The HRACT Awards
The Hampton Roads Achievement in Community Theater Awards
Recent posts
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“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…
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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…
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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…
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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,…
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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…
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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…
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That Timeless Form of Art – Roller Disco – Skates into Smithfield Little Theatre in “Xanadu”
Walking into Smithfield Little Theatre on Sunday for the final performance of “Xanadu”, we were greeted by an adorable addition to the staff there – Pig-malion! With an oink, this new member of Smithfield’s Porcine Parade invited us into the world of 1980s roller disco. When the curtain opened, though, we were in… Greece? As…
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“Mud Row” at PCT is a Powerful Story of People’s Endless Struggle to Pull Themselves out of the Mud
Our triple play weekend came to a conclusion on Sunday with “Mud Row” at Peninsula Community Theatre, a gripping (and often funny) drama about family, hope, and three couples’ various struggles with and views of those themes. The first of those three couples (both in time and on stage) is composed of sisters Elsie (Kimariah…
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Generic’s “Tarrytown” Continues the Run of Strong Spooky-Season Shows
The second show of our triple play weekend (and, barring a surprise regarding plotlines in “Mud Row” at PCT or “Xanadu” at SLT, the final Halloween-y show of the season) involved a trip to “Tarrytown” at the Generic Theater. This is a show that we had never heard of, which is not surprising for us,…
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Come to Little Theatre of Norfolk for the Closest Shave of Your Life by “Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street”
Photo courtesy of J. Stubbs Photography (https://jstubbsphotographyvb.com/) When LTN dropped their 98th season schedule, I think everyone immediately circled the October opening of “Sweeney Todd” as a must-see (that was clear when we walked into opening night on Friday to a completely packed house). And – we knew that “Sweeney” is not a small production. …
HRACT Awards 