Arts Club’s Angels flies high at Jessie Awards
Arts Club Theatre Company big winner at event honouring city’s best in stage
When the 35th annual Jessie Richardson Theatre Awards were handed out Monday night at the Commodore Ballroom it was The Arts Club Theatre Company’s Angels in America: Millennium Approaches which took home the outstanding production award in the large theatre category.
The Pulitzer-prize winning Tony Kushner play about the HIV/AIDS crisis in New York in the mid-’80s also earned outstanding actor in a lead role for Damien Atkins and outstanding sound for Torquil Campbell and Alessandro Juliani.
The Arts Club scored two other victories: Valin Shinyei for his supporting role performance in Billy Elliot: The Musical, while Dorothy Dittrich earned the Jessie for outstanding original script for The Piano Teacher.
The Jessie Awards are divided into three categories: Large theatre, small theatre and theatre for young audiences. A variety of special awards were also presented. This past season saw 40-plus companies register more than 70 productions.
Also winning a Jessie in the large theatre category was Bard on the Beach’s Pericles. Considered one of Shakespeare’s stranger works the play, based on the Greek legend of Apollonius of Tyre, garnered three nods with Lois Anderson winning for outstanding direction, along with honours going to lighting designer John Webber and costume designer Carmen Alatorre.
Alatorre also won a second Jessie that night for her work in the small theatre category’s Walt Whitman’s Secret by the frank theatre company.
Rounding out the large theatre category with three awards was Touchstone Theatre’s Brothel #9. Scoring the hardware for Touchstone was Adele Noronha for lead actress and Laara Sadiq for her performance in a supporting role and Drew Facey for set design.
In the small theatre category, Realwheels led the group with three Jessie awards for its production Creeps. The show won for outstanding production and the ensemble of Paul Beckett, David Bloom, Genevieve Fleming, Brett Harris, David A. Kaye, Aaron Roderick and Adam Grant Warren won for significant artistic achievement. Lauchlin Johnston won for set design.
Alexandra Lainfiesta claimed honours for her turn in Solo Collective’s Green Lake along with Rachel Peake for outstanding direction in this production. Also scoring acting awards in the small theatre category were Kyle Jespersen for his performance in The Fighting Season by Bleeding Heart Theatre, Yoshié Bancroft for Ithaka by dream of passion productions, and Excavation Theatre and Ashley O’Connell for The Slamming Door Artist Collective’s Flare Path.
Winners were spread out across the theatre for young audiences category.
Axis Theatre Company won for the design of the production of Somebody Loves You, Mr. Hatch, acknowledging the creative work of Chris McGregor for outstanding artistic design and Barbara Clayden and Frank Radar for their outstanding design.
Puppet creativity was awarded for Freddie in the Neighbourhood by The Little Onion Puppet Company for the work of Randi Edmundson and Jess Amy Shead and for their outstanding performances. The show also landed the outstanding production honour.
The Vancouver NOW Representation and Inclusion Award was given to Chris Gatchalian for producing the 16/17 season that included Q2Q, the first queer theatre Conference in Canada.