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

Teenage youth: soulful, loving, open-hearted, emotionally confused, intellectually curious, sexually blossoming, honest, full of hope and energy, victimized. Adults: tyrannical, abusive, clueless, hypocritical, closed-minded, punitive, hard-hearted, caring more about their image in the community than their children’s lives. Such is the Manichaean world of Spring Awakening, a multiple Tony Award winner in its initial 2006 Broadway run, adapted by Steven Sater and Duncan Sheik from an 1891 play by Frank Wedekind (also famous for the Lulu plays, on which Alban Berg’s great opera was based). The musical is currently playing at the Kensington Arts Theatre (KAT).

The show’s lead character, Melchior (Ryan Alan Jones), is an intellectually precocious fellow who sees clearly through the hypocrisy of the adults he knows, religion, and his society in general. The script makes him conversant with Goethe, and, as Jacob Kresloff’s excellent dramaturg’s note points out, he is likely familiar with Nietzsche (I’d bet on his having read some of Marx as well). But of course what preoccupies him, and all his male friends, is sex. Having researched the subject thoroughly in the library, Melchior has book knowledge of male and female anatomy and how they interact, which he helpfully writes up in a paper for his sexually uninformed friend, Moritz (Harrison Smith). Not surprisingly, Melchior wants to put his hard-won knowledge to use, focusing his attention on the extremely innocent Wendla (Emily Dey), who does not know where babies come from. (Wendla’s opening song, “Momma Who Bore Me,” concerns her unsuccessful attempt to elicit this information from her mother.)

Jones captures the self-absorbed but also honest, passionate, and idealistic nature of his character. He often sits on the stage, writing in his journal as he works out his thoughts and desires. Alone of his classmates, he defends the insecure Moritz from the bullying of his teachers. Desiring Wendla, and aggressively going after what he wants, he also is able to behave lovingly toward her. Save for an occasional quaver in his head voice, Jones sings his role creditably, notably in his ballad with Wendla, “The Word of Your Body,” the uptempo “Totally Fucked,” and the elegiac “Left Behind,” the last staged in a way reminiscent of the informal memorials left by students after a classmate has been shot or killed by a drunk driver. By show’s end, Melchior has determined to move forward with his life, carrying with him the memories of his friends, but he remains a rebel without an effect.

Smith’s Moritz, bullied by his teachers and his father, less attractive than the other boys, is a marginal student troubled by sexual dreams he does not understand. Moritz is consistently overwrought, a quality portrayed by Smith in his acting and singing (for example, in “The Bitch of Living” and “And Then There Were None”) without chewing scenery. Self-dramatization is a notable part of his character, which he carries to a tragic extreme, pushing away the attempts of Ilse (Joanna Frezzo) to help him. His depressed certainty in his conversation with Ilse was sadly chilling. This scene was marred by an imbalance in amplification that left Ilse’s lyrics in the duet “Don’t Do Sad/Blue Wind” largely inaudible.

Frezzo and Catherine Callahan (Martha) have the most powerful song in the show, “The Dark I Know Well,” expressing as well as anything I have heard the feelings of girls subject to sexual abuse, in both cases by the characters’ fathers. The emotional deadening of the girls as they “lie there and breathe” is vividly portrayed in the writing of the song and the actors’ performance.

Wendla is the purest victim in the show, abused by her controlling mother’s overriding sense of shame about sex, as well as by her own sexual ignorance and Melchior’s carelessness about the consequences of his actions. Wendla’s musical material is mostly of the wistful ballad variety (“The Word of Your Body,” “Whispering”), and the clear-voiced Dey sings it in a way credible for this unformed girl who is more the subject of actions by others than someone able to even begin taking charge of her own life.

In happy contrast, Hanschen (David Tuttle) and Ernst (Riley Lopez) are able to acknowledge their attraction and act to become a couple. Their reprise of “The Word of Your Body” is the single sweetest moment in the show. One of the less heralded aspects of adolescence is the tenderness that boys (and not only those who are gay) can sometimes show to one another, and Lopez and Tuttle portray this beautifully.

One actor (Chris Gillespie) plays all the adult male roles and another (Marni Ratner Whelan) plays all the adult female roles. Gillespie specializes in the young people’s overbearing fathers and teachers, with briefer scenes as a self-righteous preacher and a back-alley abortionist. Whelan’s portfolio includes the sexually repressed and ineffectually understanding mothers, respectively, of Wendla and Melchiorp; another repressive teacher; and a randy piano instructor. As teachers gleefully planning Moritz’s academic demise, they resemble nothing so much as Sweeney Todd and Mrs. Lovett enthusing over the protein source for their next meat pie. Both differentiate their multiple roles effectively, but the overall point of having one actor play all the adult male or female roles is inescapable: adults are essentially all the same, pernicious cogs in what Melchior calls the “parentocracy.” As the 1960s slogan had it, “never trust anyone over 30.” (Wedekind was 27 when he wrote the original play.)

There is a striking dissonance between the late 19th century German setting of the play and characters — lucidly explained in Kresloff’s essay — and Sheik’s contemporary pop/rock score. While a subset of late romantic era adolescents might well have experienced the sturm und drang suffered by the story’s characters, it is extraordinarily unlikely that would have expressed themselves in — or even understood — anything like either the musical idiom or lyrics given to them by Slater and Sheik. Their sensibility would probably have been far closer to Tchaikovsky than “Totally Fucked.” The show’s underlying assumption seems to be that there is a universal experience of adolescence that finds its natural expression in today’s musical styles.

The dubious nature of this assumption does not, however, impair the quality of many of the numbers, which the actors and music director Valerie A. Higgs’ band perform with energy and sensitivity. The staging of many of the numbers — which mostly are not plot or character songs of the sort found in many musicals — is intentionally straight out to the audience, culminating in a straight line across the stage in the second act finale. Director/choreographer Emily Zickler does a particularly good job of constructing the lively movement in ensemble numbers like “Totally Fucked,” “The Bitch of Living,” and “My Junk.”

The highlight of KAT’s physical production is Ben Levine’s lighting, which is very detailed and specific, though sparing in its use of color. There is a particularly nice effect in the second act graveyard scene during which there is strong illumination of the gravesites on stage right and stage left while the central playing area, where Melchior, Moritz, and Wendla meet, is left in relative darkness. Eleanor Dicks’ costumes were period-appropriate, mostly in subdued colors.

The main features of Anna Britton’s set design are two L-shaped, translucent flat units, which actors move about the stage to suggest various scenes. The flexibility of this concept minimizes set change delays. Upstage, on fabric-covered platforms, stand a number of wintry, bare-limbed trees. This being a show with “spring” in the title, it was curious that the trees never leafed out, even during the second act finale, “The Song of Purple Summer.” Was this a matter of insufficient technical resources, or was it an artistic choice symbolizing that, in the Teutonic gloom of the story, springtime never arrives for Melchior’s generation?

Director’s Notes

In the spring of 2007, I picked up a weekend bag, hopped on a bus, and went up to New York to see Spring Awakening on Broadway. This was an exciting time for me: I was enjoying newfound independence, feeling less like a child and more like an adult, and yet I was still very aware that I was in some grey area between the two. The curtain rose on this new rock-musical and suddenly I felt something that I had never felt before in a theatre: understood.

What makes this script so very special is how it honestly portrays the life of an adolescent in turmoil. Franz Wedekind’s play, Spring’s Awakening: Tragedy of Childhood, from which this musical is derived, is a sort of parable. It brought the subjects of adolescent depression, sexual maturity, and abuse into focus with such clarity, that the text was banned in Germany for a period of time. Our modern societal norms and pressures are quite different from that of late 19th century Germany, and yet somehow the stigma surrounding these issues still exists today.

I propose that those questions of morality that Wedekind asked of his original audience in 1890 are still relevant in a modern context. Moreover, I believe that these questions are given new life by Sater’s script and Sheik’s music. The societal pressures put on adolescents in this modern world are as real as ever, but unfortunately, are rarely faced directly.

My hope is that seeing these quandaries confronted head-on on the stage may help to shed light on the seriousness of these issues and maybe, in some cases, provide a cathartic release similar to what I felt in New York back in 2007.

This project has been a labor of love: So, with an open heart, I invite you to join us, the Spring Awakening cast and crew, on our journey towards awareness and understanding.

