An Okotoks performance troupe has put its Calgary contemporaries on notice that they are a serious player in the realm of community theatre.
The Dewdney Players Group Theatre received an unprecedented 11 nods for the 2011 CAT Community Theatre Awards.
The eight nominations for spring of 2011’s “Barefoot in the Park”, was second to only Calgary’s Workshop Theatre who received nine nominations for “Children of a Lesser God”
The group’s other three nods in the awards put on by Calgary-ACTS (Alliance of Community Theatres) came from the 2010 Christmas production “Sorry Wrong Chimney”.
Dewdney Players president Ed Sands confirmed this is the most CAT consideration the group has ever received. He said the high number of nominations is due partially to positive adjudication results.
“That’s only part of the deal,” he said. “If you don’t get any public nominations or support, which is done through the Calgary-ACTS web site, then the show won’t go forward for a nomination.”
Sands is gratified by the recognition being lavished on both of Dewdney’s chosen productions.
“If things went forward on the strength of our adjudications plus public comments and we beat some of the city’s shows than I am thrilled,” he said. “Not that it’s a competition it’s validation.”
Barefoot in the Park is nominated for outstanding production of a play, costume design, scenic design, supporting actress (Michelle Noordhof), director (Dean Harrison), lead actor (James Nash), lead actress (Anne-Marie Cotton) and supporting actor (Ed Sands).
“I don’t act a bunch so getting a nomination for acting was a personal fulfillment,” Sands said of his supporting actor nod for the role of Victor Velasco.
Quick to pass along responsibility for his personal nomination was the play’s director.
“It hinges on two things,” Harrison said “The cast I had was phenomenal and a great group to work with. And the production team basically pulled out all the stops to make something fit in a space that was really a tough place to put it on.”
Harrison speaks of the Rotary Performing Arts Centre whose small stage was transformed into a two-storey brownstone apartment for Dewdney’s production of “Barefoot in the Park”.
Scenic design is also one of the three areas where “Sorry Wrong Chimney” was singled out for CAT consideration. The holiday themed play was also selected as a finalist for supporting actor (Christopher Moore) and supporting actress (Nicola Payton).
A veteran actress originally from England, Payton was caught completely off guard by her selection for her work as flamboyant and intrusive neighbor Natalie Weldon in “Sorry Wrong Chimney”.
“It’s actually the first time I have been nominated for an award,” Payton said. “I try to avoid being adjudicated. I like audiences to applaud or not but I have usually avoided the other thing. So I was quite surprised when they said, ‘oh by the way the play was being adjudicated.’ I have been acting since I was very little so it’s really nice to be nominated for the first time. I might not avoid those judges anymore. ”
The CAT nominations are now all in the hands of the Calgary-ACTS members. It’s their job to vote and select the winners, which will be announced at an awards ceremony on Saturday August 27.
The Dewdney Players president expressed his belief his group would likely not be receiving any awards hardware. Sands put things in an “it’s an honour just to be nominated” perspective when he explained the vast majority of voting members live in Calgary and are more likely to have seen the plays in their own town.
“I don’t think we’re going to get the votes but one can always hope,” Sands said.
Win or lose all the CAT nominations are a welcome father in a cap of a community based theatre group that strives to put on an outstanding show each and every time they take to the stage.
