2010-11 Marquee Awards results

2010-11 Marquee Awards

Staff report

CANFIELD

The Youngstown Play- house’s production of “Chicago” was named Best Musical in the 2010-11 Marquee Awards.

The Marquees, which honor the season’s best in community theater in the Mahoning Valley, were revealed Saturday night in the annual ceremony, at St. Michael Church Family Life Center.

The award for Best Play ended in a tie between the Youngstown Playhouse’s “The Pillowman” and Rust Belt Theater Company’s “Someone Who’ll Watch Over Me.”

J.E. Ballantyne Jr. of the Youngstown Area Community Theatre Awards, which oversees the Marquees, noted that there was no clear runaway winner by a show or a theater this year.

The top winner overall was Victorian Players’ “Our Town,” which pulled down a total of seven statuettes. Salem Community Theatre’s “Jesus Christ Superstar” garnered the second-highest amount of awards, with six, including Best Lead Actor in a Musical for Khaled Tabbara (Judas) and Best Lead Actress in a Musical for Bernadette Lim (Mary Magdalene).

“Chicago,” which played to seven consecutive full houses last September, amassed five awards for the third-best total.

Best Lead Actor in a Play went to James McClellan in the Oakland Center for the Arts’ “I Am My Own Wife.”

Lisandra Stebner won Best Lead Actress in a Play for her turn in The Vic’s “Our Town.”

The Best Director awards went to Sam Luptak Jr. for “Our Town” in the play category, while David Jendre took the honor on the musical side for “Chicago.” The Marquees were evenly distributed this year, with 20 of the 63 shows produced in 2010-11 receiving awards.

In terms of theaters, The Youngstown Playhouse was the overall winner with a total of 12 awards. Victorian Players came in second with nine awards, while Salem Community Theatre was third with seven awards.

Four special awards were handed out at Saturday night’s ceremony.

Dylan White and Lisandra Stebner received the Hugh Fagan Award, which is awarded to those who show a strong commitment to the continuation and preservation of the performing arts and a willingness and ability to work with children in this regard.

Also Saturday, Pat Fagan and the late Hugh Fagan were inducted into the Legends of the Theater Hall of Honor.

Teresa Weakley, news anchor for WKBN-TV 27, hosted the ceremony.