertzog
• Outstanding Sound Design in a Play: Jimmy Gertzog & Chip Gertzog

Sleuth

• Outstanding Properties in a Play: Robbie Snow et al

You Can’t Take it With You

• Outstanding Costume Design in a Play: Robbie Snow
• Outstanding Hair Design in a Play: Beth Harrison
• Outstanding Makeup Design in a Play: Beth Harrison
• Outstanding Properties in a Play: Chip Gertzog
• Outstanding Set Construction in a Play: John Coscia
• Outstanding Set Decoration in a Play: Lisa Church & Chip Gertzog
• Outstanding Set Design in a Play: John Coscia
• Outstanding Special Effects: Chip Gertzog

Reston Community Players

3 productions received 15 nominations total

August Osage County

• Outstanding Cameo in a Play: Mark Yeager as “Beverly Weston”
• Outstanding Direction of a Play: Andrew JM Regiec
• Outstanding Featured Actress in a Play: Gayle Nichols-Grimes as “Mattie Fae Aiken”
• Outstanding Lead Actress in a Play: Lee Slivka as “Barbara Fordham”
• Outstanding Lead Actress in a Play: Mary Suib as “Violet Weston”
• Outstanding Light Design in a Play: Ken & Patti Crowley
• Outstanding Play
• Outstanding Properties in a Play: Mary Jo Ford & Alexandra lee
• Outstanding Set Construction in a Play: Timothy Hinton & David Johnson
• Outstanding Stage Combat Choreography: Steve Lada

Legally Blonde

• Outstanding Cameo in a Musical: Joseph Aquilina as “Kyle”
• Outstanding Direction of a Musical: Joshua Redford
• Outstanding Featured Actress in a Musical: Molly Hicks Larson as “Paulette Buonofuonte”

Lend Me A Tenor

• Outstanding Lead Actor in a Play: Ryan Manning as “Max Levene”
• Outstanding Makeup Design in a Play: Sue Pinkman

Rockville Little Theatre

2 productions received 3 nominations total

Frozen

• Outstanding Lead Actor in a Play: Phil Hosford as “Ralph Wantage”

The Little Foxes

• Outstanding Cameo in a Play: Yvonne Paretzky as “Addie”
• Outstanding Featured Actor in a Play: Stuart Rick as “Benjamin Hubbard”

Rockville Musical Theatre

1 production received 1 nomination

A Chorus Line

• Outstanding Choreography: Vincent Musgrave

Silver Spring Stage

3 productions received 5 nominations total

Beauty Queen of Leenane

• Outstanding Sound Design in a Play: Jamie Coupar

Enchanted April

• Outstanding Costume Design in a Play: Patricia Kratzer et al
• Outstanding Featured Actress in a Play: Shelley Rochester as “Costanza”
• Outstanding Makeup Design in a Play: Laurie T. Freed & Cast

Stop Kiss

• Outstanding Cameo in a Play: Shelley Rochester as “Mrs. Winsley”

Taking Flight Theatre Company

1 production received 2 nominations

Equus

• Outstanding Sound Design in a Play: Chris Alpiar
• Outstanding Stage Combat Choreography: Steve Lada

Tantallon Community Theatre

2 productions received 9 nominations total

Guys and Dolls

• Outstanding Featured Actor in a Musical: Stephen Yednock as “Nicely-Nicely Johnson”

The Color Purple

• Outstanding Cameo in a Musical: Brenda Parker as “Church Soloist”
• Outstanding Choreography: Taurean Maray Barber
• Outstanding Direction of a Musical: Charla Rowe
• Outstanding Featured Actress in a Musical: Shanice Jones as “Sofia”
• Outstanding Hair Design in a Musical: Shemika Berry
• Outstanding Lead Actress in a Musical: Andrea Gerald as “Cellie”
• Outstanding Music Direction: LaVar Betts
• Outstanding Musical

The insect in question, in David Ives’ adaptation of Georges Feydeau’s 1907 farce, currently being presented by Rockville Little Theater (RLT), is Raymonde Chandebise’s jealous suspicion of her husband, Victor. In the age-old tradition of unreasonable suspicions of infidelity (think Cosi Fan Tutti), Raymonde (Kriss Lacovaro) decides to put her husband to the test. By concocting a letter from an anonymous, fictional woman with amorous intentions toward Victor, she tries to see if he will rise to the bait, setting in motion the succession of complications, mistaken identities, intricately timed entrances and exits, chases, and misunderstandings that define a top-notch farce.

The key confusion is between Victor, a thoroughly respectable and, in fact, faithful fellow and Poche, the much-abused, frequently drunken, bell boy at the Frisky Puss, the local no-tell hotel. They look so much alike that they are regularly mistaken for one another, a mixup made credible by the fact that they are played by the same actor (Chris Penick). Penick, leaving through one door as Victor and entering shortly afterwards through another as Poche, and vice-versa, is equally credible as both, his differentiation of the two characters being all the more impressive for his switching back and forth between them frequently and rapidly.

Another member of the Chandebise clan, Camille (Darrell Abdruski), exhibits a singular speech defect that leaves him able to speak only in vowels, rendering him unintelligible to some (but not all) of the other characters. While the role as written is something of a one-trick pony, Andruski succeeds admirably at failing to communicate, clearly articulating his inarticulate mode of speech. His temporary salvation is a genial humbug of a physician, Dr. Finache (Bill Byrnes), who designs a prosthesis that gives Camille the gift of consonants. Byrnes is a consistently easygoing presence amidst all the chaos, always sure of himself even when he is as befuddled as everyone else.

