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Haynes Motor Museum was the crowded venue for this year’s Cinderella Awards Ceremony
At award evenings there are expectations, occasionally there are a few surprises, and once in a while there is a seismic shock! Saturday night’s Cinderella Trophy Awards ceremony contained just such a shock as Cloverleaf – one of the smallest venues on the circuit – scooped the top prize – The Cinderella Trophy itself – for their hilarious rendition of The Snow Queen written by Alan Frayn.
The Spotlight Shield is only open to village societies and it would have been an accolade in itself for Cloverleaf to win that award, which deemed them to have staged the best village pantomime on all of Somerset. For them to have gone on to also win the top award – knocking Taunton’s Wayfarers fantastic performance of Robinson Cruse and the Pirates into the second slot – is a huge achievement. Cloverleaf is based in the small village of Combe St Nicholas, lying just two miles from Chard and with a population of some 1,400 people. The tiny village hall is home to their pantomime shenanigans and what they lack in facilities they more than compensate for with their imagination, creativity, energy and skill. This year’s production was hilarious with the audience laughing from start to finish!
Guest enjoy the delights of the Motor Museum before proceedings get under way
The 2016 awards ceremony was held in a new venue – the Haynes Motor Museum near Sparkford and, being slightly smaller than previous venues, tickets were in great demand. Bedecked by table flowers and golden balloons, the venue looked splendid and the effect was made complete by the red carpet that winners walked on as they made their way to the stage to receive their awards. By common consent this years buffet supper was the best yet and, as it was served at the tables there was none of the unseemly scrabbling and queuing that we have witnessed in the past!
The event was hosted by Moderator Nigel Ford who, along with competition coordinator Pam Price, had worked tirelessly to make the ceremony itself a spectacular success. But the event was not about the venue or the food or even the fantastic cabaret; it was all about the societies and the awards. Unlike the other SFD competitions, the nominations for the Cinderella Trophy Competition are not announced in advance, so tension is high and every nomination is a surprise. This gives the evening a special frisson that overflows into good-humoured bonhomie.
Some of this year’s Stars of the Future at the Haynes Motor Museum
It is a tradition that the evening kicks off with a nod to the younger performers who represent the future of amateur theatre in the county. This year there were 43 Stars of the Future duly honoured by the society. There were three junior awards: Alex Parsons of Wincanton for Best Junior Principal Boy; Sienna Lanfear of Cloverleaf for Best Junior Principal Girl and Katie Symons of CARDS for Best Junior Comic. The winner of the Bradford Trophy – for the best 16 year old and under to grace the stages of Somerset this year – was, for the second year running, Cathy Vicarage of Bradford Players who played the eponymous Peter Pan.
Top acting awards went to Hannah Carolan of CARDS for Best Principal Boy; Leah Doolan of Minehead for Best Principal Girl; and Ian Smith of Barrington Players for Best Dame. Tracy Rock of Yeovil won the award for Best Villain for her performance as Queen Belladonna in Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, and she also scooped the Eddie Bowker Award for best overall performance of the year.
Sheila Driver of Wayfarers was named as Choreographer of the Year and Penny Bartholomew of CUDOS was named as Best Musical Director. The Best Director was named as Joanne Plenty of Frome Musical Theatre Company.
The Pint Pot Award, for a big performance on a small stage, went to CUDOS from Crewkerne, and the Spotlight runners up were Trull Players. A full list of winners is set out below.
Cloverleaf members accept the CinderellaTrophy from SFD Chairman Philip de Glanville
| Best Junior Principal Boy | Alex Parsons | Ali Baba | Ali Baba & The Forty Thieves | Wincanton Amateur Dramatic Society |
| Best Junior Principal Girl | Sienna Lanfear | Gerda | The Snow Queen | Cloverleaf Productions |
| Junior Comic | Katie Symons | Silly Sally | Sinbad the Sailor .. His 8th Voyage | CARDS |
| Comic | Gary McKinven | Wishee Washee | Aladdin | Moorlight Theatre Productions |
