Silver Spring Stage won the award for outstanding play for "Bedroom Farce," a frantic English comedy, at the Washington Area Theatre Community Honors gala, which recognized 2004 shows in Virginia, Maryland and the District.
The Vienna Theatre Company and the Little Theatre of Alexandria tied for the top musical award.
The Vienna troupe, upsetting the traditional big winners, took home seven awards at Sunday's ceremony for "Evita," the Andrew Lloyd Webber opus about Argentine icon Eva Peron. Little Theatre of Alexandria was honored for its production of "Cabaret," a dark look at Nazi Germany.
About 500 area actors, producers, directors, designers and technical personnel filled the Birchmere music hall in Alexandria for the 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," said emcee Mike Baker Jr. at the start of the three-hour 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.
Little Theatre of Alexandria, which had the most nominations, 28, took 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," and Fairfax's Providence Players group, in its first year of the WATCH competition, earned three as well for technical work on the comedy "The Man Who Came to Dinner."
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 M. 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 Kander and Ebb 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."
Several of those honored mentioned long hours away from families during rehearsals, including Pauline Griller-Mitchell, director of Silver Spring's "Bedroom Farce," a fast-paced charade by British playwright Alan Ayckbourn featuring three couples of various ages involved in romantic entanglements.
The director said, "I'd like to thank my husband, Thad, because he supported me when I would leave him night after night after night, and he's always encouraged me to do theater, so thank you, my darling."
