Two Planks wins Merritts

OK, so I am not so conflicted now :-) ...A lovely evening, hosted by Neptune Theatre in a generous move.

Monday March 23rd, Two Plank productions took home four awards (named in honour of Robert Merritt, a NS theatre professional). They were:
Denyse Karn for costumes for Jerome: The Historical Spectacle.
Allen Cole and Ami McKay for Sound for Jerome: The Historical Spectacle.
Ken Schwartz for best director for Our Town
Our Town as best production...

I am so proud of everyone who has worked on these seasons and these shows. Everyone had a part to play and they did it with style and generosity. Congrats.

See the chronicle Herald article here:
http://thechronicleherald.ca/ArtsLife/1113140.html

Funny, the newsprint edition says Two Planks took top honours...City vs rural? It's all good...

Thanks to Sue Leblanc for the pictures!

Merritt Awards

Monday night is the big night. It'll be an interesting switch to take the event in a sense out of the theatre ghetto and into the public eye when at Neptune. I did like the opportunity to see people I hadn't seen before - do we need to be on better behaviour now with more public there?

I am still conflicted about awards and the value of them, but as Ken says, if they're happening, nice to be recognized.

What to wear?

Here is the stuff about the Merritts:

Artistic Director Ken Schwartz ended his week well. The news was released on March 6 that his two productions of 2008 had garnered 9 Merritt Nominations for outstanding achievement in a variety of categories. Still to come are the final decisions at the end of March at the Merritt Awards themselves, but in the meantime, he is thrilled at the recognition for the work of so many talented artists both at Two Planks and at the other nominated companies.

The Two Planks nominations are:
Lead Actor: Graham Percy as the Stage Manager in Our Town
Supporting Actor: Ryan Rogerson as the Crazy Cajun Frog Man in Jerome: The Historical Spectacle
Supporting Actress: Burgundy Code as Mrs. Webb in Our Town AND
Melody Johnson as Mrs. Gibbs in Our Town
Costume Design: Denyse Karn for Jerome: The Historical Spectacle
Sound Design: Allen Cole and Ami McKay for Jerome: The Historical Spectacle
Outstanding new play or playwright: Ami McKay for Jerome: The Historical Spectacle
Outstanding Direction: Ken Schwartz for Our Town...
Outstanding Production: Our Town
Stay tuned for the results and congratulations to all of our colleagues!
Click here to go to the Merritt Awards Site.