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Jessies

Wow (The 2011 Jessie Awards)

Jun 21st, 2011
by Lois.
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Angela Konrad, me, & Sabrina Evertt with Glass City Theatre's Best Production Jessie. June 20, 2011

I had a pretty fantastic night last night.  I danced until my feet bled. I cheered until I lost my voice. I partied with the Vancouver Theatre community in recognition of a great year of theatre in Vancouver. And most of all, I celebrated with friends as they were nominated for and won awards. A huge congratulations is in order to Rob Olguin who took home the “Best Actor – Small Theatre” Jessie.  Also, Drew Facey (Set Design – Small Theatre – for Playland at PT), Ron Reed & the PT team (Significant Artistic Achievement – Small Theatre – Curation and Execution of an Outstanding Season), Evan Frayne (Sam Payne Award), and Cheryl Hutcherson (Mary Phillips Award for Behind the Scenes Involvement). I am so thrilled that I know all of you and get to create theatre with you.

The highlight for me  was the announcement of the “Outstanding Production – Small Theatre” Jessie being given to Glass City Theatre’s Jesus Hopped the ‘A’ Train.

A year ago I was in Chemainus looking at my computer and trying to figure out a budget that would allow us to hire the talented people we wanted to work with.  I am so proud to see what came of that.  I was sitting at a table with Sabrina Evertt, the costume designer for ‘A’ Train, and I think she just about fell out of her seat when they announced it.

Mike & Rob – I can’t wait to see what you do next.

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For a list of all the winners, head over to the official Jessie Awards website. Or check out the live blog from Rebecca Bolwitt (Aka Miss604).  Can you find me in a photo on that post?

The Jessie Awards Recognize Outstanding Stage Management

Jun 9th, 2010
by Lois.
1 comment

A year ago, the lovely Nick Keenan wrote a blog post about the lack of awards for stage management.  He asked:

How in the WORLD can we structure an award for best stage management?

Sure, it’s a tricky award to evaluate – there are enough pitfalls in evaluating design (which still can be flashy, brash and loud enough to draw attention to itself), let alone a role that is quieter if not more central to the functioning of theatrical performance. The very definition of good stage management is when it just works, seamlessly, brilliantly, and without leaving any trace of emotional, procedural or intellectual tint on the designs, direction or performances. That is a no-mistake tough job.

And as he searched for places that do award stage management, I commented that there wasn’t really a place within the current structure of Vancouver’s Jessie Richardson Awards for the recognition of stage management.  Once more, I have been proved wrong.

This year in the large theatre category, the Jury saw fit to use one of their five Significant Artistic Achievement nominations to recognize the “Outstanding Stage Management Team” behind the Arts Club Theatre‘s production of Les Miserables.  Who knows whether the stage managers will be able to beat out the projection design from Beyond Eden, the musical direction of Les Miserables, the visual art of Beyond Eden or the ensemble cast of the Alter Boyz, but I’d say that this is one situation where the nomination itself is a very big deal.  This sets the bar for the possibility of future years’ juries doing the same thing and using the “Significant Artistic Achievement” category to recognize the work of outstanding stage managers & stage management teams.

Awards for Stage Managing

Jun 9th, 2009
by Lois.
2 comments

My friend Nick posted today about the lack of awards for Stage Managers in both the big awards shows (Tonys) & the smaller community based awards.

Nick suggests that “the need is really to recognize SMs who are emerging in their careers and trying to get enough work to develop their craft into full-time work, which is really what I see these awards as being all about anyway….My feeling is that public recognition by the community enables a talented SM to be exposed to larger theaters so that they can do their work and get compensated appropriately for it. Without that recognition, the SM is the most likely position to achieve burn out.”

Here in Vancouver at the Jessies there is the Mary Phillips Prize for Behind-the-Scenes Achievement which is

“Awarded to an unsung hero. The recipient is nominated from the community and chosen by a private committee. Nomination forms are available online and must be received by April 30th. The recipient is chosen by a private committee. Receives a cash prize.”

This is not specifically an award for Stage Managing, but I have seen stage managers win it before.

So. Should there be awards for stage management? If there should be, what should they look like? Chime in here, or over on Nick’s post.

