There were 56 shows eligible this year and 21 awards handed out at the 12th annual Betty Mitchell Awards on Monday, August 24, celebrating the best in Calgary theatre.

The night’s first award went to Shawna Baird for her supporting role in Sage Theatre’s Frozen. This would be Frozen’s only Betty, although it was nominated in several other categories, including outstanding production.

Christian Goutsis received best supporting actor for his role in Vertigo Theatre’s The Mousetrap.

NiX, the co-production between Alberta Theatre Projects (ATP), Ghost River Theatre and Vancouver’s The Only Animal, walked away with best lighting and set design. Frankly, it would be hard for any other show to compete with NiX in the technical categories, considering the set was a “giant igloo,” as lighting designer William Hales described it.

Deneen McArthur was also nominated for NiX’s costumes, but she took the award for her work as costume designer for Downstage and Hit&Myth’s production of The Piper.

Patrick Pennefather won in sound design for the ATP and Electric Company Theatre production of Studies in Motion: The Haunting of Eadweard Muybridge. The play also won outstanding choreography or fight direction, as well as outstanding production of a play, for a total of three.

The only tie of the evening was for outstanding performance by an actress in a comedy or musical. It was shared between newcomer to the Calgary theatre scene, Ava Jane Markus, for her role in Sage Theatre’s The Attic, The Pearls and Three Fine Girls, and Jan Alexandra Smith for her performance in Theatre Calgary’s An Ideal Husband.

Bruce Horak beat out Evil Dead cast mate Tyler Rive, as well as Dirty Rotten Scoundrels stars Doug McKeag and Mike Ross, for outstanding performance by an actor in a comedy or musical.

Outstanding new play went to Stephen Massicotte for The Clockmaker, which premiered at ATP’s playRites Festival this year.

Vanessa Porteous, ATP’s new artistic director, won in the category of outstanding direction for When That I Was… from The Shakespeare Company, a little gem of a play in which a former member of Shakespeare’s company of actors shares memories and perspectives on the Bard. And Christopher Hunt took the best actor award for his work in this one-man show that few people knew about, and even fewer saw.

Nicola Lipman took the award for outstanding performance by an actress in a drama for her work in ATP’s Another Home Invasion.

Outstanding production of a musical went to Theatre Calgary’s Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, beating out Evil Dead: The Musical. But the zombie musical did win the hearts of Fast Forward Weekly readers, snagging the reader’s choice award.

One of the evening’s highlights was Karen Johnson-Diamond’s acceptance speech for the inaugural Duval Lang Theatre for Young Audiences Award.

The Greg Bond Memorial Award for outstanding contribution to musical theatre, went to Hit & Myth Productions’ Joel Cochrane, one of the guys behind Evil Dead: The Musical and earlier productions of Urinetown and The Fully Monty.

One surprise was that The Erotic Anguish of Don Juan didn’t take home any awards, even though it was nominated in seven categories.

The outstanding achievement award went to Diane Blackwell for her contribution to theatre as a long-time volunteer and for her work at Vertigo in the audience services department.

“I love theatre,” she emphasized to the audience. And that’s really what it’s all about.