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Ian Hurdman and Di Dean – hosts for the evening
It was bigger and brighter than ever as over 230 amateur thespians gathered at the County Ground in Taunton to celebrate the 2016 season of musicals across the county. The glad rags were out in force as clubs took their seats in eager anticipation of this year’s awards ceremony hosted, as usual by competition coordinator Di Dean and moderator (and birthday boy) Ian Hurdman. Despite the fact Ian jokingly introduced themselves as Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway, there were no Oscar-style mishaps as the evening went swimmingly.
In his opening remarks Ian paid tribute to Di Dean for all her hard work throughout the competition and also in organising the awards evening. He also praised the indefatigability of SFD secretary Pat Sollis for her continued sterling work. And he paid tribute to all the staff of the County Cricket ground for serving up so professionally what was generally agreed to be wonderful fare. He also welcomed Sue and Tony Pomeroy, two stalwarts of the genre, and noted that next year the awards evening will not clash with NODA’s so people will not have to choose between one or the other ceremony!
But most importantly, Ian reminded the assembled guests that not only was this the best-attended awards ceremony in the history of the David Beach Competition, but it was the largest number of entries ever in 2016 and the highest standards. He said, “If you were nominated this year, you were very, very good.”
The awards started, as is customary, with the technical awards. Ian noted that there has been a marked improvement over the last few years and standards are now at professional levels. There were two new awards, presented by Brights, who provide sound and lighting services for so many of our competition entrants. The winners of all the awards are listed below. The awards were presented by the competition adjudicators. Andy Marchant couldn’t be there but the four other adjudicators were on hand to do the honours.
Competition adjudicators Dendi Harris, Ron Roberts, Jadi Carlyon and Chris Bailward
In what Ian called the strongest year ever, the standard at the top was incredibly high. So much so, that in an unprecedented move, there were two runners up for the top award. Motiv8’s Starlight Express and Weston’s Spamalot shared the honours, prompting a veritable maelstrom as the cast from both societies took to the stage together! Despite the fact there is only one trophy for them to share, they were all extremely happy with the outcome.
The winner of the top award – for Best Production – was Pinstripe for their production of Evita. Along the way they also picked up Best Male and Best Female lead (Matt Bell as Che Guevara and Danielle Tucker as Eva), and Best Male 17 -21 (Liam Frampton as Augustin Magaldi). On the technical side, they also won the award for Best Effects.
Members of The Oppitts picking up the award for Best Youth Production from Ian Hurdman
The coveted award for Best Director went to Sue Collings from the Oppitts for The Wizard of Oz, which also won the Best Youth Production ahead of runners up Yeovil Youth Theatre for Seussical. And, for what Ian called “high energy, precision and brilliance,” the Choreography award went to Marina Fairhead for Weston’s Legally Blonde.
It was a truly stunning evening that ended with a disco so that participants could burn off some of their energy and euphoria by dancing into the night. The full list of winners and runners up is set out below.
Members of Pinstripe picking up the trophy for Best Production for Evita
DAVID BEACH AWARDS PRESENTATIONS DINNER 4th MARCH 2017 – 2016 WINNERS
SOUND The sound team from Milborne Port Opera for The Sorcerer
LIGHTING Pupils from Clevedon School for Little Shop of Horrors
EFFECTS Josh Fischer for the audio visuals in Pinstripe’s Evita
TECHNICAL
ACHIEVEMENT (adult) Spare Room with Urinetown
(junior) Clevedon School for Little Shop of Horrors
PROPS The company from Motiv8 for Starlight Express
STAGE MANAGEMENT Clevedon School for Little Shop of Horrors
ORIGINAL SET Becca Long for Spare Room’s Urinetown
ORIGINAL COSTUME Nicki Saunders & Company for Motiv8’s Starlight Express
FEMALE U 16 Madison Walker as Dorothy from the Oppitts’ Wizard of Oz
MALE U 16 Sterling Wilder-Gay as the Cat in the Hat from Yeovil Youth’s Seussical
FEMALE 17-21 Jane Morgan as Little Sally in Spare Room’s Urinetown
MALE 17-21 Liam Frampton as Augustin Magaldi in Pinstripe’s Evita
CAMEO Ryan Hughes as Carmen Ghia in Merlin’s The Producers
YOUTH CAMEO Keira-Leigh Mitchell as Molly in Somerton’s Annie
FEMALE SUPPORT HC Lisa Stallard as Martha Wilson from Yeovil’s White Christmas
W Lisa Brown as Paulette Bonaforte from Merlin’s Legally Blonde
MALE SUPPORT Kevin Wheeler as Patsy in Weston’s Spamalot
ADJUDICATOR’s AWARD Wells Little Theatre for Return to the Forbidden Planet
MODERATOR’S AWARD SCAMP for Songs for a New World
FEMALE LEAD Dannielle Tucker as Eva from Pinstripe’s Evita
MALE LEAD Matt Bell as Che Guevarra from Pinstripe’s Evita
SHOWSTOPPER Milborne Port Opera for the Opening of Act 2 from The Sorcerer
ADULT CHORUS Sunshine Productions for Rock of Ages
YOUTH CHORUS Yeovil Youth Theatre for Seussical
CHALLENGE TROPHY HC Spellbound for Joseph & the Amazing Technicolor Dream Coat
W Motiv8 for Starlight Express
SMALL VENUE Milborne Port Opera for The Sorcerer
CHOREOGRAPHER Marina Fairhead for Weston’s Legally Blonde
MUSICAL DIRECTOR Annie Ford for Weston’s Spamalot
DIRECTOR HC Dan Warr-Extance from Motiv8 for Starlight Express
W Sue Collings from the Oppitts for the Wizard of Oz
YOUTH PRODUCTION RU Yeovil Youth Theatre for Seussical
W The Oppitts Wizard of Oz
BEST PRODUCTION RU Motiv8’s Starlight Express AND Weston’s Spamalot
W Pinstripe Prod Evita
*HC – Highly commended; RU – Runners up; W – Winner