May 28

2014 Critter Award Nominees Announced

After 5 hours of deliberating, the four critics of the Calgary Critter Awards have released a nominee list for these year’s awards.

Calgary Theatre Critics, Stephen Hunt of the Calgary Herald, Louis B. Hobson of the Calgary Sun, Jenna Shummoogum of Downtown Calgary (GetDown.ca) and Jessica Goldman of CBC’s The Eyeopener and applause-meter.com are pleased to announce the nominees for the third annual Calgary Theatre Critics’ Awards.

Nominees were chosen from any production performed in Calgary between August, 2013 and June, 2013, with the exception of Broadway Across Canada performances. The winners will be announced at a free public award ceremony starts at 7pm on June 18 at The Libertine Public House, 223 8 Ave SW.

The 2014 Critter nominees are:

Featured Actor in a Play:
Graham Percy – Twelfth Night (The Shakespeare Company)
Paul Welch – The Hounds of the Baskervilles (Vertigo Theatre)
Dj Gellatly – The Basement Boys (Theatre BSMT)
David Snider – The Diary of Ann Frank (Rosebud Theatre)
Richard Lee Hsi – Games (Alberta Theatre Projects)

Featured Actress in a Play:
Kandis Chappell – Major Barbara (Theatre Calgary)
Katey Hoffman – You Will Remember Me (Alberta Theatre Projects)
Genevieve Pare – Late, A Cowboy Song (Third Street Theatre)
Sarah Wheeldon – Twelfth Night (The Shakespeare Company)
Lindsay Burns – Camp Victoria (Lunchbox Theatre)

Featured Actress in a Musical:
Esther Purvis Smith – Bingo Ladies (Lunchbox Theatre)
Sarah Irwin – Spring Awakening (Artists’ Collective Theatre)
Susan Gilmour – Mary Poppins (Theatre Calgary)
Gabrielle Jones – Fiddler on the Roof (Stage West)
Natascha Girgis – Fiddler on the Roof (Stage West)

Featured Actor in a Musical:
Andrew Macdonald-Smith – Mary Poppins (Theatre Calgary)
Jack Forestier – Mary Poppins (Theatre Calgary)
Brent Middleton – Spring Awakening (Artists’ Collective Theatre)
Brian MacDougall – Spring Awakening (Artists’ Collective Theatre)

Best Solo Performance:
Kyall Rakoz – Ludwig and Lohengrin
Tara Travis – Til Death, The Six Wives of Henry VIII (Monster Theatre)
Dave Kelly – Dad, Day 1 (Lunchbox Theatre)
Nathan Schmidt – Underneath the Lintel (Rosebud Theatre)
Chase Padgett – Nashville Hurricane

Best Set Design:
Anton de Groot – Travels with my Aunt (Vertigo Theatre)
Daniel Ostling – Major Barbara (Theatre Calgary)
Cory Sincennes – Mary Poppins (Theatre Calgary)
Narda McCarroll – Around the World in 80 Days (Alberta Theatre Projects)
Scott Penner – I love you because (Stage West)

Best Technical Design:
Matthew Waddell – Tomorrow’s Child (Ghost River Theatre)
Ana Cappelluto, Richard Feren and Elysha Poirier – Seeds (Theatre Junction)
T. Erin Gruber – A bomb in the Heart (Downstage)
David Leclerc, Bruno Matte and Creighton Doane – Boom (Theatre Calgary / High Performance Rodeo)
Jamie Nesbitt – The Hounds of the Baskervilles (Vertigo Theatre)

Best Actor in a Musical:
Geoffrey Ewert – Hedwig and the Angry Inch (Sage Theatre)
Scott Shpeley – Touch Me: Songs for a (dis)connected Age (Forte Musical Theatre Guild)
Christian Goutsis – Touch Me: Sings for a (dis)connected Age (Forte Musical Theatre Guild)
Victor A Young – Fiddler on the Roof (Stage West)
Eric Wigston – Spring Awakening (Artists’ Collective Theatre)

Best Actress in a Musical:
Bree Greig – Do you want what I have got? A Craigslist Cantata (Alberta Theatre Projects / High Performance Rodeo)
Lisa Lennox – Touch Me: Songs for a (dis)connected Age (Forte Musical Theatre Guild)
Selina Wong – Touch Me: Songs for a (dis)connected Age (Forte Musical Theatre Guild)
Elinor Holt – Bingo Ladies (Lunchbox Theatre)
Stefanie Lis – Spring Awakening (Artists’ Collective Theatre)
Blythe Wilson – MaryPoppins (Theatre Calgary)