Photo Gallery

Ryan Alan Jones, Harrison Smith	Joanna Frezzo, Harrison Smith, Emily Dey, David Tuttle, Ashley Zielinski, Mike Van Maele, Catherine Callahan, Bobby Libby, Elizabeth Gillespie, Riley Lopez, Ryan Alan Jones
Ryan Alan Jones and Emily Dey	Ryan Alan Jones, Marni Ratner Whelan, Chris Gillespie

Photos by Ernie Achenbach

Cast

• Wendla: Emily Dey
• The Adult Women: Marni Ratner Whelan
• Martha: Catherine Callahan
• Ilse: Joanna Frezzo
• Anna: Ashley Zielinski
• Thea: Elizabeth Gillespie
• The Adult Men: Chris Gillespie
• Otto: Bobby Libby
• Hanschen: David Tuttle
• Ernst: Riley Lopez
• Georg: Michael Van Maele
• Moritz: Harrison Smith
• Melchior: Ryan Alan Jones

Orchestra

• Conductor/Keyboards: Valerie A. Higgs
• Violin: Sarah Morrison
• Viola: Meagan Frame
• Cello: Joe Ichniowski
• Bass: Tony Aragon
• Guitar: Rick Peralta
• Percussion: Kevin Uleck

Production Staff

• Producer: Kevin Garrett
• Director: Emily Zickler
• Music Director: Valerie A. Higgs
• Assistant Director/Stage Manager: Katherine Offutt
• Assistant Stage Manager: Jess Walker
• Choreographer/Fight Choreographer: Emily Zickler
• Dance Captain: Elizabeth Gillespie
• Scenic Design/Set Painting Design: Anna Britton
• Master Carpenter: Joel Richon
• Assistant Master Carpenter: Mike Ricci
• Properties: Lois Britton
• Lighting Design: Ben Levine
• Light Crew: Katherine Offutt, Kevin Garrett, Dylan Stieber, Maria O’Connor
• Sound Design: Kevin Garrett
• Sound Crew: Jamie Coupar
• Costume Design: Eleanor Dicks
• Hair/Makeup Design: Eleanor Dicks
• Dramaturg: Jacob Kresloff
• Board Operators: Katherine Offutt, Kevin Garrett, Dylan Stieber
• Construction/Painting Crew: Joel Richon, Mike Ricci, Matt Karner, Ed Eggleston, Anna Britton, Lois Britton, Brian Campbell, Kevin Garrett
• Stage Crew: Jess Walker, DJ McGowan
• Program Cover/Logo Design: Ernie Achenbach
• Program Design/House Manager: Doe B. Kim

Disclaimer: Kensington Arts Theatre provided two complimentary media tickets to ShowBizRadio for this review.

“[L]ynch law [is] as little valid when practised by a regularly drawn jury as when administered by one elected by a mob intent on death,” said Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr., dissenting in Frank v. Mangum, 237 U.S. 309, 350 (1915). Both varieties of lynching are the somewhat unlikely subject of the musical drama Parade, now playing at Kensington Arts Theatre (KAT). The case that occasioned Holmes’ comment concerned Leo Frank, a Jewish factory superintendent in Atlanta, convicted by a publicity-fueled trial and subsequently hanged by an actual lynch mob. His 1915 lynching was one event of several that heralded a hardening of social and racial attitudes in the U.S., others being the release of D.W. Griffith’s racist epic, “Birth of a Nation,” and the revival of the Ku Klux Klan in Georgia and elsewhere.

Atlanta had a well-established, assimilated Jewish community, about which the author of the play’s book, Alfred Uhry, has written successfully before (in “Driving Miss Daisy”). Frank’s wife Lucille (Emily Zicker) was part of that community; Frank emphatically was not. As portrayed in Parade, Leo (Bobby Libby) was the quintessential outsider. A Jew from Brooklyn who found life in Georgia thoroughly uncomfortable, a supervisor running a factory paying low wages to local teenagers, an uptight workaholic with limited social skills, he was an inviting target for the economic and ethnic resentments of the time.

Libby’s Frank is, for much of the play, a deer in the headlights: he cannot believe that his normal routine is being disrupted by ridiculous charges that he murdered his young employee, Mary Phagan (Catherine Callahan, looking fetching but not 13); he cannot believe that he will have to stand trial; he cannot believe that the court will accept perjured testimony concocted by the prosecution; he cannot believe that justice will not ultimately prevail; and he cannot believe that people actually want to kill him. He is, after all, completely innocent. During much of his trial, Leo sits at the counsel table, head leaning back toward the wall, scarcely reacting to the circus around him. Libby’s most active moment during the trial is “Come Up to My Office,” in which not the real defendant but the lying witnesses’ caricature of him sings and dances as an embodiment of what today would be called sexual harassment. At the trial’s conclusion, Leo is still hesitantly trying to find his own voice (“It’s Hard to Speak My Heart”).

It is only after the trial, as Leo is sitting in jail hoping for success in his appeals, that his emotional journey really begins. When we first see his relationship with Lucille, Leo is completely focused on his job, treating his wife condescendingly as the “little woman,” much to Lucille’s frustration (“Leo at Work/What Am I Waiting For?”). Lucille, forced by circumstances out of her genteel domestic role, changes first, becoming a staunch advocate for her husband (“You Don’t Know This Man,” a stern rebuke to an intrusive reporter, Britt Craig (Patrick McMahan)). She becomes equally assertive to her husband (“Do It Alone”). She takes her personal advocacy to Governor John Slaton (also McMahan), crashing a tea dance to make her case. Slaton undertakes a personal investigation of the case (the historical Slaton, a partner of Frank’s defense attorney, reviewed 10,000 pages of documents concerning the case), concluding that the trial was severely flawed. He commutes Leo’s sentence to life imprisonment, one day before Frank is scheduled to hang, leading to a giddy celebration by Leo and Lucille (“This is Not Over Yet”). By this time, Leo and Lucille have come to deeply appreciate and love one another, and their final number (“All the Wasted Time”) is the evening’s most sweetly touching moment. Libby and Zicker are fully up to the vocal and acting demands of their roles, and their evolving relationship is the emotional center of the play.

Among the supporting cast, Michael Nansel stands out as smooth, ambitious prosecutor Hugh Dorsey. With a commanding presence and powerful baritone voice, Nansel portrays a vigorous man who is always in charge of a situation and ready to take whatever steps are necessary to achieve his objective. As Mary Phagan’s mother, Marni Ratner Whelan has a stunning moment of grief mixed with bigotry in “My Child Will Forgive Me.” As Tom Watson, conceived as a strange, one-dimensional Bible-wielding demagogue, Brad Carnes-Stine gives expression to and exploits the anger of white Georgians and directs that anger squarely at Frank.

The Frank case was primarily a struggle among whites, a kind of American analog of the Dreyfuss affair, which had concluded in France only a few years before. The anti-Semitic fervor that underlay Frank’s prosecution took place in the context of the even more widespread repression of African-Americans in the Jim Crow South. Having the task of representing the African-American element in the story are Ian Coleman and Eben Logan. Coleman is triple cast as Newt Lee, the watchman who discovers Mary Phagan’s body; Jim Conley, another worker who is coerced into lying to incriminate Frank; and Riley, a generic servant. Coleman’s Lee and Conley characters are not as clearly differentiated as one might wish, though their musical numbers (“I Am Trying to Remember” and “That’s What He Said,” respectively) are well delivered. Frank’s supporters have suggested it was really Conley who killed Phagan, a defense that, ironically, resonates in the stereotype of black criminals preying on innocent white girls.

In his Riley incarnation, Coleman joins Logan (as the equally generic servant, Angela) in “A Rumblin’ and a Rollin,” in which they point out that the national furor over the Frank case would not attend racially based injustices. Perhaps because of the modest size of the ensemble, Coleman and Logan (who also plays Minnie, the Franks’ maid) are sometimes improbably placed among the crowd celebrating Confederate holidays and calling for Frank’s conviction.

The cast and the orchestra, led by music director David Rhode, do justice to the complex Tony Award-winning score by Jason Roberts Brown (who also wrote The Last Five Years). The score displays Sondheim’s influence on Brown at a number of points. Like Sondheim or Rodgers and Hammerstein, Brown writes theater songs that arise from character, and the musical styles attached to various roles in the show go far to illuminate the nature of each character.

The technical side of the production is handled very capably. Matt Karner’s striking set design features a large American flag backdrop, flanked by two curved platforms connected by an upstage walkway. A 48-star flag hangs on the stage right platform; the Stars and Bars on the other. A trapdoor is used to good effect in the funeral scene for Mary Phagan. Director Craig Pettinati creates effective, balanced stage pictures and keeps the scenes moving effectively. This is not one of those productions with long moments of dead air between scenes. The cinematic flow of the action is abetted in no small degree by Ben Levine’s lighting design, featuring a large number of specials and specifically focused area lights that accompany characters from one portion of the playing area to another.

There are many photographs available of the clothing worn by people connected with the trial and in early 20th century Atlanta generally, and the show’s costumes, designed by Eleanor Dicks and Jamie Breckenridge, accurately reflect period detail. The fishing garb worn by Nansel and Eric Jones (playing Judge Roan) in “The Glory” could have benefitted from being grubbier. Some of the props – Leo’s glasses, for example — were perfect, though there were a couple nits to pick, like the distinctly plastic sound of Lucille’s “fine china” and what appears to be a trout basket she uses for a purse in one scene.

Jacob Kresloff provides a well written, interesting dramaturg’s note in the program on the historical and economic background of the Frank case. More community theater productions should include information of this sort, which is a valuable addition to audience’s members’ experience of a show. A historically based show like Parade can be something of a dramaturg’s playground, with far more complexities and ironies to discuss than program space allows. Tom Watson, for example, had a long history of progressive politics (he was the primary sponsor of Rural Free Delivery mail service, among other things), once running as William Jennings Bryan’s Populist Party ticket for Vice-President. A sensationalist newspaper publisher in 1915, Watson publicly supported lynching.

