The Vienna Theatre Company and the Little Theatre of Alexandria tied for the top musical award at the Washington Area Theatre Community Honors (WATCH) gala, which recognized 2004 shows in Virginia, Maryland and the District.
The Vienna troupe, upsetting the traditional big winners, took home seven awards at Sunday's ceremony for "Evita," the Andrew Lloyd Webber opus about the Argentine cultural icon Eva Peron. Little Theatre of Alexandria was honored for its production of "Cabaret," a dark look at Nazi Germany.
Silver Spring Stage won the award for outstanding play for "Bedroom Farce," a frantic English comedy.
About 500 area actors, producers, directors, designers and technical personnel filled the Birchmere music hall in Alexandria for the warm and boisterous annual event. Twenty-four community theater companies in the region staged 90 productions last year, of which 25 were musicals and 65 plays.
"Theater is nothing more than life with all the dull bits cut out," joked emcee Mike Baker Jr. at the start of the three-hour awards presentation, the fifth year of the WATCH awards.
In addition to the presentation of awards for acting, directing, music and technical work, the gala featured performances from the five shows nominated in the Outstanding Musical category, including "Annie," from Aldersgate Church Community Theatre in the Alexandria area of Fairfax County; "Working," from the Reston Community Players; and "The Rocky Horror Show," from the Kensington Arts Theatre in Maryland.
Little Theatre of Alexandria, which at 28 had the most nominations, took home six awards, including three major category wins for "Cabaret" and two major acting wins for the heartwarming comedy/drama "Over the River and Through the Woods."
Silver Spring Stage earned three trophies for "Bedroom Farce," as did Fairfax's Providence Players, in their first year of the WATCH competition, for technical work on the comedy "The Man Who Came to Dinner."
Last year's big winner, the Reston Community Players, was nearly shut out, winning one award in a technical category.
Another traditional winner, the Elden Street Players of Herndon, picked up two technical awards and one major acting award. Scott Bailey won Outstanding Lead Actor in a Play for the farcical comedy "The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (Abridged)."
Just as Little Theatre of Alexandria's "Cabaret" and Vienna's "Evita" tied for Outstanding Musical, the directors of both productions won for Outstanding Achievement in Direction of a Musical. Each mention of Gloria DuGan, the 71-year-old director of "Evita," elicited wild cheers. Though DuGan was modest and brief in her acceptance remarks, actress Molly Wilmesherr, who played the title role in "Evita" and won Outstanding Performance as a Lead Actress in a Musical, praised the director in an emotional acceptance speech.
Calling DuGan "dedicated, determined, worldly, strong and intelligent," she said, "If you're an actor or actress, if you ever hear of this woman doing a musical, do yourself a favor and audition -- don't even think about it."
Frank D. Shutts II directed "Cabaret," choosing the recent revival version of the John Kander (music) and Fred Ebb (lyrics) musical, with story by Joe Masteroff. It's sleeker and darker than the original 1966 Broadway show or the 1972 film.
Shutts was not present, but producer Mary-Beth Toomey said the show had a message. "We took a very dark view of the musical, and we made it very chilling," she said. "It was important to Frank and the production cast that everyone understand that what happened in 'Cabaret' and what happened in Germany in 1939 hasn't really changed 100 percent yet. We wanted to bring that to life, and I think we succeeded."
Karen Jadlos Shotts was nominated for Outstanding Performance as a Lead Actress in the play and musical categories for her work as Annie Sullivan in the Arlington Players' "The Miracle Worker" and as Sally Bowles in Little Theatre of Alexandria's "Cabaret." She won for "The Miracle Worker," in which she portrayed the teacher to young Helen Keller, played by 8-year-old Mollie Clem.
Jadlos Shotts got the biggest laugh of the night when she accepted her trophy and quipped: "I'm really surprised. I really thought the kid would get it. And so, to that end, I'd like to thank Molly for being shorter than I am."
There were several other instances in which cast members competed against each other in performance categories, most notably the ensemble of Little Theatre of Alexandria's "Over the River and Through the Woods," a visit with an extended Italian American family that focuses on two sets of grandparents. Veteran actors Bernard Engel and Donald Neal, who played the grandfathers, were both nominated for Outstanding Performance as a Featured Actor in a Play; Engel won.
Longtime actress Marilyn Hausfeld and newcomer Elissa Hudson, who played the grandmothers, also were nominated for Outstanding Performance as a Featured Actress in a Play. Hudson won, and she seemed shocked by her success. "First time on the stage, first nomination, first win," she blurted out to laughter. "My mother, about 35 years ago, said, 'You know, kid, you belong on the stage.' And I said, 'Get out of here.' So this is for my mother."
With the Foundry Players of the District joining WATCH this year, there will be 99 productions to judge in 2005.
A complete list of winners can be found at www.washingtontheater.org.
