Before Kelsey Theatre begins its 2017-18 season, they will honor last season’s actors and production teams at the 2017 Kelsey Awards on Saturday, Aug. 19. The event, which is set to begin at 7 p.m., celebrates and recognizes the best theatrical productions and performers from Kelsey Theatre’s 2016-17 season.
The awards show will feature special performances from the past season’s top productions, including Miss Saigon, In The Heights, Anything Goes, The Boy From Oz and The Little Mermaid, as well as this summer’s 42nd Street.
As a preview to the 2017-18 season, numbers from Memphis and The Hunchback of Notre Dame will be performed. Memphis opens the Kelsey season for two weekends from Sept. 8 to 17; The Hunchback runs from Oct. 20 to 29.
Now in its eighth year, the 2017 Kelsey Awards is modeled after the Tony Awards. According to Kyrus Keenan Westcott, the show’s producer and director, gathering some of the best talent from around the region to reprise great moments from the past year has been a wonderful theater event.
“Having our actors all perform on one stage in one night has proven to be a thrilling experience for both the actors and their fans,” Westcott said. “Plus, we have the opportunity to recognize the considerable achievements of our community theater companies, which deliver high quality productions at Kelsey Theatre year after year.”
Nominees and winners are selected by Kelsey Theatre fans through an online voting process. Among the major awards categories are best performances, best technical achievements, best direction and best choreography. The ceremony will also honor the late Dottie Farina and the late Walter W. Smyth with the 2017 John Shanken-Kaye Lifetime Achievement Award.
The theater is located on Mercer County Community College’s West Windsor campus, 1200 Old Trenton Road. Tickets are $17 for all (plus a small processing fee) and are available online or by calling the Kelsey Theatre Box Office at 609-570-3333.
Cast members from The Pennington Players’ “In the Heights” will perform at the 2017 Kelsey Awards on Aug. 19. Back row, from left, are Marshall McGuire, Christian Confalone, Shan Williams, and Donte Wilder; front row, from left, Kelsey Rivera, Ashley DiStefano DeAntonio and Robert Veith.,