Hugh Dorsey, propelled into two terms as Governor of Georgia on the strength of his renown as the Frank case prosecutor, governed on what were, for early 20th century Georgia, liberal principles. Watson defeated him for a Senate seat in 1920 by running to his right on a nativist platform. Like Illinois Governor John Peter Altgeld, who 20 years previously had pardoned three men convicted in the Haymarket affair, Gov. Slaton saw his political career end as the result of commuting Frank’s sentence. Contrary to the common picture of lynching as something committed by ignorant rednecks (e.g., the mob that Atticus Finch fends off in To Kill a Mockingbird), Frank’s lynching was elaborately planned and carried out by a group of leading citizens from Marietta, Georgia.

Lynching has hopefully passed forever from the American scene, but politicians and media figures who inflame resentments and target those perceived as outsiders are always with us. In addition to sounding a cautionary note about contemporary demagoguery, the value of Parade in KAT’s production is that it takes what could simply be a history lesson and incarnates it in vivid, believable characters whose motivations and become clear to and can move an audience.

Photo Gallery

Photos by Ernie Achenbach

Cast

• Leo Frank: Bobby Libby
• Lucille Frank: Emily Zickler
• Jim Conley/Newt Lee/Riley: Ian Coleman
• Mary Phagan: Catherine Callahan
• Young Soldier/Frankie Epps: Harrison Smith
• Old Soldier/Hugh Dorsey: Michael Nansel
• Gov. John Slaton/Britt Craig/Mr. Peavy: Patrick McMahan
• Detective Starnes/Tom Watson: Brad Carnes-Stine
• Guard/Judge Roan: Eric Jones
• Mrs. Phagan/Sally Slaton: Marni Ratner Whelan
• Officer Ivey/Luther Rosser/Guard: Stephen Yednock
• Iola Stover: Sarah Anne Sillers
• Monteen: Elizabeth Gillespie
• Essie: Joanna Frezzo
• Snare Drummer: Francisco Carnes-Stine

Orchestra

• Music Direction: Craig Pettinati
• Keyboards: David Rohde, Francine Krasowska
• Violin: Sarah Morrison
• Viola: Caroline Brethauer
• Cello: Karin Loya or Michael Stein
• Clarinets: Mitch Bassman or Lindsay Williams
• French Horn: Lora Katz
• Bass: Cyndy Elliott
• Percussion: Kevin Uleck

Production Staff

• Producer: Malca Giblin
• Director: Craig Pettinati
• Music Director: David Rohde
• Assistant Directors: Rachel Cervarich, Jacob Kresloff
• Choreographers: Rachel Cervarich, Emily Zickler, Elizabeth Gillespie, Craig Pettinati
• Scenic Design/Painting/ Master Carpenter: Matt Karner
• Assistant Master Carpenter: Joel Richon
• Properties: Brian Campbell
• Light Design: Ben Lavine
• Light Board Operation: Dylan Stieber, Maria O’Connor
• Sound Design/Board Operation: Kevin Garrett
• Costume Design: Eleanor Dicks, Jamie Breckenridge
• Hair/Makeup Design: Cast, Marni Ratner Whelan
• Dramaturg: Jacob Kresloff
• Dialect Coaches: Eric Jones, Emily Zickler
• Construction/Painting Crew: Matt Karner, Joel Richon, Mike Ricci, Ed Eggleston, Brian Campbell, Michael Nansel, Doe B. Kim, Malca Giblin
• Stage Crew: Brian Campbell, Malca Giblin, Avia Fields, KJ McGowan, Francisco Carnes-Stine
• Program Cover/Logo Design: Ernie Achenbach
• Program Design/House Manager: Doe B. Kim

Disclaimer: Kensington Arts Theatre provided two complimentary media tickets to ShowBizRadio for this review.

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

• 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

• Night of the Living Dead: The Musical, October – November 2012 Schedule
• Next To Normal, Winter 2013
• Ragtime, Spring 2013

Schedule is subject to change due to performance rights conflicts or other issues. Specific dates of all performances and auditions are yet to be announced.

Rooms: A Rock Romance at the Kensington Arts Center is a sort of Sid & Nancy: Love Kills without the sex, drugs and rock and roll. It does have all three of these essentials of life, but only in very sanitary and pristine references. But that fault lies in the book by Paul Scott Goodman and Miriam Gordon, not KAT’s production.

The thin story is given body by two talented and charming actors and, as usual, the Kensington Arts Center has produced a fine show. But your reviewer’s concern with this show is that it is only meaningful to a coterie of aging Baby Boomers pogoing down memory lane with knee and hip replacements; and the story of The Diabolicals has no grounding in the reality of those years. We hobble in for the music but our children and grandchildren are not seeing the allure of our salad days.

The story is so simple, describing it leaves my reader little reason to see the show and your reviewer thinks the show is something to see. My date for the evening was a local, still working actress who is closer to her tenth decade than her ninth and she thoroughly enjoyed this show about the rise of Punk Rock in the late 1970’s in the United Kingdom and its onrush into New York.

Monica is the self-described Barbra Streisand of Glasgow with the same drive and divaness of Streisand, but from a better family. Ian is a working class kid holed up in his room playing guitar and composing music. The two backstories are Ian’s continuing the family tradition of alcoholism and Monica’s family being the Glaswegian Jewish version of August: Osage County. This matters but it makes no sense to the thesis except as some sort of bagel thrown to L.A. and New York investors in the show; or so it seems to this reviewer. But the original score is a menu of ’70’s music styles chronicling Monica’s development and later The Diabolicals’ as they find fame and unhappiness.

Rooms is the sort of intimate show that must be carried by its principals and Madeline Botteri as Monica and Eric Jones as Ian get that job done with tremendous vocals and belief in what they’re doing. Coached in a Scottish dialect by Casey Jones, the pair never lose the accent and speech of Glasgow in this piece which is as intense for the two actors as is that brisk pogo down memory lane for those of us of a certain age. It is a Punk Rock Opera; but a too clean story about a very debased time. Without Botteri’s and Jones’ powerful vocals and chemistry, there is no show worth seeing.

The United Kingdom in the late ’70’s was in the throes of a social depression combined with a poor economy that led to an anti-social, anti-artistic movement of young toughs acting out their collective hopelessness and becoming rich and famous for it. New York was dangerous and gritty and still affordable to live in. It was owned by its denizens, not by Disney, Sephora and American Girl. The Lower East Side was alive with music and movement and that is where Ian and Monica ultimately find themselves after winning a music contest in Glasgow; the prize being bus tickets to London and, consequently, a record contract if they become punk rockers. It was the pre MTV era of living one’s own life via experience instead of someone else’s life via video. The couch potato hadn’t been invented yet and our diet was drugs and alcohol and our exercise was slamming.

The story is advanced as a series of rooms in which the two characters find themselves separately and together and the set by John Decker cleverly enabled the actors to incorporate the scene changes by moving a portable doorway. The sound and sound design by Kevin Garrett contributes to the success of the evening because a fine five piece rock orchestra with Conductor is behind a scrim at the back of the stage. The score and the musical numbers are a 1970’s time line of rock music development culminating in a jingle for the Scotland Tourist board…or something like that.

Botteri and Jones have talent and stamina and they sell the story along with the music; but the story sinks without their talent. This was a bold choice by KAT and this reviewer congratulates the company for taking the chances other companies are afraid to take.

Directors’ Notes

Since signing on to direct Rooms, we have been posed with the question, “So what is this show about?” At first we wold give a long-winded answer starting with, “Well, it’s a story about first love, etc, etc, etc.” But as we delved further into the material, we realized that Rooms is not just some story of boy gets girl; it’s a modern-day fairytale. One that manages to carry itself with lightness and grace, while at the same time dealing with some very heavy issues.

We were extremely fortunate to be able to work with an incredibly talented creative team, specifically our fearless and passionate actors, and an inspired technical crew. The story of Rooms doesn’t occur over a short period, but follows two people who find each other, grow apart, and then are able to grow separately into people that are perfect for one another. Both Madeline and Eric have been able to handle the tumultuous relationship within the plot with ease and beauty, making what could seem hackneyed and overdone, real and honest.

We cannot say how proud we are of the show you are here to see tonight, and we hope you are able to fall in love with these characters and their journey as much as we have. It’s been quite a challenge finding our way through the world of Rooms, but we’ve been able to do it.

In the words of the glorious Jan and Monica: God save the new wave!

Enjoy!

Dani and Lenora

Photo Gallery

Photos provided by Kensington Arts Theatre

Cast

• Monica: Madeline Botteri
• Ian: Eric Jones

The Orchestra

• Conductor: Leah Cocsis
• Guitar 1: Rick Peralta, Rob Weaver
• Guitar 2: Ian Larkin
• Bass: Tony Aragon
• Drums: Thaddeus Achey
• Keyboards: Leah Kocsis, Marci Shegogue

Production Staff

• Producers: Kevin Garrett, Giang Pettinati
• Directors: Dani Danger Stoller, Lenora Spahn
• Music Director: Leah Kocsis
• Stage Manager: Donna Shute
• Set, Scenic Designer: John Decker
• Properties: Brian Campbell
• Lighting Design: John D. Alexander
• Sound Design: Kevin Garrett
• Costume Design: Giang Pettinati
• Hair/Makeup Design: Clare Palace

Disclaimer: Kensington Arts Theatre provided two complimentary media tickets to ShowBizRadio for this review. Actor Eric Jones is a reviewer for ShowBizRadio, which did not influence this review.

