Elden, Reston Players Win Top Honors

Lisa Anne Bailey, far right, won the award for best actress in a musical for her portrayal of a stage mother in the Dominion Stage production of "Ruthless!" Also shown are Chris Gilespie, left, and Madeline McCabe. (Port City Playhouse)

Herndon's Elden Street Players and the Reston Community Players were top winners at the sixth annual Washington Area Theater Community Honors, with Elden Street taking the trophy for outstanding play and the Reston troupe winning outstanding musical honors.

For both groups, it is a return to the top spots in approval from members of the Washington area's theater community, after each company was almost shut out last year. The Elden Street Players won nine awards, eight for "The Weir," a play based on storytelling at an Irish pub. The Reston Community Players won six, all for the musical "Disney's Beauty and the Beast."

Little Theatre of Alexandria, another traditional winner, earned four awards for three plays last year, none in the major categories, while Alexandria's Port City Playhouse took an outstanding lead actor award for Michael Kharfen's role in "Hauptmann."

Judges evaluated 95 productions -- 25 musicals and 70 plays -- staged by 25 community theater companies in Northern Virginia, suburban Maryland and the District in 2005. The awards were announced Sunday night at Alexandria's Birchmere hall at a gala that featured selections from nominated musicals and drew almost 500 members of the theater community.

The Elden Street Players, which had 24 nominations, was the favorite for outstanding play because it had three of five nominees for "Dinner With Friends," "The Mystery of Irma Vep" and "The Weir." "The Weir" won not only in the best play category but also for direction by Angie Anderson and in six technical categories.

The Reston Community Players had 25 nominations, 23 for "Disney's Beauty and the Beast" and the other two for the musical "Honk!," a reworking of the Hans Christian Andersen tale of the ugly duckling Versatile character actor Chuck Dluhy won for supporting actor in a musical for his work as Lumiere in "Disney's Beauty and the Beast."

"Someone told me it was impossible to overproduce community theater," said Reston producer Rick Schneider. "But that's exactly what we set out to do from the very beginning, to make 'Beauty and the Beast' a big show, with everything over the top."

Emcee Mike Baker Jr. asked winners to keep acceptance speeches short. The only winner who followed his dictum was Jill Kerr, who won for set painting on "The Weir." "This is for my dad, who gave me my first paintbrush," was all she said.