The Kids Are More Than All Right! The 41st Annual Ruby Griffith Awards
The Ruby Griffith Awards, whose mission is to honor excellence among amateur theatre companies, critiqued 33 productions in this year’s season and, on July 11th, awarded honors to 8 companies.
The elegant ceremony held at the Breton Woods Community Center in Germantown, MD, was attended by members of the British Embassy (Ruby Griffith was a well-loved member of the British Embassy Players) and a special guest, Joy Zinoman, founding Artistic Director of Studio Theatre, who was being recognized for her contribution to the Ruby Griffith Awards.
At the 41st Ruby Griffith Awards ceremony, Wildwood Summer Theatre, whose company members range between 15 and 25 years old, took the top award for All Around Production Excellence for their production of The Pajama Game. Winning this top award means that the company will receive the sterling silver Ruby Griffith Award trophy, crafted by Garrards of London, to display for a year.
Chicago propelled the Little Theatre of Alexandria into the award for Best Musical, and the Vienna Theatre Company received the award for Best Non-Musical for their production of Colder Than Here.
Two certificates that celebrate strong efforts by other community theatre groups are presented to runners-up in each category. There were two sets of ties this year – the organization’s archives shows that ties are not routinely awarded.
For Outstanding Achievement in a Musical, Winters Lane Productions won First Runner-Up for Rent. Rockville Musical Theatre and Victorian Lyric Opera Company tied for Second Runner-Up for West Side Story and The Grand Duke, respectively. For Outstanding Achievement in a Play, there were two first runners-up, Silver Spring Stage for The Goat, or Who Is Sylvia? and Bowie Community Theatre for The Glass Menagerie. STRoYKA won second runner-up for Talk Radio.
Community theatre in the DC area has been consistently good for decades. Reviews and listings of community theatres in your area can be found on ShowBizRadio.net.
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