We’ve had a big week here at the HRACT Awards, with our voters who are in the 100% group (see the rules here) having some very tough meetings to decide who the nominees are for the 2023-24 season! The winners will be announced at our awards ceremony on August 15 at the Ferguson Center at CNU. If you are nominated, you should be either hearing from the theater your nomination is associated with or from us directly with the opportunity to attend the show. If you would like to attend but are not a nominee, or have not heard from your associated theater or from us by July 20th, feel free to reach out to us at HRACTAwards@gmail.com as we may have a few tickets available above those allocated to the theaters (all tickets are free). We would love to have you!
If you have a spelling correction or a correction for who should be credited with a nomination (such as a Hair/Makeup Designer that should be included with the Costume Designer in the Best Costume/Hair/Makeup Design category, or a Music Director that should be included with the Sound Designer in the Best Sound Design category, etc), please let us know as soon as possible at HRACTAwards@gmail.com. Changes we know about by July 7th will be reflected on nomination certificates given out at the awards ceremony.
Without further ado, here are the 2023-24 nominations for the Hampton Roads Achievement in Community Theater Awards!
*Note: The theaters’ names have been shortened –
Downing-Gross Cultural Arts Center = DG
Generic Theater = Generic
Little Theatre of Norfolk = LTN
Little Theatre of Virginia Beach = LTVB
Peninsula Community Theatre = PCT
Smithfield Little Theatre = SLT
Williamsburg Players = WP
BEST PLAY
Flyin’ West at Generic
Radium Girls at LTN
A Raisin in the Sun at LTVB
The Outsider at LTVB
Indecent at Generic
BEST MUSICAL
Urinetown: The Musical at LTN
A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder at LTVB
The Color Purple at DG
The Sound of Music at SLT
A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder at LTN
BEST CHOREOGRAPHY
Amy Harbin for Urinetown: The Musical at LTN
Jennifer Kelly-Cooper for Escape to Margaritaville at LTVB
Garret Roberts for Little Shop of Horrors at WP
Hannah Martin for The Sound of Music at SLT
Amy Harbin for A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder at LTN
BEST SCENIC DESIGN
Mike Hilton & George Horvath for The Play That Goes Wrong at LTVB
Bill Velardi for Brighton Beach Memoirs at WP
Kerri Crosby for But Why Bump Off Barnaby? at LTN
Robert Cox, Steve Kellberg, Mike Hildreth, Jenifer Wylie & Rob Fortner for Exit Laughing at SLT
Jessica Lahm for A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder at LTN
BEST COSTUME/HAIR/MAKEUP DESIGN
Meg Murray & Becky Styles for Flyin’ West at Generic
Kathy Hinson & Corey Jay Hinson for Radium Girls at LTN
Gwen Butler for The Color Purple at DG
Karen Buchheim, Kathryn Pinner & Marilyn Abernathy for A Murder is Announced at LTVB
Jan Clapp Bomar, Elaine Brown & Pam Revill for The Sound of Music at SLT
BEST LIGHTING
John Wilt for The Prom at PCT
Derrion La’Zachan for A Raisin in the Sun at LTVB
Dillon Bates for The Sound of Music at SLT
Scott Hayes for Calendar Girls at PCT
Jason Amato for Indecent at Generic
BEST SOUND DESIGN
Serenity Jones & Andre Magalhaes for Urinetown: The Musical at LTN
Serenity Jones for Chicken & Biscuits at LTN
Don Curnutte, Trey Gwaltney & Karen Willard for The Sound of Music at SLT
Serenity Jones, Ben Blanchard & Mike Hallberg for Indecent at Generic
Dave Petry & Joseph Bray for A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder at LTN
BEST DIRECTOR
Jeff Seneca for The Play That Goes Wrong at LTVB
Terrance Afer-Anderson for Flyin’ West at Generic
Sharon Cook for A Raisin in the Sun at LTVB
Dillon Bates for The Sound of Music at SLT
Maryanne Kiley for Indecent at Generic
BEST PERFORMANCE IN A LEADING FEMALE ROLE (MUSICAL)
Sofia Jameson Strick as Emma Nolan in The Prom at PCT
Hannah Crowder as Mabel Normand in Mack and Mabel at WP
Jessi DiPette as Sibella Hallward in A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder at LTVB & LTN
Chasida Taylor as Celie in The Color Purple at DG
Monique Melchor as Maria in The Sound of Music at SLT
BEST PERFORMANCE IN A LEADING MALE ROLE (MUSICAL)
