Port City Playhouse and Springfield Community Theatre were the big winners at the Alliance of Community Theaters' Awards Banquet, which was held at George Washington Masonic Memorial.
Port City Playhouse walked away with eight awards. Six of those awards were for "Betrayal," including Larry Daniele, Supporting Actor in a Play; Anna Hawins, Sound Design; Grant Kevin Lane, Set Construction; Grant Kevin Lane, Set Design for a Play; Leslie A. Kobylinski, Director of a Play; and Outstanding Production of a Play. "Wrong Turn at Lungfish" garnered two awards; Elizabeth Marinelli won for Lead Actress in a Play and Joe Jenckes won for Lead Actor in a Play.
Springfield Community Theatre's production of "Godspell," which played at Bishop Ireton, won eight awards, including Minor Role in a Musical; Lighting Design; Supporting Actor in a Musical; Set Design for a Musical; Choreography for a Musical; Music Director; Director of a Musical; and Outstanding Production of a Musical.
This four-theater company alliance was established in 1979 to recognize the quality work in northern Virginia community theaters. The Arlington Players had been the fourth company until it withdrew to help found the Washington Area Theatre Community Honors (WATCH) and the Vienna Theatre Company joined the alliance. Each theater provides two judges and an alternate so that the judging panel is a total of eight judges with alternates available to assure full coverage. All judges attend all shows being judged and score them in up to 27 categories. The community theater companies participating in the 2003 calendar year program are: Dominion Stage; Port City Playhouse; Springfield Community Theatre; and Vienna Theatre Company.