Raymonde’s co-conspirator Lucienne (Amanda Gordon) also has a husband issue. (Both Raymonde and Lucienne could benefit from a touch more of seductiveness in their characterizations.) Her spouse, Don Carlos (Dean Fiala), dressed like a recent escapee from a bull ring, has homicidal intentions toward anyone he suspects of harboring an interest in his wife. Don Carlos is the broadest of the host of broad characters in the show, and Filia misses no opportunity for Spanish-English malapropisms.

Ferraillon (Eric Henry, who also designed the sets), a martinet running the Frisky Puss, frequently thwacking and kicking Poche all the while; and Tournel (Noah Steurer), who fancies himself a sexy dog, tries to pursue Raymonde, and incites in others the desire to strangle; are among the others director Laura Andruski runs through their convoluted paces. Andruski deserves credit for maintaining both a very consistent, and appropriately non-naturalistic, acting style in her large cast and for maintaining the play’s clarity. However confused the characters are, the audience never is.

The production is relatively subtly updated from its 1907 roots, the tone being set by sound designer Kevin O’Connell’s selection of 1920s/30s piano jazz selections before the show and during each of the two 20-minute intermissions. The length of the intermissions appears dictated by the change from the first act set of the Chandebise drawing room to the second act Frisky Puss hotel and back again.

Both large, fully-realized sets have all the requisite functional elements of various doors and other exits called for in a farce. Both sets use color particularly well, dominated by pinks and reds for the Frisky Puss and whites, grays, and blacks for the drawing-room, which along with some set dressing elements (a zebra-striped chaise, a vase) join with the music in establishing the period for the show. The second act hotel set includes a turntable spun all too visibly by a stagehand, which at one point got hung up on one of the set’s doors.

Ginger Ager, of Gene’s Costumes, adds pink highlights of various shades to almost everyone’s costume. Whether in underwear, belts, vests, accessories, or flowers, the pink theme unifies the look of the production and contributes in no small measure to its mood.

The point of a farce, of course, is to be funny. In large part because the director and cast understand that the characters cannot be aware of their being funny — their situations, however ridiculous, are real to them — the RLT production succeeds in in being the exceedingly silly, entertaining, piece it is intended to be.

Director’s Notes

Georges Feydeau is the unequivocal master of the French bedroom farce. Written in 1907 at the height of the Belle Epoque, A Flea in Her Ear is one of his greatest works, a light, amusing, skillfully constructed comedy. Over the years, there have been a number of translations of the original play. David Ives’ new adaptation was commissioned by the Chicago Shakespeare Theater. It was presented March 10, 2006, its world première. If you have seen Flea before, it is likely you enjoyed the original John Mortimer translation which was done for Britain’s National Theatre and opened at the Old Vic in 1966. Mortimer also did a screen version for a 20th Century Fox film with Rex Harrison. The Barnett Shaw translation ran at New York’s ANTA Playhouse in 1969. The adaptation by Jean-Marie Besset and Mark O’Donnell was mounted at the Roundabout in New York in 1998, staged by Bill Irwin. Ives has written a very funny version of the play, which is true to the original but with a great sense of language and wordplay that just makes it perfect for an American audience.

Farces are primarily meant to entertain, often pitting a protagonist against his or her environment and involving broad characters, mistaken identity, and special staging effects. Elements of farce go back to the Greeks who wrote Satyr plays to provide comic relief between the tragedies. Japanese Noh plays have a version of this as well, known as Kyogen plays. But the line between comedy and tragedy can often be very thin. Feydeau insisted that the actors in his plays find honesty beneath the ridiculous. The suffering of characters in a farce contains an important reminder: that what we believe to be true about ourselves and our place in life can be turned on its head in an instant.

My sincere thanks to RLT’s Board of Directors for giving me this unexpected opportunity. I am very fortunate to have found such a talented cast and dedicated production team to pull off such a wildly enjoyable production.

Vsevolod Meyerhold, a director and actor of the Moscow Art Theatre and contemporary of Feydeau, revered the popular Farce ad the life-spring of the theatre — a permanent source of regeneration and renewal. We hope you feel renewed after the farcial traffic of our stage. Thanking you for checking into the Frisky Puss Hotel. Enjoy your stay.

Cast

• Victor Chandebise / Poche : Chris Penick
• Raymonde Chandebise: Kryss Lacovaro
• Camille Chandebise: Darrell Andruski
• Lucienne Homenides De Histangua: Amanda Gordon
• Don Carlos Homenides De Histangua: Dean Fiala
• Dr. Finache: Bill Byrnes
• Romain Tournel: Noah Steurer
• Antoinette: Emily Mullin
• Etienne: Carl West
• Ferraillon: Eric Henry
• Olympia: Elizabeth Weiss
• Eugenie: Alexandra Correa
• Baptiste: Art Salwin
• Rugby: Patrick Pase

Production Team

• Director: Laura W. Andruski
• Co-Producer: David Levin
• Co-Producer / Props: Andrea Kibbe
• Stage Manager: Sarah Randles
• Assistant Stage Manager: Elizabeth Weiss
• Set Design: Eric Henry
• Master Carpenter: William Kolodrubetz
• Costumes: Gene’s Costumes
• Lighting Designer: Jim Robertson
• Sound Designer: Kevin O’connell
• Website: Art Salwin
• Audition Host: Mandy Keating
• Bed Pullers: William Morrison & Clint Rossiter

Disclaimer: Rockville Little Theatre provided two complimentary media tickets to ShowBizRadio for this review.

• A Flea in Her Ear, October 2012 Schedule
• Third, January – February 2013 Schedule
• The Tempest, April – May 2013 Schedule

Schedule is subject to change due to performance rights conflicts or other issues.