Year number two of the HRACT Awards is in the books!  Thank you to everyone for coming out to support the amazing community that these theaters create (and of course, some remarkable performances and impressive technical work).  We’ve got to run the credits one more time for all the incredible people who made the evening come together:

  1. Thank you to the Ferguson Center at CNU for giving us a venue, providing guidance, and professional production, all free of charge! 
  2. Thank you to Chandler Nunnally of WTKR’s Coast Live for entertaining us all evening as our host! 
  3. Thank you to Josh Stubbs of J. Stubbs Photography for volunteering his time and talent to photograph and document our event!
  4. Thank you to Lori Yankoski for providing us with musical accompaniment throughout the night!
  5. Thank you to Paul Mulherin for being our “voice behind the curtain”!
  6. Thank you to our whole team of wonderful volunteers who made the night happen! 
  7. Thank you to our five musical performances who came out to give encore performances of their songs from throughout the year – you all were truly fantastic and a blast to work with! 
  8. Thank you to our eighteen award presenters, including Mayor Phillip Jones of Newport News, Bruce Bronstein of CNU, seven participating theaters, and nine ACT-y winners from last year!
  9. Thank you to those same theaters for being willing to take this journey with us, and providing your support, coordinating with us and spending time getting tickets to your nominees and other interested parties!
  10. And of course, thank you to all the winners, nominees, and everyone else who has read our reviews, interacted with us, and have otherwise created or supported community theater in our Hampton Roads area this year!

Without further ado – the 2024-2025 HRACT Awards go to…

*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

Ripcord at LTVB

BEST MUSICAL

How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying at LTVB

BEST CHOREOGRAPHY

Jennifer Kelly-Cooper for Memphis at LTN

BEST SCENIC DESIGN

Matthew Gorris for Misery at LTVB

BEST COSTUME/HAIR/MAKEUP DESIGN

Jenn Melms, Andrew Smith, Elaine Brown, & Marilyn B. Bailey for Ragtime at SLT

BEST LIGHTING

Derrion La’Zachan Hawkins for Choir Boy at LTN

BEST SOUND DESIGN

Mike Hallberg & Brandy Bollen for Tarrytown at Generic

BEST DIRECTOR

Tré Porchia for Choir Boy at LTN

BEST PERFORMANCE IN A LEADING FEMALE ROLE (MUSICAL)

Sarah Schweit as Mrs. Lovett in Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street at LTN

BEST PERFORMANCE IN A LEADING MALE ROLE (MUSICAL)

Michael McOsker as J. Pierrepont Finch in How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying at LTVB

BEST PERFORMANCE IN A SUPPORTING MALE ROLE (MUSICAL)

Robert Shirley as J. B. Biggley in How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying at LTVB

BEST PERFORMANCE IN A SUPPORTING FEMALE ROLE (MUSICAL)

Coral Mapp as Smitty in How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying at LTVB

BEST PERFORMANCE IN A LEADING FEMALE ROLE (NON-MUSICAL)

Kathy Hinson as Annie Wilkes in Misery at LTVB

BEST PERFORMANCE IN A LEADING MALE ROLE (NON-MUSICAL)

John Cauthen as Elwood P. Dowd in Harvey at WP

BEST PERFORMANCE IN A SUPPORTING MALE ROLE (NON-MUSICAL)

Jacar McNeil as David Heard in Choir Boy at LTN

BEST PERFORMANCE IN A SUPPORTING FEMALE ROLE (NON-MUSICAL)

Amanda Harrison as Joyce/Isabella Bird in Top Girls at LTN

BEST PERFORMANCE OF A SONG (SOLO/SMALL GROUP)

Jessi DiPette’s performance of “Gotta Get Out” in Ordinary Days at Generic

BEST PERFORMANCE OF A SONG (ENSEMBLE)

The Company’s performance of “The Ballad of Sweeney Todd (Reprise)” in Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street at LTN

BEST COMEDIC ACTING

John Cauthen as Nostradamus in Something Rotten! at PCT

BEST SEASON SERIES

Little Theatre of Virginia Beach

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  1. PCT Tells a Scary Ghost Story (Along with some Tales of Glory) this Christmas Season with “Jacob Marley’s Christmas Carol” – HRACT Awards

    […] flesh off of his face like a banana.”  This style of storytelling is perfect for the skillset of newly crowned two-time HRACT Award winner John Cauthen, who is an incredibly talented tale spinner.  Cauthen will grab your attention and […]

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    […] he doesn’t really seem to be reaping any of the rewards of that power).  Last year’s HRACT Award winner for lighting design, Derrion La’Zachan Hawkins is back on stage in this production as Gitlow – […]

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