In Southern Md., an Honor to be Nominated
Several Groups Recognized by Washington Area Theatre Community Honors
Thursday, January 26, 2006; Page SM06
Community theaters in Southern Maryland garnered a dozen nominations for excellence from Washington Area Theatre Community Honors.
Hard Bargain Players, Port Tobacco Players and Tantallon Community Players learned of their nominations Jan. 15 during a ceremony in Alexandria.
  Katherine Prout as Marjorie and Brian Donohue as Mike in the Hard Bargain Players' "Extremities." (By Janet Zavistovich) |
Washington Area Theatre Community Honors is composed of 25 theater groups from Virginia, Maryland and the District. Judges from each company score other groups' productions based on technical achievement, performance and overall excellence.
For the first time, Hard Bargain Players in Accokeek received multiple nominations. Katherine Prout was nominated for lead actress in a play for "Extremities," and Alex Zavistovich was nominated for stage combat choreography in the same production. Director Janet Zavistovich wasn't surprised.
"He did some intricate stuff," she said. "He worked for several weeks to get them comfortable with the moves. If they hadn't done it correctly, they could have gotten badly hurt."
Port Tobacco Players of La Plata led the Southern Maryland groups with eight nominations, three of them for a production of "Honk!" last March. Suzanne L. Donohue was nominated for outstanding direction, Leslie Newkirk got the nod for lead actress in a musical, and Alex Zavistovich received his second nomination, this time for outstanding featured actor.
Donohue said she was excited about her nomination but even more pleased for her actors.
"They were so great to work with," Donohue said. Speaking of Newkirk, she said, "Not only did she give a terrific performance but she did it with two broken legs." Newkirk received a diagnosis of stress fractures in each leg during the production but continued to perform despite the injuries.
Alex Zavistovich credits his directors for both of his nominations. "I was trying to realize the director's vision," he said. "They both had very specific ideas of what they wanted me to do, and I just tried to listen to them as much as possible."
Port Tobacco Players was also recognized for technical excellence for its production of "The Christmas Schooner." John Merritt was nominated for three different awards in the categories of set design, set construction and set painting. Merritt and Keith Linville also received a nomination for special effects for Port Tobacco's July production of "Singin' in the Rain."
Tantallon Community Players, based in the Harmony Hall Regional Center in Fort Washington, earned four nominations, all for a production of "The Mikado." Jo Rake got the nod for outstanding costume design, Andrew Dias III was nominated for outstanding featured actor, and Sheila Hyman received two nominations for outstanding hair design and outstanding makeup design. Hyman said she did a lot of research on Kabuki and geisha makeup to prepare for the show.
"I really enjoy the challenge," she said. "I like the transformation, making people look so different from themselves."
Washington Area Theatre Community Honors was formed with 10 charter members in 1999. This year , the group will add its 26th member. Each theater supplies five judges who view eight to 10 shows produced by other companies.
The winners will be announced Feb. 26 at the Birchmere in Alexandria.
A list of nominees is available athttp:/