The June To-See List (and what I saw/worked on in May)

Jun 1st, 2009
by Lois.
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It’s been a very busy month for me theatrically.

In May I saw the following plays:

  1. John & Beatrice (Pi Theatre)
  2. Secret World of Og (Carousel Theatre)
  3. 36 Views (Tempus Theatre)
  4. Antigone Undone (Leaky Heaven Circus)
  5. Fat Pig (Mitch & Murray Equity Co-op)
  6. Les Miserables (Arts Club)
  7. Top Girls (Vancouver Playhouse)
  8. Palace of the End (Felix Culpa, Touchstone Theatre, & Horseshoes & Hand Grenades)

Based on this list, I still missed one show from my “To-See” list last month (Dying City), however I added Top Girls & Antigone Undone, so overall I feel pretty good about it as a month of theatre seeing.

I also rehearsed and opened You Still Can’t at Pacific Theatre. This monster of a show features 14 emerging theatre artists from a variety of theatre training programs as well as three “extras’ who volunteer and rotate through from night to night. In addition to a large cast (at least for our little 20″ by 22″ stage), it’s a very props heavy show. I’ve mentioned the dozen custom-made latex turkeys, but there’s also a working amusement park model, a Beatles-themed feast, & a working radio DJ booth. It’s been a crazy ride and it still runs for another two weeks.

The day after You Still Can’t closes I’ll be hopping a 7am bus to Kamloops to spend my summer working with Project X Productions on Hamlet & Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead. It’s going to be a fun summer as far as I’m concerned. Also, it will be a nice break from Vancouver (not that I hate Vancouver. I love Vancouver. I just need a bit of time to get away) and a chance to be close to my parents for a while.

Because I leave town on June 14th, my “To-See” list for June is quite short, though I’ve decided that I will list shows that I will not be seeing but that I think the rest of you should make sure to check out.

June To See List:
1. Othello (Bard on the Beach)
2. Flower Drum Song (VACT)

Shows that you should see, even though I won’t be seeing them:
1. The Walking Fish Festival (www.upintheairtheatre.com) {from what I hear this year has a whole range of shows from amazing to terrible – I’d love to hear what people think!}
2. The Comedy of Errors (Bard on the Beach)
3. All’s Well that Ends Well (Bard on the Beach)
4. Mixie and the Halfbreeds (Neworld Theatre)
5. Alter Boyz (Arts Club)

And for those of you in Vancouver for the month of June, don’t forget to attend the Jessie Richardson Awards for theatre. If I were in town, I’d definitely be there!
Let’s all see some theatre!

2008/2009 Jessie Nominations

May 19th, 2009
by Lois.
1 comment

This afternoon I attended the Jessie Nominations Party. It was the second year that I’ve gone, and I go because its much more fun to hear them read of the list of shows nominated (and sit in my seat playing the “I did see that, didn’t I?” game) than it is to read them on the internet later.

A few of my favorite moments:

- The announcers did not know how to pronounce ITSAZOO when announcing their nomination for Costume Design (Small Theatre)

- Celebrating with cast and designers I’ve worked with over the past two years on their nominations: Ron Reed (nominated for Best Supporting Actor, small theatre), Hamza Adams (nominated for Significant Artistic Achievement – Ensemble Cast, TYA), Drew Facey (2 nominations), Julia Mackey (nominated for Best Actress, small theatre) & Duncan Fraser (nominated for Best Actor, large theatre)

- Meeting @kenjimaeda in person (and on a day he got nominated!)

- Eating cherry tomatos stuffed with bacon?

I really enoyed my time this afternoon but there were a few things that kind of made me go “hmm…..”

- For all of Bard on the Beach’s 19 nominations, 15 were for the studio stage shows and 4 were for the mainstage.

- Ruby Slippers’ Life Savers, which I thought was okay, but didn’t love (which seems to be a common response from people I know who saw the show, and the critics) got 7 nominations across disciplines, the second highest in the small theatre category. I didn’t think it was that amazing.

- I spent much of the reception recognizing people and then playing the “I think I know who you are” game in my head, but not actually interacting with most of them. Makes me think that Vancouver Theatre needs more social events for folks in the industry to get to know one another.

To see a full list of nominees, visit www.jessies.ca.