Offering over 1,000 seats on any given weekend, the County’s six community theaters – part of the unique Four Star Theater Alliance -- tap into local talents presenting comedies, dramas, musicals and dramedies.
The gala affair is at 6:30 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 26 at the High Streets Art Center, 45 E. High Street in Moorpark. A limited amount of tickets ($15 in advance, $20 at the door) are available for the public at:www.HighStreetArtsCenter.com.
They are: “Nunsense” (Camarillo Skyway Playhouse), “Amadeus” (Conejo Players Theatre), “All My Sons” (Elite Theatre Company), “The Addams Family” (High Street Arts Center), “Skylight” (Ojai ACT ~ Art Center Theater) and “The Night Alive” (Santa Paula Theatre Center).
Judging by audience numbers, live theater in the county must be doing something right.
The Four-Star Awards are the county’s local equivalent of the Tonys. The six theaters are judged by five people from the other theaters, which helps foster fairness. The Alliance was formed in 2009 to encourage cooperation between the theaters by sharing resources, such as sets, props, costumes, tech crews and actors. It also filled an awards gap left when a newspaper stopped giving critics’ awards.
“The seriousness of the Four-Star Alliance has been proved” over those seven years, said Dean Johnson of Camarillo Skyway Playhouse. “Ventura County is a very heavy theater community, heads and shoulders above a lot of Los Angeles (community) theaters,” Johnson said.
Besides the six Alliance theaters, the county is home to the professional Rubicon Theater, various improv companies, traveling pros, colleges and smaller venues under 100 seats.
Notably, the Alliance does not judge performances as “Best,” but rather as the most “Outstanding,” a subtle but critical distinction. Here’s the list of winners for the 2016 season:
Lead Performances: Dale Alpert as Morrie Schwartz in “Tuesdays With Morrie” and Lauren Moore as Suzette in “Don't Dress for Dinner.”
Featured Performances: R. Shane Bingham as Mitch Albom “Tuesdays With Morrie” and Caroline J. Smith as Suzanne in “Don't Dress for Dinner”
Set Design: Ed Salas for “Don't Dress for Dinner”
Sound Design: Dean Johnson for “Curtains”
Lighting Design: William Carmichael for “Tuesdays With Morrie”
Costume Design: Laura Comstock for “Curtains”
Music Direction: Susan Calkins for “Nunsense”
Choreography: Miriam Durrie-Kirsch for “Curtains”
Direction: Dean Johnson for “Nunsense”
Overall Production: Kaelia Franklin for “Nunsense”
Judges’ Choice: Sharon Gibson, Aileen-Marie Scott, Mary Zastrow, Dawn Notagiacomo, Angelica Smith for the “Best Little Convent in Hoboken”
Conejo Players Theatre
Lead Performances: Alan Waserman as Salieri in “Amadeus,” and Blythe Renay & Randi Saxer Redman as Daisy and Violet Hilton in “Side Show.”
Featured Performances: Daniel Egan as the Scarecrow in “The Wizard of Oz” and Timorah Brown as Constanze in “Amadeus”
Set Design: John Eslick for “Farragut North”
Sound Design: Tim Reese for “The Wizard of Oz”
Lighting Design: Jim Diderrich for “The Wizard of Oz”
Costume Design: Barbara Mazeika, Lorna Bowen for “Side Show”
Music Direction: Lisa Yaldezian for “Side Show”
Choreography: Miriam Durrie-Kirsch for “The Wizard of Oz”
Direction: Deidre Parmenter for “Amadeus”
Overall Production: Priscilla Losey for “Amadeus”
Judges’ Choice Award: Kurt Raymond as The Wicked Witch of the West & Miss Gulch for “Best featured Female Performed by a Male!” in “The Wizard of Oz”
Elite Theatre Company
Lead Performances: Jim Seerden as Joe Keller in “All My Sons,” and Courtney Potter for many characters in “I Love You, You're Perfect, Now Change”
Featured Performances: Adam Womack as Allan in “Men of Tortuga” and Hanna Mitchell as Miss Casewell in “The Mousetrap”
Set Design: John Eslick, Will Shupe and Sheryl Jo Bedal for “All My Sons”
Sound Design: Emily Heulitt in “I Love You, You're Perfect, Now Change”
Lighting Design: Sam Thomas in “Men of Tortuga”
Costume Design: Beth Glasner in “The Mousetrap”
Direction: Brian Robert Harris for “All My Sons”
Overall Production: Vivien Latham for “All My Sons”
Judges’ Choice Award: Vivien Latham for “A Year That Feels Like a Lifetime Achievement”
High Street Arts Center
Lead Performances: Jim Seerden as Norman in “On Golden Pond” and Dawn Notagiacomo as Nancy in “Oliver”
Featured Performances: Andy Mattick as Bill Sykes and Mr. Sowerberry in “Oliver” and Autumn Bodily as Alice in “The Addams Family”
Set Design: Ken Rayzor and Scott Armstrong “On Golden Pond”
Sound Design: Rick Pratt for “The 39 Steps”
Lighting Design: Patrick Duffy for “Oliver”
Costume Design: Penny Krevenas, and Laurel Marion for “The Addams Family”
Music Direction: John Gaston for “Oliver”
Choreography: Amie Woolweber for “The Addams Family”
Direction: Rebecca Davey for “On Golden Pond”
Overall Production: Kathee Boyer, Ken Rayzor for “The Addams Family”
Judges’ Choice Award: Jeff Raum, the “Monet of Moorpark for Outstanding Scenic Painting” for “The Addams Family,” “On Golden Pond” and “Oliver”
Ojai Art Center Theater ~ Ojai ACT
Lead Performances: Buddy Wilds as Tom in “Skylight” and Holly Sewell as Annie Oakley in “Annie Get Your Gun”
Featured Performances: Antonio Royuela as Harold in “Black Comedy” and Nancy Jane Smeets as Miss Furnival in “Black Comedy”
Set Design: Kenny Dahle for “Black Comedy”
Sound Design: Steve Grumette for “Skylight”
Lighting Design: Claire Cleary for “Black Comedy”
Costume Design: Tiffany Smith, Carmen Smith and Haley Weed for “Annie Get Your Gun”
Music Direction: Tracey Williams Sutton and Kieran Culliton for “Annie Get Your Gun”
Choreography: Anna Kotula for “Annie Get Your Gun”
Direction: Steve Grumette for “Skylight”
Overall Production: Ruby Pronovost, Shed Behar, Ezra Eells for “Skylight”
Judges’ Choice Award: John Hankins, the “Town Crier of Ojai ACT” for 14 years as Publicity Director and serving on the board.
Santa Paula Theatre Center
Lead Performances: Taylor Kasch as Tommy in “The Night Alive” and Marilyn Lazik as Vera in “4000 Miles”
Featured Performances: Brian Robert Harris as Ken in “The Night Alive” and Susan Lucas as Amanda in “4000 Miles”
Set Design: Mike Carnahan for “4000 Miles”
Sound Design: Kathleen Bosworth for “The Other Place”
Lighting Design: Gary Richardson for “The Other Place”
Costume Design: Barbara Pedziwiatr for “The Unexpected Guest”
Direction: Larry Swerdlove for “4000 Miles”
Overall Production: Leslie Nichols for “The Night Alive”
Judges’ Choice Award: Rena Petrello and Bets Lastort for “Outstanding Promotional Material” for the play “Calendar Girls”