Photo courtesy of Joel Markowitz

I’ve never been to an awards ceremony before. Certainly not one like this.

Even though I spent the entire last month obsessing over the Academy Awards, I didn’t know what to expect when I arrived at The Birchmere for the 2010 Washington Area Theatre Community Honors (WATCH) awards. A year into my introductory DC theatre tour of duty I heard a lot about the annual event that recognizes the best in community theatre for the past year. I saw many familiar faces and friends in the packed room of 450, many of them nominated for one of the 38 awards to be presented that night. A couple of the shows I worked in the past year were nominated but for me it was generally a night to take in a longtime DC theatre tradition. The WATCH Awards celebrated it’s 10th year and has grown to include over 30 member companies across DC, Maryland, and Virginia.

The event was hosted by local actor Fred Nelson and kept things moving pretty quick, many warned me that it would be a long night. Reston Community Players‘ production of Curtains cleaned up last night, the show that I originally reported had the most nominations walked away with 12 WATCH awards including Outstanding Musical. Silver Spring Stage walked away with 8 total WATCH awards including Outstanding Play for their production of The Goat or, Who is Sylvia?

Congratulations to all the winners, the complete list of award recipients can be found below.

Outstanding Lighting Design – Musical: Ken and Patti Crowley, Curtains, Reston Community Players

Outstanding Lighting Design – Play: Chris Curtis, Columbinus, Silver Spring Stage

Outstanding Sound Design – Musical: Rich Bird, Curtains, Reston Community Players

Outstanding Sound Design – Play: Kevin Garrett, Columbinus, Silver Spring Stage

Outstanding Costume Design – Musical: Grant Kevin Lane, Follies, The Arlington Players

Outstanding Costume Design – Play: Melody Sciarratta, A Man for All Seasons, Port Tobacco Players

Outstanding Set Design – Musical: Skip Larson, Rick Schneider, and Andrew JM Regiec, Curtains, Reston Community Players

Outstanding Set Design – Play: John Reckeweg, Angel Street, Port Tobacco Players

Outstanding Set Construction – Musical: Sarah Birkhead, Curtains, Reston Community Players

Outstanding Set Construction – Play: Andew Greenleaf and Eric Henry, The Mousetrap, Silver Spring Stage

Outstanding Set Painting – Musical: Cathy Reider, Curtains, Reston Community Players

Outstanding Set Painting – Play: MYKE, Gross Indecency, Little Theatre of Alexandria

Outstanding Set Decoration and Set Dressing – Musical (Tie): Jenna Ballard, One Red Flower, Kensington Arts Theatre; Evan Hoffman and Malca Giblin, The Great American Trailer Park Musical, Kensington Arts Theatre

Outstanding Set Decoration and Set Dressing – Play: C. Evan Kirk, The Art of Murder, Little Theatre of Alexandria

Outstanding Properties – Musical: Jenna Ballard & Brian Dettling, One Red Flower, Kensington Arts Theatre

Outstanding Properties – Play: Sonya Okin, The Goat, or Who is Sylvia? Silver Spring Stage

Outstanding Makeup Design – Musical: Avery Burns, Follies, The Arlington Players

Outstanding Makeup Design – Play: Paul Morton, Gross Indecency, Little Theatre of Alexandria

Outstanding Hair Design – Musical: Bette Williams, Follies, The Arlington Players

Outstanding Hair Design – Play: E. Lynda Bruce-Lewis, Amadeus, Greenbelt Arts Center

Outstanding Special Effects: Andrew Greeenleaf, The Mousetrap, Silver Spring Stage

Outstanding cameo – Musical (Tie): Roy Barbacow as “Waiter/Caroler” She Loves Me, Colonial Players;  Josh Doyle as “Charles Lindbergh” Flight of the Lawnchair Man, CCT with 2nd Flight Theatre Company

Outstanding Cameo – Play (Tie): Joe Helein as “The Hustler” Six Degrees of Separation, CCT with 2nd Flight Theatre Company; Gayle Nichols-Grimes as “Ann Marwood Bartle” Jeffrey, Dominion Stage

Outstanding Featured Actress – Musical: Katie McManus as “Georgia Hendricks” Curtains, Reston Community Players

Outstanding Featured Actor – Musical: Mike Hoskinson as “Dave Bukatinsky” The Full Monty, Reston Community Players

Outstanding Featured Actress – Play: Mollie Wise as “Betty Meeks” The Foreigner, Little Theatre of Alexandria

Outstanding Featured Actor – Play: Randy Tusing as “Thomas Cromwell” A Man for All Seasons, Port Tobacco Players

Outstanding Lead Actress – Musical: Susanna Todd as “Gracie” Flight of the Lawnchair Man, CCT with 2nd Flight Theatre Company

Outstanding Lead Actor – Musical: Blakeman Brophy as “Lt. Frank Cioffi” Curtains, Reston Community Players

Outstanding Lead Actress – Play: Laura Russell as “Stevie” The Goat or, Who is Sylvia?, Silver Spring Stage

Outstanding Lead Actor – Play: James Raby as “Antonio Salieri” Amadeus, St. Mark’s Players

Outstanding Stage Combat Choreography: Brian Farrell & Karen Schlumpf , Curtains, Reston Community Players

Outstanding Choreography: Andrea Heininge , Curtains, Reston Community Players

Outstanding Music Direction: Mark Deal, Curtains, Reston Community Players

Outstanding Direction of a Musical: Andrew JM Regiec , Curtains, Reston Community Players

Outstanding Direction of a Play: Bridget Muehlberger & Andrea Spitz , columbinus, Silver Spring Stage

Outstanding Musical: Curtains, Reston Community Players

Outstanding Play: The Goat or, Who is Sylvia?, Silver Spring Stage

Today the headlines may be about this morning Oscar nominations but a couple weeks ago the DC theatre scene was already buzzing with the recent announcement of the Washington Area Theatre Community Honors awards. The organization nominates and rewards the best in community theatre in the Washington DC area.

Back on January 17th, the nominees were announced 38 categories. The big nominees were Reston Community Players (32 nominations), Little Theatre of Alexandria (27 nominations), and Silver Spring Stage (23 nominations). Reston was not only the most nominated theatre but also had the top two nominated shows, with their recent production of Curtains earning 19 nominations including outstanding musical. Reston’s production of The Full Monty came in second with 13 nominations. The Arlington Player’s production of Follies came in third with 12 nominations.

Here are the nominees for outstanding musical and play (the complete list can be found here):

Outstanding Musical

• Curtains – Reston Community Players
• Falsettos – Elden Street Players
• Follies – Arlington Players
• The Full Monty – Reston Community Players
• The Musical of Musicals – Elden Street Players

Outstanding Play

• columbinus – Silver Spring Stage
• The Goat or, Who is Sylvia? – Silver Spring Stage
• Gross Indecency – Little Theatre of Alexandria
• It Runs in the Family – Little Theatre of Alexandria
• Six Degrees of Separation – CCT with 2nd Flight Theatre Company

The awards will be announced and presented at a ceremony on March 14th at The Birchmere. The WATCH awards are the first of the local theatre awards in the DC area, with the Ruby Griffith awards and Helen Hayes awards presented later in the year.