| Comedy Duo | Aynsley Minty & Ryan Hughes | Nip & Tuck | Little Mermaid | Merlin Theatre Company |
| Comedic Scene | Julliet Maddren & Adrian Youings | Bodget & Leggett | Cinderella | Trull Players |
| Adjudicator’s Award | Nicole Wooldridge | Good Fairy Lilac | Sleeping Beauty | Frome Musical Theatre Company |
| Cameo | David Stares | Caw | The Snow Queen | Cloverleaf Productions |
| Choreographer | Shelia Driver | Robinson Crusoe and The Pirates | Wayfarers Pantomime Society | |
| Village Musicians | Cinderella | Trull Players | ||
| Theatre Musicians | The Wonderful Wizard of Oz | Wellington Pantomime Group | ||
| Male Singer | Chris Marshall | Captain Hook | Captain Hook’s Revenge | Roadwater Players |
| Female Singer | Hannah Carolan | Sinbad | Sinbad the Sailor .. His 8th Voyage | CARDS |
| Romantic Duet | Alicia Smith & Emma Golay | Princess Rose & Prince Alexis/Alexander | Sleeping Beauty | Frome Musical Theatre Company |
| Junior Chorus | Robinson Crusoe and The Pirates | Wayfarers Pantomime Society | ||
| Chorus | Robinson Crusoe and The Pirates | Wayfarers Pantomime Society | ||
| Dancer | Keigan Passmore | Aladdin | Moorlight Theatre Productions | |
| Properties | Corrine Hunter | Little Mermaid | Merlin Theatre Company | |
| Makeup | Claudia Pepler | Little Mermaid | Merlin Theatre Company | |
| Special Effects | Andy Watts & Neil Linham | Flying Carpet | Aladdin | Moorlight Theatre Productions |
| UV Scene | Adrian Mitchell | George and The Dragon | Wells Little Theatre | |
| Lighting | Dan Jones | Cinderella | Trull Players | |
| Sound | Jay Radosavljevic | Treasure Island | Quantock Players | |
| Village Stage Management | Mark Sortwell | Treasure Island | Quantock Players | |
| Theatre Stage Management | Garry Stacey & Martin Lock | Robinson Crusoe and The Pirates | Wayfarers Pantomime Society | |
| Village Design | Rick & William Richards | Mother Goose | Puriton Players | |
| Theatre Design | Becca Long | Little Mermaid | Merlin Theatre Company | |
| Moderator’s Award | Cinderella’s Carriage | Cinderella | Timsbury Theatre Group | |
| Original Script | Ann Brolly | The Pirate Panto | CUDOS | |
| Costumes Original | Ellen Day | Little Mermaid | Merlin Theatre Company | |
| Costume of the Year | Snow Queen | The Snow Queen | Cloverleaf Productions | |
| Animal | Ashleigh Payne | Toto | The Wonderful Wizard of Oz | Wellington Panomime Group |
| Linkman | Dan Woodmason | Nutty Nick | Robinson Crusoe and The Pirates | Wayfarers Pantomime Society |
| Villain | Tracy Rock | Queen Belladonna | Snow White & The Seven Dwarfs | Yeovil Amateur Pantomime Society |
| Principal Boy | Hannah Carolan | Sinbad | Sinbad the Sailor .. His 8th Voyage | CARDS |
| Principal Girl | Leah Doolan | Snow White | Snow White & The Seven Dwarfs | Minehead Panto People |
| Bradford Trophy | Cathy Vicarage | Peter Pan | Peter Pan | Bradford Players |
| Dame | Ian Smith | Mother Goose | The Wonderful World of Mother Goose | Barrington Players |
| Eddie Bowker | Tracy Rock | Queen Belladonna | Snow White & The Seven Dwarfs | Yeovil Amateur Pantomime Society |
| Musical Director | Penny Bartholomew | The Pirate Panto | CUDOS | |
| Director | Joanne Plenty | Sleeping Beauty | Frome Musical Theatre Company | |
| Pint Pot | The Pirate Panto | CUDOS | ||
| Spotlight Runner Up | (Fellowship of Drama Shield) | Cinderella | Trull Players | |
| Spotlight Shield | The Snow Queen | Cloverleaf Productions | ||
| Cinderella Runner Up | (Bridgwater Shield) | Robinson Crusoe and The Pirates | Wayfarers Pantomime Society | |
| Cinderella Trophy | The Snow Queen | Cloverleaf Productions |
| Highly Commended: | |||||
| Villain | Mark Wall | Prince John-John | George and The Dragon | Wells Little Theatre | |
| Dame | Richard Walters | Dame Cookie Crumble | The Pirate Panto | CUDOS | |
| Eddie Bowker | Mark Wall | Prince John-John | George and The Dragon | Wells Little Theatre | |
Stars of the Future:
Grace Dean
Hannah Applegate
Alice Wilson-Hunt
Andrew Power
Bryony Sellick
Cathy Vicarage
Amy Jones
Katie Richards
Nell Wallbridge
Sienna Lanfear
Abbi Fear
Kait Jarvis
Racheal Nicol
Imogen Wyatt
Robyn Edgington
Caitlin Seal
Ben Davis
Aiesha Dabenett
Jacob Addis
Hannah Ebsary
Callum Hughes
Jake Page
Rosie Bolton
Rhiannon Bramley
Rosie Jones
Leila Gear
Kirsty Newman
Amelia Warren
Emily Hiscock
Hannah Cockerell
Maddie Green
Rhianna Barker
Sam Frost
Tallon Haines
Anya Paddock
Elouise Church
Jacob Burgess
James Rock
Jemma Carey
Leo Ito
Madison Parks-Keirle
Mollie Underhill
Savina Ivanova