The HRACT Awards
The Hampton Roads Achievement in Community Theater Awards
Recent posts
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And the Nominees for the 2023-24 HRACT Awards Are…
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…
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Roūge’s “Hedwig and the Angry Inch” – a Perfectly Punk Rock Way to Celebrate Pride Month
Photo courtesy of J. Stubbs Photography (https://jstubbsphotographyvb.com/) *Note: As per the performance eligibility requirements laid out here, this production is not up for HRACT Award consideration.* In our typical fashion, we walked into 37th and Zen to see “Hedwig and the Angry Inch” totally blind to the plot and having never been to the venue. …
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LTN’s “A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder” Closes out the 2023-2024 Season with a Bang
On Friday night, we made it to our final eligible performance for the season – “A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder” at the Little Theatre of Norfolk. Walking into the theater, we were greeted with a very classy looking curtain, hanging from what appeared to be a wooden frame, specially carved with some suspicious…
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Take a Voyage to Neverland at Williamsburg Players’ “Peter and the Starcatcher”
“You Can Fly!” When thinking about Peter Pan, it’s difficult to not defer to the Disney movie version of this classic tale. “Peter and the Starcatcher” at Williamsburg Players tells the story before where the Disney film picks up. The boy who we will all know as Peter (played by Samuel Foraker in The Wasp’s…
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A Marvelous and Devastating Performance, “Indecent” at the Generic is Must See Theater
“Indecent”, playing at the Generic Theater through June 2, begins with the cast slowly assembling in the back of the stage. As they rise from their chairs for the first time, ashes fall from the arms of their coats, foreshadowing what is to come. And so begins a story which we all wish didn’t need…
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LTVB Hilariously Wins our Vote for “The Outsider”
It can be intimidating to get promoted, even when it only matters to you and your closest colleagues. Imagine the pressure, then, when a whole state’s eyes turn to you when you are suddenly promoted to Governor after a scandal ousts your old boss. That situation is what sets into motion the action of “The…
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The Purgatory of a Dim Bar Brightens the Stage at Zeiders American Dream Theater in “Rathskeller: A Musical Elixir”
*Note: As per the performance eligibility requirements as laid out here, this musical is not up for HRACT Award consideration, as Zeiders American Dream Theater is a professional theater. As the lights crackle on above the Main Stage of Zeiders American Dream Theater, the audience, along with our protagonist John Casey, is suddenly thrust into…
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“Calendar Girls” at Peninsula Community Theatre is the True Story of a Cheeky Way to Support a Good Cause
As the curtain opens on “Calendar Girls”, the final show of the 2023-2024 season at Peninsula Community Theatre, we are brought into what seems to be just another meeting of the Women’s Institute of Yorkshire. Chris (played by Lyra Hale most recently seen in Private Lives and Dead Man’s Cell Phone) leads a tai chi…
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The Hills are Alive at Smithfield Little Theatre
As we drove out to Smithfield Little Theatre, my wife and I were nervous. We knew that, while “The Sound of Music” is one of our favorite musicals, it is not exactly an easy show to put on, especially for community theater. We knew that (1) you need multiple strong adult singers to hold down…
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A Failing Flower Shop, a Sadistic Dentist, a Strange and Unusual Plant, and a Neighborhood’s Dreams Add Up to a Wonderful “Little Shop of Horrors” at Williamsburg Players
“Little Shop of Horrors” is one of my all-time favorite musicals, and so I was incredibly excited around this time last year when Williamsburg Players announced they’d be putting it on. What I didn’t realize at the time was that its run would overlap with the solar eclipse happening on Monday – a celestial event…
HRACT Awards 