TréVeon Porchia as Tully in Escape to Margaritaville at LTVB
Kobie Smith as Montague “Monty” Navarro in A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder at LTVB
Jonathan Aspin as Seymour in Little Shop of Horrors at WP
Andreas Zollos as Captain Georg von Trapp in The Sound of Music at SLT
Andrew Dulce as Montague “Monty” Navarro in A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder at LTN
BEST PERFORMANCE IN A SUPPORTING MALE ROLE (MUSICAL)
Cody Hall as Brick in Escape to Margaritaville at LTVB
Jeffrey Nicoloff as Barry Glickman in The Prom at PCT
Lu Chambers as Mister in The Color Purple at DG
Derrion Hawkins as Harpo in The Color Purple at DG
John Cauthen as Mr. Mushnik in Little Shop of Horrors at WP
BEST PERFORMANCE IN A SUPPORTING FEMALE ROLE (MUSICAL)
Chasida Taylor as Lottie Ames in Mack and Mabel at WP
Heather Eddy as Phoebe D’Ysquith in A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder at LTVB
Hope Swindler as Liesl von Trapp in The Sound of Music at SLT
Arna Majcher as The Mother Abbess in The Sound of Music at SLT
Sophia Stopyra as Phoebe D’Ysquith in A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder at LTN
BEST PERFORMANCE IN A LEADING FEMALE ROLE (NON-MUSICAL)
Jennifer Kelly-Cooper as Sophie Washington in Flyin’ West at Generic
Destiny Deater as Jean in Dead Man’s Cell Phone at PCT
Ashe O’Leary as Grace Fryer in Radium Girls at LTN
Lyra Hale as Amanda Prynne in Private Lives at WP
Carla Turner as Lena “Mama” Younger in A Raisin in the Sun at LTVB
BEST PERFORMANCE IN A LEADING MALE ROLE (NON-MUSICAL)
Davis Haymes as Robert Grové in The Play That Goes Wrong at LTVB
Jack Zeis as Eugene in Brighton Beach Memoirs at WP
Clifford Clark as Walter Lee Younger in A Raisin in the Sun at LTVB
Joseph White as Dave Riley in The Outsider at LTVB
Greg Dragas as The Ingénue, Avram in Indecent at Generic
BEST PERFORMANCE IN A SUPPORTING MALE ROLE (NON-MUSICAL)
James McDaniel 5th as Finbar Mack in The Weir at Generic
Sacha Marvin as Joseph Asagai in A Raisin in the Sun at LTVB
Kiyante Malik as Steven Dumbrosky in The Viewing Room at Generic
Connor Norton as Ned Newley in The Outsider at LTVB
Ed Palmer as The Stage Manager, Lemml in Indecent at Generic
BEST PERFORMANCE IN A SUPPORTING FEMALE ROLE (NON-MUSICAL)
Ashlee Rey as Minnie Dove Charles in Flyin’ West at Generic
Corey Jay Hinson as Kathryn in Radium Girls at LTN
Salem Rogers as Beneatha Younger in A Raisin in the Sun at LTVB
Erika Patrick as Ruth Younger in A Raisin in the Sun at LTVB
Helen Hope as Dora Dunstock in But Why Bump Off Barnaby? at LTN
BEST PERFORMANCE OF A SONG (SOLO/SMALL GROUP)
Jeffrey Nicoloff’s performance of “Barry Is Going to Prom” in The Prom at PCT
Kobie Smith, Jessi DiPette & Heather Eddy’s performance of “I’ve Decided to Marry You” in A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder at LTVB
Chasida Taylor’s performance of “I’m Here” in The Color Purple at DG
Arna Majcher’s performance of “Climb Every Mountain” in The Sound of Music at SLT
Michael McOsker & Mia Haymes’s performance of “Follow Your Heart” in Urinetown: The Musical at LTN
BEST PERFORMANCE OF A SONG (ENSEMBLE)
The Company’s performance of “Urinetown” in Urinetown: The Musical at LTN
The Company’s performance of “The Last One You’d Expect” in A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder at LTVB
The Company’s performance of “The Color Purple (Reprise)” in The Color Purple at DG
The Company’s performance of “Do-Re-Mi” in The Sound of Music at SLT
The Company’s performance of “Why Are All the D’Ysquiths Dying” in A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder at LTN
BEST COMEDIC ACTING
Jessica Lahm as Officer Lockstock in Urinetown: The Musical at LTN
Robert Shirley as The D’Ysquith Family in A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder at LTVB
Matthew Hipkins as Man #2 (Reggie, Aaron’s future son) in First Date at PCT
Rhondée Caldwell as Louise “Lulu” Peakes in The Outsider at LTVB
Steven Meeks as The D’Ysquith Family in A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder at LTN
BEST SEASON SERIES
Little Theatre of Virginia Beach
Peninsula Community Theatre
Little Theatre of Norfolk
Generic Theater
Smithfield Little Theatre
HRACT Awards 