Three years in – so we can officially call ourselves an annual event! We are still buzzing from last night’s awards ceremony – thank you all for being an amazing audience yet again! A few thank-yous are hugely necessary upfront:
- Thank you to the Ferguson Center at CNU for giving us a venue, providing guidance, and professional production, all free of charge!
- Thank you to Chandler Nunnally of WTKR’s Coast Live for being our host with the most (and even writing and performing an original opening number)!
- Thank you to Sherrod Brown for providing us with amazing musical accompaniment – and helping Chandler arrange the opening number!
- Thank you to Patti Lawrence for volunteering her time and talent to photograph and document our event (check her out at https://www.facebook.com/pattilawrencephotography)!
- Thank you to Paul Mulherin for being our “voice behind the curtain”!
- Thank you to our whole team of wonderful volunteers who made the night happen!
- Thank you to our six musical performances who came out to give encore performances of their songs from throughout the year – we really enjoyed getting to know all of you a little better and were wonderful to work with!
- Thank you to our eighteen award presenters for being willing to take some time out of your busy schedules to recognize the talent in our community!
- Thank you to our participating theaters for being willing to take this journey with us, and for providing your support, coordinating with us, and spending time getting tickets to your nominees and other interested parties!
- 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 2025-2026 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
Puffs, Or Seven Increasingly Eventful Years At A Certain School of Magic and Magic at PCT
BEST MUSICAL
Ride the Cyclone at LTN
BEST CHOREOGRAPHY
Moriah Joy for In the Heights at LTN
BEST SCENIC DESIGN
Andrew Smith & Robert Cox for Murder on the Orient Express at SLT
BEST COSTUME/HAIR/MAKEUP DESIGN
Kay Burcher, Karen Buchheim, Robert Shirley, & Marilyn Abernathy for The Producers at LTVB
BEST LIGHTING
Z.F. Norris for Puffs, Or Seven Increasingly Eventful Years At A Certain School of Magic and Magic at PCT
BEST SOUND DESIGN
Tom McIlvain for Puffs, Or Seven Increasingly Eventful Years At A Certain School of Magic and Magic at PCT
BEST DIRECTOR
Mallory Schmidt for In the Heights at LTN
BEST PERFORMANCE IN A LEADING FEMALE ROLE (MUSICAL)
Ava Stevenson as Ocean O’Connell Rosenberg in Ride the Cyclone at LTN
BEST PERFORMANCE IN A LEADING MALE ROLE (MUSICAL)
Jeremiah Vega as Usnavi in In the Heights at LTN
BEST PERFORMANCE IN A SUPPORTING MALE ROLE (MUSICAL)
Matthew Cadman as Benjamin Franklin in 1776 at WP
BEST PERFORMANCE IN A SUPPORTING FEMALE ROLE (MUSICAL)
Jessica Seneca as Daniela in In the Heights at LTN
BEST PERFORMANCE IN A LEADING FEMALE ROLE (NON-MUSICAL)
Vania Alonnie as Letitia in Clyde’s at Generic
BEST PERFORMANCE IN A LEADING MALE ROLE (NON-MUSICAL)
Jeff Corriveau as Hercule Poirot in Murder on the Orient Express at SLT
BEST PERFORMANCE IN A SUPPORTING MALE ROLE (NON-MUSICAL)
Roger Wilson as ChutesandLadders in Water by the Spoonful at LTN
BEST PERFORMANCE IN A SUPPORTING FEMALE ROLE (NON-MUSICAL)
Laura Agudelo as Haikumom in Water by the Spoonful at LTN
BEST PERFORMANCE OF A SONG (SOLO/SMALL GROUP)
Aliya Reed’s performance of “Paciencia y Fe” in In the Heights at LTN
BEST PERFORMANCE OF A SONG (ENSEMBLE)
The Company’s performance of “Springtime for Hitler” in The Producers at LTVB
BEST COMEDIC ACTING
Peter Scheible as Franz Liebkind in The Producers at LTVB
BEST SEASON SERIES
Little Theatre of Norfolk
HRACT Awards 