The HRACT Awards
The Hampton Roads Achievement in Community Theater Awards
Recent posts
-
Red and Yellow and Green and Brown: Downing-Gross Brings to Life the Colorful “Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat”
What is your definitive ranking of Andrew Lloyd Webber musicals that you have seen? That was the topic of conversation in our car as we drove through the southeast community of Newport News and pulled into the Downing-Gross Cultural Arts Center, where this year’s show is “Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat”. This was also…
-
Williamsburg Players’ Winter Show “Deathtrap” Brings the Chills and Thrills
In our family, we love a good “for entertainment purposes only” bet – we try to guess what configuration the stage will be at Generic Theater, place wagers on how many empty seats there will be when we go to LTVB (spoiler, it is always less than five), and try to prognosticate how the Green…
-
Grab Your Moral Compass and Find Your Way Through “A Great Wilderness” at Generic Theater
Photo courtesy of J. Stubbs Photography (https://jstubbsphotographyvb.com/) As I walked into the Generic Theater on Sunday afternoon, I had the same thought as Daniel on stage – so, where is the shock treatment equipment? We would soon find out that Daniel, played by the fast-rising and talented Lucas Guzzo, has indeed walked into a gay…
-
“Into the Breeches” at LTVB is a Love Letter to the Communities that Theatre Creates
Photo courtesy of J. Stubbs Photography (https://jstubbsphotographyvb.com/) “Into the Breeches” begins and ends with only the ghost light burning on stage, a time honored tradition of leaving a single light on in a playhouse when nobody else is there (legend says this is to keep the ghosts away, although its real function may be more…
-
“Choir Boy” at LTN Asks if You Will Raise Your Voice or Shy Away
Photo courtesy of J. Stubbs Photography (https://jstubbsphotographyvb.com/) A forecast of snow wasn’t going to stop us from getting to the Little Theatre of Norfolk on Friday for the opening night of “Choir Boy,” a powerful story about a gay teenager at an all-boys boarding school written by Tarell Alvin McCraney (who also wrote the Oscar…
-
SLT Answers the Question of the Season with a Resounding “Yes, Virginia, There is a Santa Claus”
*Note: As per the performance eligibility requirements laid out here, this production is not up for HRACT Award consideration.* A fun newspaper-style Playbill was handed to us by a tiny elf as we entered Smithfield Little Theatre on Saturday night to see their holiday production of “Yes, Virginia, There is a Santa Claus”. As I…
-
Alcohol in a Convent? PCT is having Nun of That in its Production of “Drinking Habits”
Bathed in the glow of holiday lights, we strolled through Newport News’ Hilton Village and into Peninsula Community Theatre for opening night of “Drinking Habits”. A simple but effective set sat on stage, evoking the life that you might imagine in a convent. We were about to find out, however, that nothing about life in…
-
Be a Fly on the Wall of Someone Else’s Messy Family Thanksgiving at Generic Theater’s “A Beautiful Day in November on the Banks of the Greatest of the Great Lakes”
We stepped into Generic Theater on Sunday afternoon to find a playing field/basketball court set up as the stage, complete with a press box and various high school fight songs blaring over the speakers – getting us hyped up for the battle to come. And boy was a battle brewing. You might not expect it,…
-
Learn to Climb the Corporate Ladder (and Love It) at LTVB’s “How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying”
Photo courtesy of J. Stubbs Photography (https://jstubbsphotographyvb.com/) The Little Theatre of Virginia Beach was bustling once again on Saturday night, with yet another sold-out performance. This time, that performance was the acclaimed “How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying”, and the crowd was not to be disappointed, as this show is a highly entertaining…
-
Williamsburg Players’ 67th Season Races Along with “Chitty Chitty Bang Bang”
We here at the HRACT Awards love a good Sherman Brothers’ musical, so we were excited when Williamsburg Players announced their season included the old classic, “Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.” We also knew that “Chitty” was going to be quite a challenge to bring to life – it is a big cast (half of which…
HRACT Awards 