“Art isn’t easy,” declares one of the lyrics of Stephen Sondheim’s Sunday in the Park with George. Nor, the play makes clear, are artists, either on themselves or those lucky/unfortunate enough to be around them. Certainly the show itself isn’t easy, either for casts or production staffs. Sondheim is notoriously difficult for singers, and Sunday is one of his most challenging scores. Sunday is no easier for designers and technicians requiring, among other things, the staging and technical reproduction of pointillist painter Georges Seurat’s best-known work, “A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte.” Kensington Arts Theatre (KAT) is one of the few community theaters in the area with the resources and chops to pull it off successfully.

Act 1 of Sunday takes place in 19th century Paris, as Seurat works to compete the painting. Act 2 takes place mostly in New York in 1983, as George, Seurat’s fictional great-grandson, struggles with the 20th century art market and his own creative block. Each cast member plays someone in both the 19th and 20th century worlds, and the cast differentiates their first and second act characters effectively.

In the lead role, Ryan Burke gets the passion — particularly the anger — and focus of Georges, who sees the color and light of the world substantially better than the full humanity of the people around him. He is equally convincing as the less confident, questioning George, who feels more acutely than his ancestor the difficulty of connecting with others. He delivers Sondheim’s complex lyrics with consistent clarity and is generally strong vocally, though sometimes sounding pushed in his upper register.

As Dot, Seurat’s lover in Act 1 and Marie, George’s grandmother in Act 2, Farrell Parker is even better, shining as brightly in the role as anyone this side of Bernadette Peters. As ambivalent about love as any classic Sondheim character, Dot adores Georges for his eyes and how he looks at her and for what he teaches her about how to see the world. Knowing she will never be as important to him as his painting, she leaves him for the kindness of Louis the baker (Wade Corder). Parker’s voice, articulation, line readings, and reactions are first-rate. As Marie, though an extraordinarily youthful-looking 98-year old, she has a touching moment in “Children and Art.”

Parker and Burke are supported by a large and able ensemble, whose members play characters in the painting in Act 1 and denizens of the contemporary art world in Act 2. They do quality work throughout. Karen Fleming, as Seurat’s mother and art critic Blair Daniel, and Eric Jones, as the soldier (no doubt a cousin of Karl Magnus from A Little Night Music and Cinderella’s Prince from Into the Woods) and the bitter, acerbic artist Alex, are particularly notable.

The solid white painting of the tall, spare, rather elegant, main set units, designed by Matt Karner, reflects Seurat’s love of white (“a blank canvass, so many possibilities”). Some of the action, especially a delightful sequence in which Seurat channels the feelings of two dogs, is staged on a low step platform downstage, making visibility problematic for audience members beyond the first few rows.

From the original Broadway version forward, productions of Sunday have depended more than most shows on flying in set pieces, including a large scrim representing the Act 1 painting. KAT’s space lacks fly capacity, and the designers and technical staff make creative use of rear-screen projections, including computer-generated trees and buildings that move in and out, in place of physical set pieces. For the most part, this expedient is successful, though it has two downsides. First, the glaring projector light shines balefully through the scrim into the audience’s eyes throughout the production. Second, the inevitable placement of the scrim upstage of the actors creates some distortions in the staging, as when Burke is forced to deliver “Color and Light” with his back to the audience.

Director Craig Pettinati’s staging follows the traditional approach to the show, with some modifications to fit the space. David Rohde’s ten-piece orchestra navigates the intricate, complex score with little difficulty. Orchestra/singer balance is well maintained by Kevin Garrett’s sound design. Ben Levine’s lighting design, particularly the dots of light on the scrim and angled set units on either side of the stage, is evocative of Seurat’s pointillist style, and this production’s “chromalume” – a light show gadget that is George’s artistic presentation in Act 2 and which is one element of Sunday that seems different in every production – is nicely realized, projecting multicolored dots (what else?) onto the walls and ceiling. The Act 1 costumes, most of which necessarily follow the dress of people represented in the painting, are well executed.

Sondheim is sometimes criticized for taking a too-conceptual, overly intellectual, insufficiently emotional approach to his characters (a canard that the script places in the mouth of a stick-in-the-mud artist, played by Jimmy Payne, who objects to Seurat’s style on similar grounds). There’s no way anyone could genuinely listen to “Move On,” “Finishing the Hat,” “Beautiful,” or “Children and Art” in this production and believe that Sondheim doesn’t express deep feeling and passion as well as anyone in Broadway history, including even his mentor, Oscar Hammerstein.

Indeed, Sunday itself is as much about the need for, and difficulty of attaining, human connection as it is about the process of creating art. It is this seeking after human connection, both for its own sake and as a wellspring of creativity, that makes some emotional sense of the famously puzzling ending of Act 2 which, taken literally, seems an odd bit of time travel without a time machine. Like Act 1, Act 2 ends with “Sunday,” my candidate for Sondheim’s most gorgeous piece of ensemble writing, of which the KAT cast gives a strong performance.

It is gratifying to see a splendid production of one of Sondheim’s greatest shows by a first-tier community theater. Now who hereabouts has enough chutzpah to take on Pacific Overtures?

Photo Gallery

Photos provided by Kensington Arts Theatre

The Cast

• Georges/George: Ryan Burke
• Dot/Marie: Farrell Parker
• Old Lady/Blaire Daniels: Karen Fleming
• Nurse/Mrs. Harriet Pawling: Andrea Spitz
• Franz/Lee Randolph: Russell Silber
• Jules/Bob Greenberg: Jimmy Payne
• Yvonne/Naomi Eisen: Carmel Ferrer
• Louise/Waitress: Talia Brenner
• Boatman/Dennis: Casey Jones, Stephen Yednock (u/s perf. / 2/18)
• Celeste #1/Elaine: Diana Rodriguez
• Celeste #2/Photographer: Erika Abrams
• Frieda/Betty: Lisa Gullickson
• Louis/Billy Webster: Wade Corder
• Soldier/Alex: Eric Jones
• Mr./Charles Redmond: Patrick McMahan

The Orchestra

• Conductor: David Rohde
• Violin: Devon Nicoll Oviedo, Marcia McIntyre
• Viola: Caroline Brethauer
• Cello: Virginia Gardner
• Reeds: Dana Gardner, Mila Weiss
• French Horn: Deb Kline
• Keyboards: David Rohde, Francine Krasowska
• Percussion: Dan Walt

Production Staff

• Producer: Malca Giblin
• Director: Craig Pettinati
• Music Director: David Rohde
• Stage Manager: John Nunemaker
• Assistant Directors: Lenora Spahn, John Nunemaker
• Scenic Design/Painting Design: Matt Karner
• Master Carpenters: Matte Karner, Joel Richon
• Properties/Scenic Decoration: Brian Campbell
• Lighting Design: Ben Levine
• Light Board Operator: Lenora Spahn
• Sound Design: Kevin Garrett
• Chromolume Music Design: Francine Krasowska, Kevin Garrett
• Sound Board Operators: Mike Ricci, Kevin Garrett
• Special Effects/Multimedia: Jordan Rose, Doe B. Kim
• Projection Operators: Naom Lautman, Doe B. Kim
• Costume Design: Eleanor Dicks
• Hair Design: Malca Giblin
• Makeup Design: Eric Jones
• Construction Crew/Lights Hang: Mike Ricci, Joel Rochon, Matt Karner, Noam Lautman, Nancy Davis, Ed Eggleston, Jim Kostiw, Brian Campbell, John Nunemaker, Joy Wyne
• Set Painting Crew: Karen Fleming, Malca Giblin, Karen Richon, Joel Richon, Brian Campbell, Ryan Burke, Diana Rodrigez, Jackie Sternberg, Lisa Gullickson, Stephanie Clements
• Stage Crew: Brian Campbell, Malca Giblin,
• Jackie Sternberg, Sherry Singer
• Program Cover/Photography: Ernie Achenbach
• Program Design/House Manager: Doe B. Kim

Disclaimer: Kensington Arts Theatre provided two complimentary media tickets to ShowBizRadio for this review.

• 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

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. The nominations are provided by category and then by theater.

The Award Presentation willbe held on March 11th 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).

In 2012, 132 shows are scheduled for adjudication across the thirty-three participating WATCH member companies.