Best Touring Production:
Kim’s Convenience (Soulpepper)
6.0: How Heap and Pebble Took on the World and Won (Northern Lights Theatre)
Do you want what I have got? A Craigslist Cantata (Acting Up Stage Company and Factory Theatre)
Seeds (Porte Parole)
A Brimful of Asha (Why Not Theatre)

Best Actress in a Play:
Amy Rutherford – The Great Gatsby (Theatre Calgary)
Natascha Girgis – Around the World in 80 Days (Alberta Theatre Projects)
Allison Lynch – Closer (Ground Zero Theatre and Hit & Myth Productions)
Beryl Bain – The Mountaintop (Theatre Calgary)
Carmen Aguirre – The Motherf***er with the Hat (Alberta Theatre Projects)

Best Actor in a Play:
Paul Sun-Hyung Lee – Kim’s Convenience (Theatre Calgary)
Dean Paul Gibson – Major Barbara (Theatre Calgary)
Duval Lang – You Will Remember Me (Alberta Theatre Projects)
Greg Wilson – The Basement Boys (Theatre BSMT)
Braden Griffiths – My Family and Other Endangered Species (Downstage)

Best New Script:
Dad, Day 1 – Dave Kelly (Lunchbox Theatre)
Games – Linda Griffiths (Alberta Theatre Projects)
You Will Remember Me – Francois Archambault translated by Bobby Theodore (Alberta Theatre Projects)
My Family and Other Endangered Species – Ellen Close and Braden Griffiths (Downstage)
The Basement Boys – Steven Owad (Theatre BSMT)

Best Creative Concept:
Tomorrow’s Child – Eric Rose, Matt Waddell and David van Belle (Ghost River Theatre) Eavesdrop: The Coffeeshop Show – Mark Hopkins and Charles Netto (Swallow-A-Bicycle Theatre)
Legend Has It – Rebecca Northan, with Renee Amber, Bruce Horak, Mark Meer, Jamie Northan and Sean Bowie (Alberta Theatre Projects)
Of Fighting Age – Col Cseke, Christopher Duthie and David van Belle (Verb Theatre and the Glenbow Museum)
Boom – Rick Miller (Theatre Calgary / High Performance Rodeo)

Best Director Musical:
JP Thibodeau – Touch Me: Songs for a (dis)connected Age (Forte Musical Theatre Guild)
Kelly Reay – Hedwig and the Angry Inch (Sage Theatre)
Amiel Gladstone – Do you want what I have got? A Craigslist Cantata (Alberta Theatre Projects / High Performance Rodeo)
Michael Shamata – Mary Poppins (Theatre Calgary)
Amanda Liz Cutting – Spring Awakening (Artists’ Collective Theatre)

Best Director Play:
Dennis Garnhum – Major Barbara (Theatre Calgary)
Vanessa Porteous – You Will Remember Me (Alberta Theatre Projects)
Simon Mallett – Travels with my Aunt (Vertigo Theatre)
Chelsey Fawcett – The Basement Boys (Theatre BSMT)
Kate Newby – Twelfth Night (The Shakespeare Company)

Best Musical:
Touch Me: Songs for a (dis)connected Age, Forte Musical Theatre Guild
Do you want what I have got? A Craigslist Cantata, Alberta Theatre Projects / High Performance Rodeo
Fiddler on the Roof, Stage West
Mary Poppins, Theatre Calgary
Spring Awakening, Artists’ Collective Theatre

Best Play:
Major Barbara, Theatre Calgary
You Will Remember Me, Alberta Theatre Projects
My Family and Other Endangered Species, Downstage
Kim’s Convenience, Theatre Calgary
Twelfth Night, The Shakespeare Company

In addition, the critics will be handing out the Evans Award, a special award recognizing outstanding contribution to the vibrancy of the theatre community in Calgary. The award recipient will be revealed on the night of the event.

To attend the Calgary Critics’ Awards please RSVP to [email protected] as soon as possible as there are a limited number of spots available. Doors open at 7pm with complimentary nibbles for everyone, the awards will begin at 8pm and the celebration will continue until they kick us all out.

The Calgary Critics would like to thank their event sponsors: Calgary Herald, Calgary Sun, Bottom Line, Clarice Siebens and Petrocraft Storage Inc. for their support and enthusiasm.