It’s awards season at Mercer County Community College’s Kelsey Theatre.
The 2014 Kelsey Theatre Awards, a Tony Awards-inspired evening that celebrates the theatrical successes of the past year, is scheduled for 8 p.m. Aug. 16 at the theatre, located on Mercer County Community College’s West Windsor campus, 1200 Old Trenton Road.
The show’s producer, director and head writer Kyrus Westcott said the awards are an opportunity to recognize this season’s best moments.
According to Westcott, the voting season and awards began online in 2009 and 2010, and evolved into a live show in 2011.
“It’s become an annual event that features two rounds of voting by more than 3,000 people, as well as a great turnout at the ceremony. A wonderful production staff helps pull off this huge event,” he said in a statement.
Winners in a variety of categories will be announced during the ceremony. The awards are based on voting by Kelsey Theatre fans. The voting is set to continue through Aug. 10 online at thekelseyawards.wordpress.com.
Actors from the five shows nominated for Outstanding Production of a Musical will perform this year. The shows include Playful Theatre Productions’ Les Miserables, The Pennington Players’ Big River, PinnWorth Productions’ A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, Maurer Productions OnStage’s Spamalot and Shrek: The Musical.
The cast of 13: The Musical, which The Pennington Players presented in 2011, is set to reprise their roles for a special reunion performance. A reunion performance of another show is also planned, but is being kept secret until the ceremony.
Special cameos by Kelsey Theatre regulars and comedic routines will also be featured, as well as numbers by the Kelsey Theatre Dance Squad, now in its fourth year of dancing at the ceremony. Choreographed by Rachel Tovar, the dance team includes Shannon Flanagan, Lexi Schlaifer, Cindy George, Bridget Carmichael and Amy Oliver and will perform upbeat dance numbers throughout the evening.
The show is hosted by actresses Jaimie McMillin, Maria Aromando and Kim Cupo – all of whom have had major roles in shows at Kelsey Theatre in the past three years.
Tickets are $16.
More information is online at kelseytheatre.net and facebook.com/KelseyReport.
The ceremony is the brainchild of Kyrus Westcott, an MCCC Theatre alumnus who has played a leading role both on stage and behind the scenes at Kelsey for many years.,