Nominations for outstanding technical achievements

Outstanding Set Design in a Musical

• Melissa Gilpin & John Merritt, A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, Port Tobacco Players
• Mark Hamberger, Annie, Rockville Musical Theatre
• Grant Kevin Lane, Thrill Me, Elden Street Players
• Myke Taister, Hairspray, Little Theatre of Alexandria
• James Villarrubia, Ain’t Misbehavin’, Elden Street Players

Outstanding Set Design in a Play

• Amanda Acker, The Seagull, The Arlington Players
• John Coscia et al, Auntie Mame, Providence Players of Fairfax
• Chip Gertzog & John Coscia, Shadow Box, Providence Players of Fairfax
• C. Evans Kirk & Dan Remmers, Noises Off, Little Theatre of Alexandria
• Andrew JM Regiec, The Twilight of the Golds, Reston Community Players

Outstanding Set Construction in a Musical

• Sara Birkhead, The Drowsy Chaperone, Reston Community Players
• Chris Feldmann, Hairspray, Little Theatre of Alexandria
• Jim Korte et al, Little Shop of Horrors, Damascus Theatre Company
• John Merritt, A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, Port Tobacco Players
• James Villarrubia et al, Ain’t Misbehavin’, Elden Street Players

Outstanding Set Construction in a Play

• John Coscia & Chip Gertzog, Shadow Box, Providence Players of Fairfax
• John Coscia et al, Auntie Mame, Providence Players of Fairfax
• Chris Feldmann, Move Over, Mrs. Markham, Little Theatre of Alexandria
• John Merritt, Duck Hunter Shoots Angel, Port Tobacco Players
• Arthur Pleasants et al, The Seagull, The Arlington Players
• Dan Remmers, Noises Off, Little Theatre of Alexandria

Outstanding Set Painting in a Musical

• Erin Cumbo, Oliver, Little Theatre of Alexandria
• Malca Giblin et al, Annie, Rockville Musical Theatre
• Kevin O’Dowd, Hairspray, Little Theatre of Alexandria
• Cathy Rieder & James Villarrubia, Ain’t Misbehavin’, Elden Street Players
• Cathy Rieder, Sabrina Begley, Maggie Cotter, The Drowsy Chaperone, Reston Community Players
• April Dawn Weimer et al, A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, Port Tobacco Players

Outstanding Set Painting in a Play

• Mary Hutzler, Move Over, Mrs. Markham, Little Theatre of Alexandria
• Ronna Johnson, Duck Hunter Shoots Angel, Port Tobacco Players
• Karl Meier & Kate Meier, A Mid-Summer Night’s Dream, Elden Street Players
• Kevin O’Dowd, Noises Off, Little Theatre of Alexandria
• Melanie Papasian, Translations, Rockville Little Theatre
• Kate Roehr, The Seagull, The Arlington Players
• Christa Westall, The Twilight of the Golds, Reston Community Players

Outstanding Set Decoration and Set Dressing in a Musical

• Nancyanne Burton, Oliver, Little Theatre of Alexandria
• Marian Holmes & Russell Wyland, Hairspray, Little Theatre of Alexandria
• Dawne LeKang, Little Shop of Horrors, The Alliance Theatre
• Maria Littlefield, Little Shop of Horrors, Damascus Theatre Company
• Nancy McLaughlin et al, Annie, Rockville Musical Theatre
• Bea and Jerry Morse & Barbara Wilson, The Drowsy Chaperone, Reston Community Players
• Joe Stine & John Merritt, Willy Wonka, Port Tobacco Players
• April Dawn Weimer & John Merritt, A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, Port Tobacco Players

Outstanding Set Decoration and Set Dressing in a Play

• Mary Dalto & Nancy Eynon Lark, Translations, Rockville Little Theatre
• Ingrid Helvig David, Auntie Mame, Providence Players of Fairfax
• Lindsey Hays, The Seagull, The Arlington Players
• Evan Hoffmann, A Mid-Summer Night’s Dream, Elden Street Players
• Bea and Jerry Morse, Moonlight and Magnolias, Reston Community Players

Outstanding Properties in a Musical

• Derek Critzer & Dawne LeKang, Little Shop of Horrors, The Alliance Theatre
• Mary Jo Ford, The Drowsy Chaperone, Reston Community Players
• Judy Kee & Margaret Snow, Hairspray, Little Theatre of Alexandria
• Maria Littlefield, Little Shop of Horrors, Damascus Theatre Company
• Elli Swink, 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, Damascus Theatre Company

Outstanding Properties in a Play

• Avery Burns, The Seagull, The Arlington Players
• Mary Dalto & Nancy Eynon Lark, Translations, Rockville Little Theatre
• Rebecca & John Johnson, Move Over, Mrs. Markham, Little Theatre of Alexandria
• Jessie Roberts, Loose Knit, Taking Flight Theatre Company
• Nicole Zuchetto, Rabbit Hole, Little Theatre of Alexandria

Outstanding Lighting Design in a Musical

• Franklin C. Coleman, Hairspray, Little Theatre of Alexandria
• Ryan Desmond, 42nd Street, The Arlington Players
• Tom Epps, Thrill Me, Elden Street Players
• Noam Lautman, Annie, Rockville Musical Theatre
• Rick Swink, Little Shop of Horrors, Damascus Theatre Company

Outstanding Lighting Design in a Play

• AnnMarie Castrigno, The Seagull, The Arlington Players
• Ken & Patti Crowley , Widdershins, Little Theatre of Alexandria
• Ken & Patti Crowley, The Twilight of the Golds, Reston Community Players
• Jennifer Lyman, Almost Maine, Vienna Theatre Company
• Liz Owens & Nancy Owens, Move Over, Mrs. Markham, Little Theatre of Alexandria

Outstanding Sound Design in a Musical

• Keith Bell, 42nd Street, The Arlington Players
• David Correia & David Hale, Hairspray, Little Theatre of Alexandria
• David Correia, Oliver, Little Theatre of Alexandria
• Bill Johnson, Hairspray, The Alliance Theatre
• Kenny Neal & Daniel Tobiassen, Annie, Rockville Musical Theatre
• Vitol Wiacek, 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, Damascus Theatre Company

Outstanding Sound Design in a Play

• Ben Allen, A Mid-Summer Night’s Dream, Elden Street Players
• Wes Bedsworth, The Diviners , Colonial Players of Annapolis
• William Chrapsynski, Moonlight and Magnolias, Reston Community Players
• Jonathan Powers, Almost Maine, Vienna Theatre Company
• Alan Wray, The Seagull, The Arlington Players

Outstanding Costume Design in a Musical

• Mary Ayala-Bush, Frankenstein, Taking Flight Theatre Company
• Michelle Bogert, Hairspray, The Alliance Theatre
• Kevin Lane, Nine , The Arlington Players
• Charlotte Marson & Judy Whelihan, The Drowsy Chaperone, Reston Community Players
• Jean Schlichting & Kit Sibley, Hairspray, Little Theatre of Alexandria

Outstanding Costume Design in a Play

• Lory Levitt & McKenna Kelly, The Seagull, The Arlington Players
• Susan Schulman et al, Romeo and Juliet, Silver Spring Stage
• Robbie Snow & Christian D. Faulkner, Auntie Mame, Providence Players of Fairfax
• Annie Vroom, Widdershins, Little Theatre of Alexandria
• Annie Vroom, Noises Off, Little Theatre of Alexandria

Outstanding Makeup Design in a Musical

• Kat Brais & Andy Izquierdo, Frankenstein, Taking Flight Theatre Company
• Jaimie Nelson, A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, Port Tobacco Players
• Robin Parker, Hairspray, Little Theatre of Alexandria
• Jaclyn Young, The Drowsy Chaperone, Reston Community Players
• Sammi Zanelotti, Willy Wonka, Port Tobacco Players

Outstanding Makeup Design in a Play

• Scott Beadle, Sordid Lives, Bowie Community Theatre
• C. Evans Kirk, Widdershins, Little Theatre of Alexandria
• Howard Vincent Kurtz, Move Over, Mrs. Markham, Little Theatre of Alexandria
• PJ Mitchell, Psycho Beach Party, Dominion Stage
• Sue Pinkman, The Seagull, The Arlington Players

Outstanding Hair Design in a Musical

• Kat Brais, Nine, The Arlington Players
• Maureen Clum, Julie Perez, Derek Critzer, Hairspray, The Alliance Theatre
• Anna Michelle Jackson & Irene Kasotakis, Hairspray, Little Theatre of Alexandria
• Melodie Wilson, Frankenstein, Taking Flight Theatre Company
• Jaclyn Young , The Drowsy Chaperone , Reston Community Players

Outstanding Hair Design in a Play

• Beth Harrison, Auntie Mame, Providence Players of Fairfax
• Howard Vincent Kurtz, Move Over, Mrs. Markham, Little Theatre of Alexandria
• Molly Hicks Larson, A Streetcar Named Desire, Taking Flight Theatre Company
• Denise A. Levine, Same Time Next Year, Greenbelt Arts Center
• PJ Mitchell, Psycho Beach Party, Dominion Stage
• Sue Pinkman, The Seagull, The Arlington Players
• Scott Ross & Kaeti Bradley, Sordid Lives, Bowie Community Theatre
• Mary-Anne Sullivan, The Women, Prince William Little Theatre

Outstanding Special Effects

• Ben Allen, Almost Maine, Vienna Theatre Company
• Ken & Patti Crowley, Widdershins, Little Theatre of Alexandria
• Denise Gilmore et al, Annie, Rockville Musical Theatre
• Keith Linville et al, Willy Wonka, Port Tobacco Players
• Dav Timmermann, A Christmas Carol, Port Tobacco Players

Nominations for outstanding performances by an actor or actress

Outstanding cameo in a musical

• Taurean Maray Barber as “Fred Casely”, Chicago, St. Mark’s Players
• Micky Goldstein as “Burt Healey”, Annie, Rockville Musical Theatre
• Andy Izquierdo as “Blind Man”, Frankenstein, Taking Flight Theatre Company
• Scott J. Strasbaugh as “Mr. Pinky”, Hairspray, Little Theatre of Alexandria
• Gina C. Tomkus as “Matron/Gym Teacher”, Hairspray, Little Theatre of Alexandria
• Mark Williams as “High School Principal”, Hairspray, Little Theatre of Alexandria

