Spamalot king of Sterling Awards.
Shares theatre honours with Let the Light of Day Through
In the end, the spirit of pure daffiness (applied with an expert hand) reigned at the lively 26th annual Sterling Awards gala Monday night.
The Citadel “found its grail” in Monty Python’s Spamalot, the Broadway musical spoofing Broadway musicals and pillaging the medieval period in the process. Bob Baker’s exuberantly non-scholarly production took home six Sterlings, including outstanding musical and outstanding director, as the theatre community put on its party frocks and pumps to celebrate the past season on Edmonton stages.
Sharing top honours from the jury was an audacious play, of Edmonton provenance that, unusually, took home Sterlings as both outstanding new work and outstanding production. Collin Doyle’s Let the Light of Day Through, which followed a couple reinventing themselves after a horrific tragedy, premièred at Theatre Network in a Bradley Moss production that bravely allowed both laughter and tears in full measure. It garnered Sterlings, as well, for Jesse Gervais as leading actor and Scott Peters for a resonant lighting design.
The Citadel’s seven Sterlings, more than any other theatre, included nods for musical director Don Horsburgh and choreographer Laura Krewski, who attacked Arthurian myth with vigour in Spamalot. And designer Cory Sincennes won twice, for his work on two high-contrast Citadel musicals: Spamalot (costumes) and Next to Normal (set).
Curiously, after receiving more nominations (seven) than any other single production, Catalyst Theatre’s latest, The Soul Collector, a dark musical custom-tailored for us winter people by Jonathan Christenson and Bretta Gerecke, went home empty-handed. So did Teatro La Quindicina’s revival of Pith!, a best production nominee that had acting nominations for its threemember cast. Northern Light’s much-nominated production of 6.0: How Heap And Pebble Took On The World And Won, with six, won a single Sterling for Dave Clarke’s witty and haunting score.
The jurors, made up of 22 people from various parts of the Edmonton theatre scene, dispersed the acting awards to performances at four different theatres. Her riveting performance in Northern Light Theatre’s An Accident, an acting challenge that in its early scenes allowed only for facial movement, garnered Melissa Thingelstad the outstanding leading actress Sterling.
Belinda Cornish, who made of Brutus’s wife a tragic and involving figure in the Freewill Shakespeare Festival’s Julius Caesar, led the supporting actress field. And Farren Timoteo now has a supporting actor Sterling, in honour of his attack on an assortment of Spamalot assignments, including several corpses and a lovestruck musical theatre wannabe.
Leading the five Fringe awards, with three, was Fatboy, an outrageous comedy satire by Dave Horak at last year’s summer festival.
The festivities, hosted by Amy Shostak and Sheldon Elter, were opened by Alberta Culture Minister Heather Klimchuk.
And the song-and-dance team of the Mandels, Edmonton’s arts-loving mayor and his wife, addressed the crowd. Edmonton’s innovative francophone theatre, L’UniThéâtre, was honoured.
The Sterling award winners
Outstanding production of a play: Let the Light of Day Through (Theatre Network) Timothy Ryan Award for outstanding production of a musical: Monty Python’s Spamalot (Citadel) Outstanding new play: Let the Light of Day Through by Collin Doyle (Theatre Network) Outstanding director: Bob Baker, Monty Python’s Spamalot (Citadel) Outstanding performance by an actor in a leading role: Jesse Gervais, Let the Light of Day Through (Theatre Network) Outstanding performance by an actress in a leading role: Melissa Thingelstad, An Accident (Northern Light Theatre) Outstanding performance by an actor in a supporting role: Farren Timoteo, Monty Python’s Spamalot (Citadel) Outstanding performance by an actress in a supporting role: Belinda Cornish, Julius Caesar (Freewill Shakespeare Festival) Outstanding independent production: Murielle (Blarney/ Promise Productions) Outstanding set design: Cory Sincennes, Next to Normal (Citadel Theatre/Theatre Calgary) Outstanding costume design: Cory Sincennes, Monty Python’s Spamalot (Citadel) Outstanding lighting design: Scott Peters, Let the Light of Day Through (Theatre Network) Outstanding score of a play or musical: Dave Clarke, 6.0: How Heap and Pebble Took on the World and Won (Northern Light) Outstanding musical director: Don Horsburgh, Monty Python’s Spamalot (Citadel) Outstanding choreography or fight direction: Laura Krewski, Monty Python’s Spamalot (Citadel) Outstanding production for young audiences: Murielle (Blarney/Promise Productions) Outstanding artistic achievement, theatre for young audiences: Matthew Hulshof, actor (Smoke Screen, Concrete Theatre) Individual achievement in production: Cheryl Hoover, Citadel production manager Outstanding Fringe production: Fatboy Outstanding Fringe new work: Pushed by Jessica Peveritt Outstanding Fringe performance by an actress: Shannon Blanchet, Von Mitterbrink’s Second Outstanding Fringe performance by an actor: Fred Zbryski, Fatboy Outstanding Fringe director: Dave Horak, Fatboy The Margaret Mooney Award for outstanding achievement in administration: Al Rasko Outstanding contribution to theatre in Edmonton: L’UniThéâtre The Ross Hill Award for career achievement in production: Bill Heron A Special Sterling for 30 years of outstanding media coverage: Liz Nicholls, Edmonton Journal