Four Star Theater Awards
by Jim Spencer and Shirley Lorraine
Luminaries from Ventura County’s theatrical community gathered for a night of recognition and entertainment at the Sixth Annual Four Star Theater Awards ceremony.
This year’s event, called “A Night of Four Thousand Stars,” was held January 10 at the iconic High Street Art Center in Moorpark.
The awards are presented by the Four Star Theater Alliance, an association of six community theaters. The purpose of the Alliance is to promote camaraderie, cooperation and mutual respect among member theaters and their constituent participants.
Each theater group is recognized for both an outstanding production, as well as outstanding individual contributions by its performers, production and technical staff members in various shows over the course of the entire season.
During the year the productions of each theater company are evaluated by separate a panel of judges drawn from the other five theaters in the Alliance. As has been the tradition in Ventura County, award recipients are recognized for their outstanding work, rather than being competitively judged as best among the disparate forms and styles of shows, roles and productions.
This year the awards show was skillfully hosted by Jocelyn Johnson and Eric Umali. In addition to the handing out of awards, each theater company presented memorable excerpts from one of the shows it presented during the past season.
The Ventura Breeze salutes the Four Star Theater Alliance and congratulates the recipients from each theater company.
Camarillo Skyway Playhouse: Outstanding production: Flowers for Algernon. Individual award recipients: R. Shane Bingham, Annie Sherman , Todd Tickner, Kimberley Demmary, Bob Decker, Eric R. Umali, Angie Zamora, William Carmichael, Lorna Bowen, Erin Heulitt, Barbara Mazeika, David Watkins, Annie Sherman, Dawn Notagiacomo, Eric R. Umali, Dean Johnson, Ryan Kelly.
Conejo Players Theatre: Outstanding production: How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying. Individual award recipients: Ryan Driscoll, Emily Vallance, Dale Alpert, Kathleen Silverman, John Holroyd, Rick Steinberg, Dave Parmenter, Jack Allaway, Beth Glasner, Elena Mills, Nick Newkirk, Miriam Durrie-Kirsch, James Laguna, Priscilla Losey,
Elite Theatre Company: Outstanding production: The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee. Individual award recipients: Alan Waserman, Vivien Latham, Mark Fagundes, Erin Fagundes, Shawn W. Lanz, Tom Eubanks, Elena Mills, Arryck Adams, Evan Patrick Smith, Will Shupe, Austin Robert Miller.
High Street Arts Center: Outstanding production: Dreamgirls. Individual award recipients: R. Shane Bingham, Alison Rosenblum, Brandon McCray, Hannah Davey, John Eslick, Ken Rayzor, Patrick Duffy, Laurel Marion, John Gaston, Wendy Babb, Colin Fluxman, Kathee Boyer, Taylor Thomas.
Ojai Art Center Theater ~ Ojai ACT: Outstanding production: Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf. Individual award recipients: Michael Perlmutter, Tracey Williams Sutton, Cecil Sutton, Kenny Dahle, Steve Grumette, Sheryl Jo Bedal, Reign Lewis, Greg Spaulding, Anna Kotula, Brian Robert Harris, Vivien Lathan, Tom Eubanks, Theresa Secor, Morgan Bozarth, Suzanne Tobin, Buddy Wilds and Jill Dolan.
Santa Paula Theatre Center: Outstanding production: The Clean House. Individual recipients: Raymond Mastrovito, Peggy Steketee, Michael Perl, Sindy McKay, Seth Kamenow Laurie Walters, Gary Richardson, Barbara Pedziwiatr, Taylor Kasch, Leslie Nichols, Javierra Torres, Carmen Saveiros.
