Two of Okotoks’ theatre families have heaped nominations for Calgary's community theatre awards.
Up for the Calgary Alliance of Community Theatre’s Community Theatre Awards are the Dewdney Players for their staging of The Full Monty and The Twelfth Night with seven nominations, as well as Maren Ord Music’s The Gardener with eight.
Up for Outstanding Direction of a Play is Sherene Seders, for whom The Full Monty was a labour of love, and the nominations were a welcome recognition.
“It was a couple years of work to get that baby off the ground, so to receive the nominations, it's always nice to know that the people who come and see our shows, appreciate what we're doing,” Seders said.
"I've seen a number of the other plays that were nominated, so it's nice to be in good company.”
The Full Monty was the highest-attended play in Dewdney’s history, nearly selling out every show, with the previous record set by their 2015 staging of Calendar Girls, also directed by Seders.
It also broke the attendance record for any show hosted by the Rotary Performing Arts Centre (RPAC) where it was staged.
“I’m just so proud of what Dewdney does, with the limitations in being in a smaller community, and with a smaller venue,” Seders said.
“I'm always so proud of the calibre of theatre we are able to produce and bring to our audiences.”
At the end of the day, it is again, a labour of love, she added.
“It’s nice to be recognized with the nominations, but theatre people do what we do because we love it,” Seders said.
Up for Outstanding Performance by a Supporting Role in a Play is Kelly Kozak, who played Sir Andrew Aguecheek in Dewdney’s staging of Twelfth Night.
“When the decision was made by Katie (Fournell, the play’s director) to cross-gender the roles, it was exciting,” Kozak said.
“I was digging a lot deeper in the process about who I feel Sir Andrew is, and the more we got into it, things evolve and change, and even more so when you get into costume.”
For the bombastic and foppish Aguecheek, this was no small feat.
“What I like to do with all my roles is not just come up with how they speak, but what kind of mannerisms they have and why would they have these types of mannerisms … I’m glad people noticed some of the things I did with it,” Kozak said, referencing the character’s absurd behaviour, such as hiding behind a feather, or a puppet (crafted by Kozak) mocking another character.
While many of the Dewdney Players have been in several other shows in recent years, this was Kozak’s first after moving to Okotoks from Las Vegas four years ago, where she was a professional actor and dancer.
“I’m so super happy to be involved,” she said. “This is my first Canadian theatre experience since I moved here, and I didn’t know what to expect. After being a professional performer for so long and stepping back into community theatre, I was just so grateful to be a part of it.
“Community theatre is so important, because it’s such an outreach to people who live in the community, are from in the community, who want to be involved in theatre.”
Alongside Okotoks’ oldest theatre family are eight nominations for the new kid on the block, playwright and songwriter Maren Ord and her company Maren Ord Music, for The Gardener, which was staged in April at the Seton YMCA’s Evan Hazell Theatre.
“It feels exiting, overwhelming … it feels humbling,” said Ord. “Honestly, I was shocked we got nominated for anything, because I’m such a new theatre company.
“I feel like I’m a learner, I’ve been learning how to be a playwright and a composer, and I’m still learning, but then I look back at where I started and I’m a lot further along than where I was.”
While she would have liked to stage her most recent play in town, Ord said her search for a venue in the area that could support larger casts and choreography was fruitless.
“I love that we have such a large Okotoks/Foothills community that’s so into theatre and musical theatre, but there are not any venues that are made available to community theatre,” Ord said.
“It would be lovely to one day have a stage in Okotoks we could use that would suit a cast of 30 or 40, instead of three or four.”
It was the ensemble cast and crew that Ord credits for the success of her show.
“They worked so hard, so tirelessly, all the hours of prep and time,” she said.
“Also just the choreography and the acting, the efforts that were put into their character. I’m so beyond amazed."
The CAT Awards will be announced Sept. 9 in a formal dress event at Telus Spark and information can be found at calgary-acts.com.
The full list of local nominations is as follows:
- Outstanding Performance by a Supporting Role in a Play
Wayne Arsenault as Dave - The Full Monty - Dewdney Players
Patrick Brown as Gerald - The Full Monty - Dewdney Players
Kelly Kozak as Sir Andrew Aguecheek - Twelfth Night - Dewdney Players - Outstanding Performance by a Chorus/Ensemble in a Play
The Full Monty - Dewdney Players - Outstanding Soundscape (Play)
Ben Seders - The Full Monty - Dewdney Players - Outstanding Direction of a Play
Sherene Seders - The Full Monty - Dewdney Players - Outstanding Production of a Play
- The Full Monty - Dewdney Players
- Outstanding Direction of a Musical
Maren Ord Burnham, Sheri Holt Christensen & Whitney Smith - The Gardener – A Musical - Maren Ord Music - Outstanding Performance by a Chorus/Ensemble in a Musical
The Gardener - A Musical - Maren Ord Music - Outstanding Engineering/SFX (Musical)
Mark Mitchell & Sebastian D - The Gardener - A Musical - Maren Ord Music - Outstanding Musical Direction
Maren Ord Burnham - The Gardener - A Musical - Maren Ord Music - Outstanding Choreography
Kimberly Johnson & Kylie Eastman - The Gardener - A Musical - Maren Ord Music - Outstanding Fight Direction
Kimberly Johnson - The Gardener - A Musical - Maren Ord Music - Outstanding Original Script or Adaptation and/or Composition
Maren Ord Burnham - The Gardener - A Musical - Maren Ord Music - Outstanding Production of a Musical
The Gardener - A Musical - Maren Ord Music