Outstanding cameo in a play

• Carolyn Cameron as “Maggie”, The Women, Prince William Little Theatre
• Victor Maldonado as “Lou Tanner”, The Gingerbread Lady, Chevy Chase Players
• Lisa Nichols as “Olga”, The Women, Prince William Little Theatre
• Laura Rogers as “Girl”, Blackbird, Silver Spring Stage
• Sally Zatkoff as “Candy Starr”, One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, Prince William Little Theatre
• Robin Zerbe as “Crystal Allen”, The Women, Prince William Little Theatre

Outstanding featured actress in a musical

• Michelle Harmon as “Armeila McQueen”, Ain’t Misbehavin’, Elden Street Players
• Rikki Howie as “Charlayne Woodard”, Ain’t Misbehavin’, Elden Street Players
• Jade Jones as “Nell Carter”, Ain’t Misbehavin’, Elden Street Players
• Brenda Parker as “Motormouth Maybelle”, Hairspray, Little Theatre of Alexandria
• Miriam Urquart as “Star to Be”, Annie, Rockville Musical Theatre
• Jaclyn Young as “Penny Pingleton”, Hairspray, Little Theatre of Alexandria

Outstanding featured actor in a musical

• Alex Bedont as “Audrey II voice”, Little Shop of Horrors, The Alliance Theatre
• Chaz Coffin as “Seaweed Stubbs”, Hairspray, The Alliance Theatre
• Adrian Cubbage as “Seaweed J. Stubbs”, Hairspray, Little Theatre of Alexandria
• Patrick Doneghy as “Andre DeShields”, Ain’t Misbehavin’, Elden Street Players
• Gabriel Potter as “Leaf Coneybear”, 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, Damascus Theatre Company
• Christopher Prince as “Ken Page”, Ain’t Misbehavin’, Elden Street Players

Outstanding featured actress in a play

• Bernadette Arvidson as “Juanita”, Sordid Lives, Bowie Community Theatre
• Joanne Bauer as “Sissy Hickey”, Sordid Lives, Bowie Community Theatre
• Karen Elle as “Saint Monica et al”, The Last Days of Judas Iscariot, Silver Spring Stage
• Ruth Neaveill as “Vera Charles”, Auntie Mame, Providence Players of Fairfax
• Jaclyn Young as “Hermia/Snout/Wall”, A Mid-Summer Night’s Dream, Elden Street Players

Outstanding featured actor in a play

• Scott Beadle as “Earl “Brother Boy” Ingram”, Sordid Lives, Bowie Community Theatre
• Adam Downs as “Garry Lejeune”, Noises Off, Little Theatre of Alexandria
• Tom Flatt as “Mason Marzak”, Take Me Out, Dominion Stage
• Brendan Murray as “Butch Honeywell et al”, The Last Days of Judas Iscariot, Silver Spring Stage
• Pat Reynolds as “Paul Gauguin”, Inventing Van Gogh, Colonial Players of Annapolis

Outstanding lead actress in a musical

• Maya Brettell as “Annie”, Annie, Rockville Musical Theatre
• Laura Fontaine as “Audrey”, Little Shop of Horrors, The Alliance Theatre
• Shannon Kingett as “Tracy Turnblad”, Hairspray, Little Theatre of Alexandria
• Kate Merryman as “The Narrator”, Joseph & the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, McLean Community Players
• Chrissy Barnett Miller as “Audrey”, Little Shop of Horrors, Damascus Theatre Company
• Anya Randall Nebel as “Velma Kelly”, Chicago, St. Mark’s Players

Outstanding lead actor in a musical

• Christopher Harris as “Edna Turnblad”, Hairspray, Little Theatre of Alexandria
• Anthony Ingargiola as “Seymour”, Little Shop of Horrors, The Alliance Theatre
• Eric Kennedy as “Guido Contini”, Nine, The Arlington Players
• Gabriel Potter as “Seymour”, Little Shop of Horrors, Damascus Theatre Company
• Christopher Smith as “Nathan”, Thrill Me, Elden Street Players

Outstanding lead actress in a play

• Sherry Berg as “Una”, Blackbird, Capital City Players of DC
• Lolita-Marie as “Mattie Cheeks”, No Niggers, No Jews, No Dogs, Port City Playhouse
• Jo Black Sullivan as “Glorie”, Grace and Glorie, Bowie Community Theatre
• Sandra Cox True as “Grace”, Grace and Glorie, Bowie Community Theatre
• Beth Whitehead as “Auntie Mame Dennis”, Auntie Mame, Providence Players of Fairfax
• Robin Zerbe as “Irma Grese”, Angel: A Nightmare in Two Acts, Port City Playhouse

Outstanding lead actor in a play

• Mark Lee Adams as “Dr. Farquhar”, Mindgame, Port City Playhouse
• J. McAndrew Breen as “Charlie Conlon etc.”, Stones in His Pockets, Montgomery Playhouse
• William Cassidy as “Randle P. McMurphy”, One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, Silver Spring Stage
• Adam Downs as “Ralph”, Frozen, Elden Street Players
• Kevin S. Dykstra as “Jake Quinn etc.”, Stones in His Pockets, Montgomery Playhouse

Nominations for outstanding achievement in overall production

Outstanding Stage Combat Choreography

• Steve Custer, Hair, Kensington Arts Theatre
• William T. Fleming, Romeo and Juliet, Silver Spring Stage
• Katherine Frattini, A Mid-Summer Night’s Dream, Elden Street Players
• Richard Koster, Company, Colonial Players of Annapolis
• Karen Schlumpf & Brian Farrell, Moonlight and Magnolias, Reston Community Players

Outstanding Choreography

• Iván Dávila, Hairspray, Little Theatre of Alexandria
• Andrea Heininge, The Drowsy Chaperone, Reston Community Players
• Rikki Howie, Chicago, St. Mark’s Players
• Pam & Kathleen McCormack, Joseph & the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, McLean Community Players
• Duane Monahan, Annie, Rockville Musical Theatre
• John K. Monnett, 42nd Street, The Arlington Players

Outstanding Music Direction

• Mayumi Baker & Valerie A. Higgs, Jekyll & Hyde, Kensington Arts Theatre
• J. Michael d’Haviland, Ain’t Misbehavin’, Elden Street Players
• Paul Nasto, Nine, The Arlington Players
• Keith Tittermary, 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, Damascus Theatre Company
• Christopher A. Tomasino, Hairspray, Little Theatre of Alexandria

Outstanding Direction of a Musical

• Stephanie Bonte-Lebair, 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, Damascus Theatre Company
• Annie Ermlick, Hairspray, The Alliance Theatre
• Richelle “Rikki” Howie, Ain’t Misbehavin’, Elden Street Players
• Sue Pinkman, Hairspray, Little Theatre of Alexandria
• Joshua Redford, The Drowsy Chaperone, Reston Community Players

Outstanding Direction of a Play

• Bob Benn, One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, Silver Spring Stage
• Joanna Henry, Rabbit Hole, Little Theatre of Alexandria
• Evan Hoffmann, A Mid-Summer Night’s Dream, Elden Street Players
• Estelle Miller, Grace and Glorie, Bowie Community Theatre
• Roxanne Fournier Stone, Stones in His Pockets, Montgomery Playhouse

Outstanding Musical

• Hairspray , The Alliance Theatre
• 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, Damascus Theatre Company
• Ain’t Misbehavin’, Elden Street Players
• Hairspray, Little Theatre of Alexandria
• Annie , Rockville Musical Theatre

Outstanding Play

• Grace and Glorie, Bowie Community Players
• The Shape of Things, Colonial Players of Annapolis
• A Mid-Summer Night’s Dream, Elden Street Players
• Noises Off, Little Theatre of Alexandria
• Stones in His Pockets, Montgomery Playhouse
• Auntie Mame, Providence Players of Fairfax
• Shadow Box, Providence Players of Fairfax

Nominations sorted by theatre and show

Alliance Theatre

2 productions received a total of 11 nominations

• Hairspray
  6 nominations
  • Outstanding Costume Design in a Musical, Michelle Bogert
  • Outstanding Direction of a Musical, Annie Ermlick
  • Outstanding Featured Actor in a Musical, Chaz Coffin as “Seaweed Stubbs”
  • Outstanding Hair Design in a Musical, Maureen Clum, Julie Perez, Derek Critzer
  • Outstanding Musical
  • Outstanding Sound Design in a Musical, Bill Johnson
• Little Shop of Horrors
  5 nominations
  • Outstanding Featured Actor in a Musical, Alex Bedont as “Audrey II voice”
  • Outstanding Lead Actor in a Musical, Anthony Ingargiola as “Seymour”
  • Outstanding Lead Actress in a Musical, Laura Fontaine as “Audrey”
  • Outstanding Properties in a Musical, Derek Critzer & Dawne LeKang
  • Outstanding Set Decoration in a Musical, Dawne LeKang

