The big winner of the night was Lakewood's Strand Theater Ensemble earning 6 awards in total for the evening. The Strand Theater Ensemble won the coveted Outstanding Production of a Musical for their production of Little Women,The Musical. Little Women also earned wins for Outstanding Direction of a Musical : Gina Lupi, Outstanding Music Direction : Anthony Didia, Outstanding Lead Actress in a Musical : Jessica Berger and Outstanding Youth Actress in a Musical : Arden Walker. In addition, the Strand Theater's Gina Lupi took home the award for Outstanding Featured Actress in a Musical for her performance in Mame.
Piscataway's Circle Players also took home 6 awards including Outstanding Productions of both an Original Play for Tales from the Porch as well as Outstanding Production of a Play for The Clean House. The awards for Outstanding Actress in a Play and Direction of a Play also went to Circle's husband and wife team of Catherine Rowe and Rob Pherson respectively for The Clean House while Tales From the Porch received trophies for Outstanding Stage Management of a play: Tina Lee and Outstanding Featured Actor in a Play: Jon Heron
Other lucky "Perry" winners included Cranford Dramatic Club claiming five awards and Chatham Players claiming three. Other Theater companies honored with awards last night were Franklin Villagers, NENA Productions, The Roche Players, Chester Theatre Group, St Catherine's of Bologna, Center Drama, The Road Company, Hexagon Players, the Collaborative Arts Studio, Bergen County Players, Showkids Invitational Theatre Group, the Starving Artist, Somerset Valley Playhouse and Enchanted Players.
The audience of over 730 people was treated to live performances from the seven musicals nominated for Outstanding Production as well as a crowd pleasing opening number featuring talent from across the state of New Jersey. Act Two of the evening was kicked off by a number showcasing the work of the eight nominated choreographers .The audience for the show, hosted by NJACT president Amy Levine, gave a huge hand when the Kelsey Theatre's M. Kitty Getlik was presented with The Lifetime Achievement Award in Recognition for a Lifetime Commitment to Community Theater.
Nominees in 34 competitive categories for the NJACT 36th Annual "Perry" Awards were determined by NJACT from reviews of over 200 shows submitted by 75 theater companies for Perry Award consideration.
The NJACT Perry awards are bestowed annually on community theatre contributors for distinguished achievement. The Perry Awards are named in honor of William Perry Morgan a gifted director, actor, composer, and musician who was once a driving force in New Jersey Community Theater. During his time in New Jersey, Perry and several of his close colleagues came to the realization that there was a need to recognize the many great accomplishments of their fellow thespians, who gave so freely of their talents to enrich the lives of theater patrons in New Jersey. Perry Morgan himself was on hand for the festivities, having flown in from Tennessee just to attend the gala. He addressed the audience at the beginning of the evening and thanked the attendees for keeping community theater and the "Perry" awards alive.
For a complete list of winners, visit http://www.njact.org/awards/history/2009.php
