Elden Street Players sweeps the WATCH Awards

The winners of the 2010 Washington Area Theater Community Honors (The WATCH Awards) were announced on March 6, 2011 at a ceremony held at The Birchmere in Alexandria, VA. Although there were 6 ties – there was no doubt from the first opening of the envelopes that Elden Street Players’ intimate and powerful production of Jonathan Larson’s Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award-winning musical Rent was going to be the judges’ top pick.

The talk among many of my friends in community theatre was that Little Theatre of Alexandria’s critically acclaimed production of Chicago was the favorite going into the ceremony, but Rent piled up one award after the other during the night, while Chicago was honored for it’s high energy and high kicking choreography, and then tied with Rent for Direction of a Musical and Musical Direction.

Elden Street Players’ production of Metamorphoses was honored as Outstanding Play and for Evan Hoffman’s splashy direction. It was a big night for the Herndon, VA. theatre company who has been producing exceptional theatre in an industrial shopping complex since 1988; they took home 17 WATCH Awards.

The ceremony, hosted by actor Fred Nelson, featured performances from the five nominees for Outstanding Musical. The crowd of over 500 attendees saw the ceremony open with a rousing performance of “Seasons of Love” from the ensemble of Elden Street Players’ Rent, followed by performances of “When You Got It, Flaunt it” performed by Anne Marie Pinto from The Producers at The Arlington Players, “Keep It Gay” performed by the ensemble from the Port Tobacco Players’ own production of  The Producers, “Ice Cream” from Damascus Theatre Company’s  She Loves Me performed  by  Stephanie Bonte-Lebair, and “Nowadays” from Chicago by the Little Theatre of Alexandria’s production, performed by WATCH nominees Bethany Blakey and Jordan Hougham.

Alliance Theater of Clifton, VA. was introduced as the newest member of WATCH. This year, 31 companies and 121 shows qualified for awards; 1,198 ballots and 31,322 individual scores were submitted by WATCH Awards judges representing 30 member companies; they adjudicated 121 productions (35 musicals, 86 plays).  

Here are the 2010 WATCH Award winners:

Outstanding Set Design in a Musical:
Kevin King – Rent – Elden Street Players

Outstanding Set Design in a Play
John W. Kirby & John Merritt – Arsenic and Old Lace – Port Tobacco Players

Outstanding Set Construction in a Musical
Marty Sullivan and Bill Behar – Rent – Elden Street

Outstanding Set Construction in a Play
John Merritt – Arsenic and Old Lace – Port Tobacco Players

Outstanding Set Painting in a Musical
Mary Rose Vasko & John Vasko – Rent – Elden Street Players

 Outstanding Set Painting in a Play
John Merritt – Arsenic and Old Lace – Port Tobacco Players

Outstanding Set Decoration and Set Dressing in a Musical (TIE)
Theresa Bender & Eliza Wolfe – Rent – Elden Street Players

AND

Nancy Eynon Lark – She Loves Me – Damascus Theatre Company

Outstanding Set Decoration and Set Dressing in a Play
Mary Thiedeman – Arsenic and Old Lace – Port Tobacco Players

Outstanding Properties in a Musical
Theresa Bender & Eliza Wolfe – Rent – Elden Street Players

Outstanding Properties in a Play
Andrew Greenleaf et al – Rabbit Hole – Silver Spring Stage

 Outstanding Lighting Design in a Musical
AnnMarie Castrigno – Rent – Elden Street Players

Outstanding Lighting Design in a Play
Terry Averill – Earth and Sky – Colonial Players of Annapolis

 Outstanding Sound Design in a Musical (TIE)
Richard Bird – Wonderful Town – Reston Community Players

AND

Stan Harris – Rent – Elden Street Players

Outstanding Sound Design in a Play
Wes Bedsworth – Earth and Sky – Colonial Players of Annapolis

Outstanding Costume Design in a Musical
Barbara Esquibel – The Producers – The Arlington Players

Outstanding Costume Design in a Play
Heather Bauer – Arsenic and Old Lace – Port Tobacco Players

Outstanding Makeup Design in a Musical (TIE)
Laura Fontaine – Rent – Elden Street Players

AND

Christine Spata – Evil Dead: The Musical – Taking Flight Theatre Company

Outstanding Makeup Design in a Play
Julie Cameron – Frankenstein – Prince William Little Theatre

Outstanding Hair Design in a Musical (TIE)
Laura Fontaine – Rent – Elden Street Players

AND

Ronna Johnson – The Producers – Port Tobacco Players

Outstanding Hair Design in a Play
Paul Morton – Lady Windermere’s Fan – Little Theatre of Alexandria

Outstanding Special Effects
John Bordeaux & Todd Huse – Rent – Elden Street Players

Outstanding Cameo in a Musical |
Laura Gepford as “Mistress” – Evita – Rockville Musical Theatre

Outstanding Cameo in a Play
Richard Bird as “Sheriff/Ticket Agent” – Trip to Bountiful – Reston Community

Outstanding Featured Actress in a Musical
TiaJuana Rountree as “Mrs. Mae Peterson” – Bye Bye, Birdie – Prince George’s Little Theatre

Outstanding Featured Actor in a Musical
Mickey Daniel DaGuiso as “Angel Dumott Schunard” – Rent – Elden Street

Outstanding Featured Actress in a Play
Audrey Cafaly as “Izzy” – Rabbit Hole – Silver Spring Stage

Outstanding Featured Actor in a Play
Dino P. Coppa as “David O. Selznick” – Moonlight and Magnolias – Montgomery Playhouse 

Outstanding Lead Actress in a Musical
Autumn Seavy as “Violet” – Violet – Kensington Arts Theatre

Outstanding Lead Actor in a Musical
Jimmy Payne as “Max” – The Producers – Port Tobacco Players

Outstanding Lead Actress in a Play
Lorraine Magee as “Vivian Bearing, Ph.D.” – Wit – Elden Street Players

Outstanding Lead Actor in a Play
Thurston Cobb as “Ralph” – Frozen – Colonial Players of Annapolis

Outstanding Stage Combat Choreography
Kevin C. Robertson – Musical Comedy Murders of 1940 – Fauquier Community Theatre

Outstanding Choreography
Amy Carson – Chicago – Little Theatre of Alexandria

Outstanding Music Direction (TIE)
John-Michael d’Haviland – Rent – Elden Street Players

AND

Paul Nasto – Chicago – Little Theatre of Alexandria

Outstanding Direction of a Musical (TIE)
Susan Devine – Chicago – Little Theatre of Alexandria

AND

Todd Huse – Rent – Elden Street Players

Outstanding Direction of a Play

Evan Hoffmann – Metamorphoses – Elden Street Players

Outstanding Musical
Rent – Elden Street Players

Outstanding Play
Metamorphoses – Elden Street Players