FFWD Weekly
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On Stage by Lori Montgomery When Alberta Theatre Project’s Bob White took the stage to accept his Betty Mitchell award for directing Wit, he uttered only three words before leaving the stage: "Thank you, Donna." He was referring, of course, to Donna Belleville, the gifted actress who won an award of her own for her portrayal of Dr. Vivian Bearing, the cancer-stricken English professor in Margaret Edson’s Pulitzer Prize-winning play. ATP’s staging also took the prize for outstanding production of a play, contributing to what was a successful night for the company following a season plagued by financial problems. Despite their administrative concerns during the 1999-2000 season, which threatened to close the theatre’s doors, ATP had no artistic difficulties, as evidenced by their showing at the theatre community’s annual awards held on Monday, August 28. In addition to the three nods for Wit, the company garnered four other major awards. Kate Hennig’s turn as a patient in a mental institution in Cosi won her the Betty for outstanding supporting actress, and Judith Bowden’s outlandish costumes for the same show – in which patients stage a wild version of the opera Cosi Fan Tutte – was worth another award. It was the third time in the awards’ three-year history that Bowden has won the prize. Philip Warren Sarsons’ sensitive embodiment of a character with cerebral palsy in 15 Seconds at ATP was rewarded with the prize for outstanding performance by a lead actor. He thanked former artistic director Michael Dobbin and the staff at ATP for seeing him through his "artistic puberty." ATP also took the award for best new play, with the English premiere at playRites 2000 of Michel Marc Bouchard’s The Coronation Voyage, translated by Linda Gaboriau. Gaboriau is presently in the area for this year’s Banff playRites colony, and was able to attend the ceremony and take the stage with a charming acceptance of the award. Theatre Calgary was shut out of the performance categories, but made a predictably strong showing in the realm of design. Harry Frehner’s moody lighting for Berlin to Broadway and Stephen Woodjetts’s musical direction of the complex musical revue were both honoured, as were David Boechler’s striking set design for A Fitting Confusion and Tim Williams’ music for The Glass Menagerie. The category of musical direction ended up in a tie, with Williams taking the stage a second time to share the award with Woodjetts, although Williams was honoured this time for his work on Lunchbox Theatre’s Big Mama! The Willie Mae Thornton Story. It was a show that Lunchbox artistic director Johanne Deleeuw, while accepting the Betty Mitchell award for outstanding production of a musical, admitted took her by surprise with its power. Sage Theatre was represented by Christopher Hunt, who was named outstanding actor in a supporting role for Bent, and Denise Clarke of One Yellow Rabbit received her second Betty for choreography in The History of Wild Theatre. There were 50 shows eligible for the awards, which are named after the local theatre pioneer, teacher and director who died in 1976. A nominating committee of 12 theatre professionals saw all 50 shows and picked the nominees, and ballots were sent to local members of the Canadian Actors’ Equity Association for voting over the summer.

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