Members of the cast and crew from KCP’s production of Anne of Green Gables had cause for celebration at last night’s annual ACT-CO Gala! Anne of Green Gables took home the Award for Best Youth Ensemble, Pam McIsaac received a nomination for Best Choreography and young cast member, Jake Villeneuve won the Award for Outstanding Performance by a Featured Artist! Adjudicator Autumn Smith credited Jake, saying “It was impossible to take my eyes off of him”.
Jessica Heppelle, Danielle Pozanovic, Jade Hesson, Ty Kennedy, Alyssa Cross, Meghan Durkin, Matthew Durkin, Zack Falconi, Rachel Beattie, Sarah Bransfield, Kierra McGregor, Savhanna Richter-Auger, Rachel Dallimore, Kieran Lacroix and Jake Villeneuve made up the winning Youth Ensemble cast.
Since 1932 the Association of Community Theatres – Central Ontario (ACT-CO) has been dedicated to supporting, encouraging and promoting community theatre. Annually, the organization holds a festival celebrating theatrical performances in the categories of Comedy, Drama and Musical. During festival season, theatres from across the region are eligible to enter a production into one of the three categories. An ACT-CO adjudicator will attend one night of each entered production and provide adjudication on all of the areas of the performance: the acting, the direction, sound design, stage design, stage management and the use of props. Praise, constructive criticism, and useful techniques are all provided to assist the group with future productions.
At the end of the festival, each adjudicator chooses nominees and recipients of awards, called “Theas”, presented in categories recognizing a variety of artistic achievements, including Best Production. These awards are announced and presented at the annual ACT-CO Gala. One of the three “Best Productions” is then chosen by the adjudicators to represent ACT- CO at the Theatre Ontario Festival in May.
On February 16, 2012 ACT-CO Adjudicator Autumn Smith attended KCP’s full company production of Anne of Green Gables. Autumn’s adjudication was a valuable learning experience for the entire cast and crew; an interactive and encouraging process that culminated in two awards and one nomination at last night’s gala event.
KCP congratulates all winners from last night’s gala; it was a magical celebration of community theatre across the region.