Little Theatre Leads With 19 Award Nods

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By Michael J. Toscano

Special to the Washington Post
Thursday, January 24, 2008

Little Theatre of Alexandria topped the list of nominees for the eighth annual Washington Area Theatre Community Honors, or WATCH awards.

With 19 nominations in performance and technical categories, the Alexandria troupe edged out the Reston Community Players, with 17, and Herndon's Elden Street Players, with 16 nods.

The Northern Virginia theater companies will compete against Maryland's Kensington Arts Theatre, 17 nominations, and Silver Spring Stage, 13, including three of six nominations for outstanding play.

In all, 109 productions -- 30 musicals and 79 plays -- were judged in 2007, and 29 community theater companies in Virginia, the District and Maryland participated. The awards will be announced at a March 2 gala at the Birchmere in Alexandria.

The nominations represented a setback for the Elden Street Players, which dominated many of the top categories in recent years. They also show continued recognition of Silver Spring Players for their intimate dramas, and the emergence of the Kensington Arts Players as a top community-based producer of musicals in the region.

Here are the nominations in the top performance categories.

Outstanding Musical

"Into the Woods" by Rockville Musical Theatre

"Nevermore" by Kensington Arts Theatre

"Seussical" by Reston Community Players

"Sweeney Todd" by Kensington Arts Theatre

"Thoroughly Modern Millie" by Arlington Players

Outstanding Play

"Agnes of God" by Silver Spring Stage