Arlington Players

3 productions received a total of 17 nominations

• 42nd Street
  3 nominations
  • Outstanding Choreography, John K. Monnett
  • Outstanding Light Design in a Musical, Ryan Desmond
  • Outstanding Sound Design in a Musical, Keith Bell
• Nine
  4 nominations
  • Outstanding Costume Design in a Musical, Kevin Lane
  • Outstanding Hair Design in a Musical, Kat Brais
  • Outstanding Lead Actor in a Musical, Eric Kennedy as “Guido Contini”
  • Outstanding Music Direction, Paul Nasto
• The Seagull
  10 nominations
  • Outstanding Costume Design in a Play, Lory Levitt & McKenna Kelly
  • Outstanding Hair Design in a Play, Sue Pinkman
  • Outstanding Light Design in a Play, AnnMarie Castrigno
  • Outstanding Makeup Design in a Play, Sue Pinkman
  • Outstanding Properties in a Play, Avery Burns
  • Outstanding Set Construction in a Play, Arthur Pleasants et al
  • Outstanding Set Decoration in a Play, Lindsey Hays
  • Outstanding Set Design in a Play, Amanda Acker
  • Outstanding Set Painting in a Play, Kate Roehr
  • Outstanding Sound Design in a Play, Alan Wray

Bowie Community Theatre

2 productions received a total of 9 nominations

• Grace and Glorie
  4 nominations
  • Outstanding Direction of a Play, Estelle Miller
  • Outstanding Lead Actress in a Play, Jo Black Sullivan as “Glorie”
  • Outstanding Lead Actress in a Play, Sandra Cox True as “Grace”
  • Outstanding Play
• Sordid Lives
  5 nominations
  • Outstanding Featured Actor in a Play, Scott Beadle as “Earl “Brother Boy” Ingram”
  • Outstanding Featured Actress in a Play, Bernadette Arvidson as “Juanita”
  • Outstanding Featured Actress in a Play, Joanne Bauer as “Sissy Hickey”
  • Outstanding Hair Design in a Play, Scott Ross & Kaeti Bradley
  • Outstanding Makeup Design in a Play, Scott Beadle

Capital City Players Of Dc

1 production received 1 nomination

• Blackbird
  • Outstanding Lead Actress in a Play, Sherry Berg as “Una”

Chevy Chase Players

1 production received 1 nomination

• The Gingerbread Lady
  • Outstanding Cameo in a Play, Victor Maldonado as “Lou Tanner”

Colonial Players

4 productions received a total of 4 nominations

• Company
  1 nomination
  • Outstanding Stage Combat Choreography, Richard Koster
• Inventing Van Gogh
  1 nomination
  • Outstanding Featured Actor in a Play, Pat Reynolds as “Paul Gauguin”
• The Diviners
  1 nomination
  • Outstanding Sound Design in a Play, Wes Bedsworth
• The Shape of Things
  1 nomination
  • Outstanding Play

Damascus Theatre Company

2 productions received a total of 12 nominations

• 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee
  6 nominations
  • Outstanding Direction of a Musical, Stephanie Bonte-Lebair
  • Outstanding Featured Actor in a Musical, Gabriel Potter as “Leaf Coneybear”
  • Outstanding Music Direction, Keith Tittermary
  • Outstanding Musical
  • Outstanding Properties in a Musical, Elli Swink
  • Outstanding Sound Design in a Musical, Vitol Wiacek
• Little Shop of Horrors
  6 nominations
  • Outstanding Lead Actor in a Musical, Gabriel Potter as “Seymour”
  • Outstanding Lead Actress in a Musical, Chrissy Barnett Miller as “Audrey”
  • Outstanding Light Design in a Musical, Rick Swink
  • Outstanding Properties in a Musical, Maria Littlefield
  • Outstanding Set Construction in a Musical, Jim Korte et al
  • Outstanding Set Decoration in a Musical, Maria Littlefield

Dominion Stage

2 productions received a total of 3 nominations

• Psycho Beach Party
  2 nominations
  • Outstanding Hair Design in a Play, PJ Mitchell
  • Outstanding Makeup Design in a Play, PJ Mitchell
• Take Me Out
  1 nomination
  • Outstanding Featured Actor in a Play, Tom Flatt as “Mason Marzak”

Elden Street Players

4 productions received a total of 22 nominations

• A Mid-Summer Night’s Dream
  7 nominations
  • Outstanding Direction of a Play, Evan Hoffmann
  • Outstanding Featured Actress in a Play, Jaclyn Young as “Hermia/Snout/Wall”
  • Outstanding Play
  • Outstanding Set Decoration in a Play, Evan Hoffmann
  • Outstanding Set Painting in a Play, Kate Meier & Karl Meier
  • Outstanding Sound Design in a Play, Ben Allen
  • Outstanding Stage Combat Choreography, Katherine Frattini
• Ain’t Misbehavin’
  11 nominations
  • Outstanding Direction of a Musical, Richelle “Rikki” Howie
  • Outstanding Featured Actor in a Musical, Patrick Doneghy as “Andre DeShields”
  • Outstanding Featured Actor in a Musical, Christopher Prince as “Ken Page”
  • Outstanding Featured Actress in a Musical, Michelle Harmon as “Armeila McQueen”
  • Outstanding Featured Actress in a Musical, Rikki Howie as “Charlayne Woodard”
  • Outstanding Featured Actress in a Musical, Jade Jones as “Nell Carter”
  • Outstanding Music Direction, J. Michael d’Haviland
  • Outstanding Musical
  • Outstanding Set Construction in a Musical, James Villarrubia et al
  • Outstanding Set Design in a Musical, James Villarrubia
  • Outstanding Set Painting in a Musical, Cathy Rieder & James Villarrubia
• Frozen
  1 nomination
  • Outstanding Lead Actor in a Play, Adam Downs as “Ralph”
• Thrill Me
  3 nominations
  • Outstanding Lead Actor in a Musical, Christopher Smith as “Nathan”
  • Outstanding Light Design in a Musical, Tom Epps
  • Outstanding Set Design in a Musical, Grant Kevin Lane

Greenbelt Arts Center

1 production received 1 nomination

• Same Time Next Year
  • Outstanding Hair Design in a Play, Denise A. Levine

Kensington Arts Theatre

2 productions received a total of 2 nominations

• Hair
  1 nomination
  • Outstanding Stage Combat Choreography, Steve Custer
• Jekyll & Hyde
  1 nomination
  • Outstanding Music Direction, Mayumi Baker & Valerie A. Higgs

Little Theatre of Alexandria

6 productions received a total of 43 nominations

• Hairspray
  22 nominations
  • Outstanding Cameo in a Musical, Scott J. Strasbaugh as “Mr. Pinky”
  • Outstanding Cameo in a Musical, Gina C. Tomkus as “Matron/Gym Teacher”
  • Outstanding Cameo in a Musical, Mark Williams as “High School Principal”
  • Outstanding Choreography, Ivan Davila
  • Outstanding Costume Design in a Musical, Jean Schlichting & Kit Sibley
  • Outstanding Direction of a Musical, Sue Pinkman
  • Outstanding Featured Actor in a Musical, Adrian Cubbage as “Seaweed J. Stubbs”
  • Outstanding Featured Actress in a Musical, Brenda Parker as “Motormouth Maybelle”
  • Outstanding Featured Actress in a Musical, Jaclyn Young as “Penny Pingleton”
  • Outstanding Hair Design in a Musical, Anna Michelle Jackson & Irene Kasotakis
  • Outstanding Lead Actor in a Musical, Christopher Harris as “Edna Turnblad”
  • Outstanding Lead Actress in a Musical, Shannon Kingett as “Tracy Turnblad”
  • Outstanding Light Design in a Musical, Franklin C. Coleman
  • Outstanding Makeup Design in a Musical, Robin Parker
  • Outstanding Music Direction, Christopher A. Tomasino
  • Outstanding Musical
  • Outstanding Properties in a Musical, Judy Kee & Margaret Snow
  • Outstanding Set Construction in a Musical, Chris Feldmann
  • Outstanding Set Decoration in a Musical, Marian Holmes & Russell Wyland
  • Outstanding Set Design in a Musical, Myke Taister
  • Outstanding Set Painting in a Musical, Kevin O’Dowd
  • Outstanding Sound Design in a Musical, David Correia & David Hale
• Move Over, Mrs. Markham
  6 nominations
  • Outstanding Hair Design in a Play, Howard Vincent Kurtz
  • Outstanding Light Design in a Play, Liz Owens & Nancy Owens
  • Outstanding Makeup Design in a Play, Howard Vincent Kurtz
  • Outstanding Properties in a Play, Rebecca & John Johnson
  • Outstanding Set Construction in a Play, Chris Feldmann
  • Outstanding Set Painting in a Play, Mary Hutzler
• Noises Off
  6 nominations
  • Outstanding Costume Design in a Play, Annie Vroom
  • Outstanding Featured Actor in a Play, Adam Downs as “Garry Lejeune”
  • Outstanding Play
  • Outstanding Set Construction in a Play, Dan Remmers
  • Outstanding Set Design in a Play, C. Evans Kirk & Dan Remmers
  • Outstanding Set Painting in a Play, Kevin O’Dowd
• Oliver!
  3 nominations
  • Outstanding Set Decoration in a Musical, Nancyanne Burton et al
  • Outstanding Set Painting in a Musical, Erin Cumbo
  • Outstanding Sound Design in a Musical, David Correia
• Rabbit Hole
  2 nominations
  • Outstanding Direction of a Play, Joanna Henry
  • Outstanding Properties in a Play, Nicole Zuchetto
• Widdershins
  4 nominations
  • Outstanding Costume Design in a Play, Annie Vroom
  • Outstanding Light Design in a Play, Ken & Patti Crowley
  • Outstanding Makeup Design in a Play, C. Evans Kirk
  • Outstanding Special Effects, Ken & Patti Crowley

