Gushers 2006
Give me a P! Give me a C! Give me a T! What’s that spell? What’s that spell? What’s that spell? Good Evening and welcome to the 5th Annual Petrolia Community Theatre Gusher Awards – the first at our new venue here at Wally’s Bar. I’m Doug Wright and pleased to be asked to act as host once more. Or twice more if I get the gig again next year.
The first whistle starts the pack. The second whistle signals the jammers to begin. The jammer tries to make it through the pack and then lap the pack. A jammer scores one point for each opponent she laps. The lead jammer can call off the jam at any time by placing both hands on her hips.
No, wait, those are the rules for Texas League All Girl Roller Derby – not the Gushers. Candy must have e-mailed me the wrong file. This is from her day job.
Gushers are awarded by the director and producer of each PCT production. It’s not just based on amazing, above and beyond the call, excellence in a crew member or superb skill in acting – although that’s a big part of it. Putting on a play is a group effort, not just on the evenings of the performances, but in rehearsal and preparation. A Gusher winner raises the general quality of the entire theatre experience for everyone involved throughout the whole process.
THE CREATURE CREEPS
What a fun play. I found it when I was flipping through the Samuel French catalogue when I was on the Play Selection Committee. It sounded interesting
and had a fair number of female roles – a far too rare thing in most plays. So, I ordered it in. I read it. What a fun play. But not something the
Petrolia Community Theatre would ever do. But it was the sort of thing that would go over well at a play reading party. So we had one. Everyone agreed.
What a fun play – but not something PCT would do.
For the next year of so, as the Play Reading Committee was ploughing through scripts, The Creature Creeps got passed around. It became kind of a guilty
pleasure amid all the scripts that were seriously considered. Everyone on the committee agreed. What a fun play. But not for PCT. It was Warren
Graham, who missed the first Creature Creeps play reading party because he was on one of his four or five yearly trips to the Caribbean, who decided to
bring the play to a larger audience – with a second play reading party. Everyone there agreed. What a fun play.
Finally, Warren cracked. Everyone loves the play. Maybe it is something the Petrolia Community Theatre would do. And, if no one else would step up, Warren would make his directorial debut and bring it to the vast PCT audience. Thank you for that Warren. You made a wonderful debutante director. What a fun play.
And what challenges. Todd Babula, perhaps best known around Petrolia as the Prince of Arragon in the Merchant of Venice, had five roles to juggle – a perfect outlet for his multiple personality disorder. The incredible Dan Sheehan made the full face mask for Mord and taught us the secrets of castle wall building. Almost 1000 members of the ticket buying public agreed it was all worth it. What a fun play.
Director Warren Graham and Producer Carol Graham have come up with two Gusher winners for Production.
In no particular order, the first goes to Sound Technician, David Bratanek, who treated us, night after night, with eerie creaking doors and screams from the dungeon. And kept us all on our toes with his impish sense of humour – who can forget the night the Baroness almost had to sing a cappela?
Now,
The way to keep a theatre troupe going, as the Baron would say, is with infusions of fresh blood. And, in each show, we try to bring new people into the crew and out on the stage. The Gusher for most promising new actor outed on stage, is a former backstage Gusher winner for props in the Perils of Persephone, Charlene Mumberson, for her portrayal of Otto’s fiancée, Olga Zitzen.
Best Contribution, Male Role, goes to Joe Agocs, Baron Donald von Blitzen. No big surprise there – the look, the gestures, the voice, the total performance package – Joe had the Baron nailed. As he does in every role he takes. The only disappointment in the upcoming production of the Hound of the Baskervilles is that Joe will not be acting in it. The good news, however, is that he is directing the show – and has tickets for sale.
Best Contribution, Female Role, goes to Tiffany Anjema, as Daisy von Blitzen. It is not an easy task to consistently stay in character when doing a role like the Ditzy Daisy. It is easy to slip into a lazy caricature. But Tiffany gave consistent, fresh performances of the naïve Daisy, night after night. She bravely fainted, blindly backwards, time and again, trusting that I would be in position to catch her. I was hoping, too. It was right after this role, that Tiffany turned pro, playing the Lion, in Confessions Of A Dirty Blonde, in various venues across Ontario.
The Creature Creeps – what a fun play!
MIRACLE ON 34TH STREET
The Gusher Awards – along with the categories for the awards which can differ from play to play – are chosen by the directors and producers of each production. Therefore, there is never a Best Director award, as that would seem to be in poor taste and rather self serving.
However, the Master of Ceremonies for the Gusher Awards is me and I can say whatever I want. For example: pineapple bonanza sparkling. But I digress…a lot…as you may have noticed over the years…and here I am doing it again…digressing, that is…bad habit…must try to keep it under control…and I will as soon as I can remember what I was going to say. Oh, yes, Miracle On 34th Street.
After the production was over in December, I finally got a chance to see the original 1947 film version of Miracle on TV. There were some nice touches. Shellhammer had a motorcycle – noticeably missing from the PCT version. Fred had a nifty ’41 Studebaker coupe. Charlie was played by I Love Lucy’s Fred Mertz.