McLean Community Players

1 production received 2 nominations

• Joseph & The Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat
  • Outstanding Choreography, Pam & Kathleen McCormack
  • Outstanding Lead Actress in a Musical, Kate Merryman as “The Narrator”

Montgomery Playhouse

1 production received 4 nominations

• Stones in His Pockets
  • Outstanding Direction of a Play, Roxanne Fournier Stone
  • Outstanding Lead Actor in a Play, J. McAndrew Breen as “Charlie Conlon etc.”
  • Outstanding Lead Actor in a Play, Kevin S. Dykstra as “Jake Quinn etc.”
  • Outstanding Play

Port City Playhouse

3 productions received a total of 3 nominations

• Angel: A Nightmare in Two Acts
  1 nomination
  • Outstanding Lead Actress in a Play, Robin Zerbe as “Irma Grese”
• Mindgame
  1 nomination
  • Outstanding Lead Actor in a Play, Mark Lee Adams as “Dr. Farquhar”
• No Niggers, No Jews, No Dogs
  1 nomination
  • Outstanding Lead Actress in a Play, Lolita-Marie as “Mattie Cheeks”

Port Tobacco Players

4 productions received a total of 11 nominations

• A Christmas Carol
  1 nomination
  • Outstanding Special Effects, Dav Timmermann
• A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum
  5 nominations
  • Outstanding Makeup Design in a Musical, Jaimie Nelson
  • Outstanding Set Construction in a Musical, John Merritt
  • Outstanding Set Decoration in a Musical, April Dawn Weimer & John Merritt
  • Outstanding Set Design in a Musical, Melissa Gilpin & John Merritt
  • Outstanding Set Painting in a Musical, April Dawn Weimer et al
• Duck Hunter Shoots Angel
  2 nominations
  • Outstanding Set Construction in a Play, John Merritt
  • Outstanding Set Painting in a Play, Ronna Johnson
• Willy Wonka
  3 nominations
  • Outstanding Makeup Design in a Musical, Sammi Zanelotti
  • Outstanding Set Decoration in a Musical, Joe Stine & John Merritt
  • Outstanding Special Effects, Keith Linville et al

Prince William Little Theatre

2 productions received a total of 5 nominations

• One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest
  1 nomination
  • Outstanding Cameo in a Play, Sally Zatkoff as “Candy Starr”
• The Women
  4 nominations
  • Outstanding Cameo in a Play, Carolyn Cameron as “Maggie”
  • Outstanding Cameo in a Play, Lisa Nichols as “Olga”
  • Outstanding Cameo in a Play, Robin Zerbe as “Crystal Allen”
  • Outstanding Hair Design in a Play, Mary-Anne Sullivan

Providence Players

2 productions received a total of 11 nominations

• Auntie Mame
  8 nominations
  • Outstanding Costume Design in a Play, Robbie Snow & Christian D. Faulkner
  • Outstanding Featured Actress in a Play, Ruth Neaveill as “Vera Charles”
  • Outstanding Hair Design in a Play, Beth Harrison
  • Outstanding Lead Actress in a Play, Beth Whitehead as “Auntie Mame Dennis”
  • Outstanding Play
  • Outstanding Set Construction in a Play, John Coscia et al
  • Outstanding Set Decoration in a Play, Ingrid Helvig David
  • Outstanding Set Design in a Play, John Coscia et al
• Shadow Box
  3 nominations
  • Outstanding Play
  • Outstanding Set Construction in a Play, John Coscia & Chip Gertzog
  • Outstanding Set Design in a Play, Chip Gertzog & John Coscia

Reston Community Players

3 productions received a total of 15 nominations

• Moonlight and Magnolias
  3 nominations
  • Outstanding Set Decoration in a Play, Bea and Jerry Morse
  • Outstanding Sound Design in a Play, William Chrapsynski
  • Outstanding Stage Combat Choreography, Karen Schlumpf & Brian Farrell
• The Drowsy Chaperone
  9 nominations
  • Outstanding Choreography, Andrea Heininge
  • Outstanding Costume Design in a Musical, Charlotte Marson & Judy Whelihan
  • Outstanding Direction of a Musical, Joshua Redford
  • Outstanding Hair Design in a Musical, Jaclyn Young
  • Outstanding Makeup Design in a Musical, Jaclyn Young
  • Outstanding Properties in a Musical, Mary Jo Ford
  • Outstanding Set Construction in a Musical, Sara Birkhead
  • Outstanding Set Decoration in a Musical, Bea and Jerry Morse & Barbara Wilson
  • Outstanding Set Painting in a Musical, Cathy Reider, Sabrina Begley, Maggie Cotter
• The Twilight of the Golds
  3 nominations
  • Outstanding Light Design in a Play, Ken & Patti Crowley
  • Outstanding Set Design in a Play, Andrew JM Regiec
  • Outstanding Set Painting in a Play, Christa Westall

Rockville Little Theatre

1 production received 3 nominations

• Translations
  • Outstanding Properties in a Play, Mary Dalto & Nancy Eynon Lark
  • Outstanding Set Decoration in a Play, Mary Dalto & Nancy Eynon Lark
  • Outstanding Set Painting in a Play, Melanie Papasian

Rockville Musical Theatre

1 production received 11 nominations

• Annie
  • Outstanding Cameo in a Musical, Micky Goldstein as “Bert Healey”
  • Outstanding Choreography, Duane Monahan
  • Outstanding Featured Actress in a Musical, Miriam Urquart as “Star to Be”
  • Outstanding Lead Actress in a Musical, Maya Brettell as “Annie”
  • Outstanding Light Design in a Musical, Noam Lautman
  • Outstanding Musical
  • Outstanding Set Decoration in a Musical, Nancy McLaughlin et al
  • Outstanding Set Design in a Musical, Mark Hamberger
  • Outstanding Set Painting in a Musical, Malca Giblin et al
  • Outstanding Sound Design in a Musical, Kenny Neal & Daniel Tobiassen
  • Outstanding Special Effects, Denise Gilmore et al

Silver Spring Stage

4 productions received a total of 7 nominations

• Blackbird
  1 nomination
  • Outstanding Cameo in a Play, Laura Rogers as “Girl”
• One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest
  2 nominations
  • Outstanding Direction of a Play, Bob Benn
  • Outstanding Lead Actor in a Play, William Cassidy as “Randle P. McMurphy”
• Romeo and Juliet
  2 nominations
  • Outstanding Costume Design in a Play, Susan Schulman et al
  • Outstanding Stage Combat Choreography, William T. Fleming
• The Last Days of Judas Iscariot
  2 nominations
  • Outstanding Featured Actor in a Play, Brendan Murray as “Butch Honeywell et al”
  • Outstanding Featured Actress in a Play, Karen Elle as “Saint Monica et al”

St. Mark’s Players

1 production received 3 nominations

• Chicago
  • Outstanding Cameo in a Musical, Taurean Maray Barber as “Fred Casely”
  • Outstanding Choreography, Rikki Howie
  • Outstanding Lead Actress in a Musical, Anya Randall Nebel as “Velma Kelly”

Taking Flight Theatre Company

3 productions received a total of 6 nominations

• A Streetcar Named Desire
  1 nomination
  • Outstanding Hair Design in a Play, Molly Hicks Larson
• Frankenstein
  4 nominations
  • Outstanding Cameo in a Musical, Andy Izquierdo as “Blind Man”
  • Outstanding Costume Design in a Musical, Mary Ayala-Bush
  • Outstanding Hair Design in a Musical, Melodie Wilson
  • Outstanding Makeup Design in a Musical, Kat Brais & Andy Izquierdo
• Loose Knit
  1 nomination
  • Outstanding Properties in a Play, Jessie Roberts

Vienna Theatre Company

1 production received 3 nominations

• Almost Maine
  • Outstanding Light Design in a Play, Jennifer Lyman
  • Outstanding Sound Design in a Play, Jonathan Powers
  • Outstanding Special Effects, Ben Allen

• Georges/George: Ryan Burke
• Dot/Marie: Farrell Parker
• An Old Lady/Blair Daniels: Karen Fleming
• Her Nurse/Mrs./Harriet Pawling: Andrea Spitz
• Franz/Lee Randolph: Russell Silber
• Jules/Bob Greenberg: Jimmy Payne
• Yvonne/Naomi Eisen: Carmel Ferrer
• Boatman/Dennis: Ben Davis
• Soldier/Alex: Eric Jones
• Celeste #1/Elaine: Diana Rodriguez
• Celeste #2/Silent Artist: Erika White Abrams
• Louise: Talia Brenner
• Frieda/Betty: Lisa Gullickson
• Louis/Billy Webster: Wade Corder
• Mr./Charles Redmond: Thomas Copas

The show runs February 10 – March 3 at the Kensington Town Center. Ticket prices are:

• General Admission: $20
• Seniors (60+): $17
• Students: $17
• Kensington Residents (with ID): $13
• Children (under 13): $13
• Groups Rate (10+): contact KAT House Manager in advance

Casting, ticket prices, and performance dates and location are subject to change.