But other than that, the movie was a complete dud compared to the show Bev and Henry directed. Where was Miss Adams? I mean, really, Miracle without Miss Adams? And Jim the Zookeeper? The characters of Sawyer, Mara, and Shellhammer sleepwalked through their reduced roles in the film.
Our Doris was far more sassier and sexier than in the film version. Our Doris and Fred even showed some passion when speaking to each other. The film’s Susan, a morose and morbid creature looked like she belonged to the Addams family – not Miss Adams’s family – but the Gomez and Morticia Addams family. When she was mumbling ‘I believe’ I felt like shouting at the TV – Louder!
About a week after that disappointment the 1994 re-make was televised. I was shocked that anyone could possibly make a worse version. But they managed.
The point is, if there were Gushers for Direction, then Henry and Bev should certainly win one – not one each necessarily – because of budget constraints – but certainly one that they could share as a couple for giving some real life and vitality to this old chestnut.
And lively and vital it was. 47 actors playing 58 parts in 33 scenes with 50 people on the production crew. And it all came together like a triennial production of PCT’s Christmas Carol. You know, if Bev and Henry were eligible for these Gushers, they should have also given themselves one for set design. The built out platform for the Walker apartment was a stroke of genius. Without it, it would have been almost impossible to mount this production at the VPP.
But again, budgets, and there was only enough money to get our master craftsman to create five Gushers for Miracle.
First the Gusher for Character Role. This was chosen by Henry, Bev, and Sandy, for the person who most portrays and exemplifies their character. By way of example, if I may use a negative definition to describe this – and defining by negatives is a valid philosophical tool – if you recall the adjudication, the professional adjudicator chastised the casting of John Reid as Sawyer because he was just too handsome to be a villain. So, John is not the sort of person who would get a Character Role Gusher for Miracle on 34th Street. But as a Caroller, with the whole boy band looks thing and the singing in one talented package. Sorry, John, you were robbed.
The winner, for Character Role, goes to Carmen Lamb, for his portrayal of Kris Kringle. In rehearsal, in performance, in Streets after the performance, Carmen was always convincing as the Kringle character. The look, the voice, the laugh, the body language, both in his Santa pants and in his street clothes costume – all said ‘Kris Kringle’.
Now, Carmen had a bit of an unfair advantage in this, because, of course, in real life, outside of the theatre, Carmen really does live under the delusion that he is the one and only Santa Claus. And, after you pick up your Gusher, Carmen, there’s a driver waiting to take you to have your picture taken with Mayor LaGuardia at city hall. Don’t worry, it’s all right, Cathy Warwick arranged the whole thing.
The next Gusher goes for Best Contribution - Supporting Role. And this is no surprise – people had nailed this Gusher prediction even before opening night – fashion eyewear consultant and actor extraordinaire – Karissa Teskey as Miss Adams.
Karissa made Miss Adams come alive. After being introduced to her, audiences were soon laughing whenever she appeared on stage. She stole every scene she was in, with her facial expressions, physical mannerisms, and voice that was like something straight out of an Al and Lou Post Office routine.
Next, the Gusher for Novice Youth Role. We had many, many talented young people in the cast and they all did a great job. Henry, Bev, and Sandy had a tough time picking this one. They were looking for someone who as new to the stage – or certainly to the Petrolia Community Theatre. Someone who was enthusiastic about the theatre experience both on and off stage. Someone who was having fun while learning and using their stagecraft. They settled on Thomas Mara, Junior – Korey Broad.
Best Contribution – Lead Role – is an international stage and screen actor – whose work I have admired for years, ever since I first got involved with the PCT. Depth, range, an uncanny way – if not with reindeer – then in quickly memorizing huge quantities of lines – allowing himself more time to dig into and experiment with the character he’s playing. A leader also in the presence and maturity he brings to a production as an example and role model. The grand old man of theatre – the William Hutt of the PCT – the venerable Greg Harold as the stargazing, darn good lawyer, Fred Gailey.
Best Contribution – Production Team. In a show this big, in a show this complex, how do you make that decision, when everyone worked so hard and so well. I’m just glad it was Sandy, Bev, and Henry who had to choose one person and not me. And, once chosen, I think they made an excellent choice.
For Costuming and Design, the Gusher goes to Karen Whiting. Remember, 58 parts – some with costume changes – some like the parade characters presenting unique challenges - all needing to look like November and December 1947 in New York City. Now, I might have got desperate and fudged a bit – letting someone wear a 1944 shirt or March ’48 dress – but not Karen. She knows. And it shows. I brought in one of my own suits to wear as Shellhammer and right away with her sharp eye to detail and fashion nuance, she immediately said, ‘Yeah, that suit looks almost 60 years old. It’ll do.’
Well folks, that concludes our awards for another outstanding year of theatre with the Petrolia Community Theatre. Until next year...
