CRT Announces Nominations for 2015 “Pavilion Awards”

Cortland Repertory Theatre has announced the nominees for their thirteenth annual “Pavilion Awards” which recognize Outstanding Achievement in local high school theatre. For the ninth year, First Niagara Bank serves as the Corporate Sponsor for this program, which allows for many categories within the musical and non-musical genres. Musicals in consideration were held at the Cortland, Dryden, Groton, Homer, McGraw and Tully High Schools. Non-musical plays were also presented at Cortland, Homer and Tully.  The nominees are as followings:

Musical:  A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum (Cortland), Into The Woods (Dryden), Oklahoma! (Groton), Bye Bye Birdie (Homer), Beauty and the Beast (McGraw) and Once Upon a Mattress (Tully).

Play: The Crucible (Cortland), The Hollow (Homer), and A Doll’s House (Tully).

Ensemble (musical):  A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum (Cortland), Into The Woods (Dryden), Oklahoma! (Groton), Bye Bye Birdie (Homer), Beauty and the Beast (McGraw) and Once Upon a Mattress (Tully).

Ensemble (play): The Crucible (Cortland), The Hollow (Homer), and A Doll’s House (Tully).

Leading Actor in a Musical: Jack Gerhard (Cortland), Will Hanson (Dryden), Eamonn Moneypenny-Hall (Dryden), Alec Young (Groton), David Perfetti (Homer), Andrew Niver (McGraw) and Brendan Cordona (Tully).

Leading Actress in a Musical:  Laure Piekunka (Dryden), Kendra Walkuski (Dryden), Brooke Jackson (Groton), Robin Baumeister (Homer), Asia Stauber (McGraw), and Kristin Soos (Tully).

Leading Actor in a Play: Alex Reynolds (Cortland), Ben Mayberry (Cortland), and David Perfetti (Homer).

Leading Actress in a Play: Michaela Pace (Cortland), Sierra Wilhoit (Cortland), Julia Gustafson (Homer), Isabella Puente (Tully) and Carolyn Zobel (Tully).

Supporting Actor in a Musical: Jason Gore (Cortland), Kenny Tallman (Groton), Luke Lauchle (Groton), and Trayton Tanudjaja (McGraw).

Supporting Actress in a Musical: Helena Rankin (Groton), Alexis Scarlata (Groton), Bailey Kote (Homer), Trinity Tanudjaja (McGraw), and Isabella Puente (Tully).

Supporting Actor in a Play: Jack Gerhard (Cortland), John Ruquet (Cortland), Drew Gustafson (Homer), and Stephen Hyde (Homer).

Supporting Actress in a Play: Elena Gustafson (Homer), Tessa Brown (Homer), Haley Fowler-Conner (Tully) and Kirsten Soos (Tully).

Featured Actor in a Musical: Connor Beattie (Cortland), Blake Pace (Cortland), Gabe Woods (Dryden), and Trevor Empson (Groton).

Featured Actress in a Musical: Cameron Park-Miller (Dryden), Jenniellen Withers (Homer), Katie Spaulding (Tully), and Maurysha Cuttino (Tully).

Featured Actor in a Play: Blake Pace (Cortland), Jake Vineyard (Cortland), David Fien (Homer), and Reed Cleland (Homer).

Featured Actress in a Play: Amy Grantham (Cortland), Kate Halstead (Homer), and Lucia Chacana (Tully).

“Rising Star” – for middle school students:  Addy Whitener (Dryden), George Murphy-Wilkins (Dryden), Macy Short (Dryden), Wesley Baker (McGraw), and Ashley Neff (McGraw).

Student Written One-Act Play: All nominees are from Cortland High School –  Rhianna Eleck (Rosie’s Garden), Jack Gerhard (The Tremendously True Tall Tale of Sir Gallantless), Ben Jackson (The Wavering Melancholy) and Jason Wright (Penney: A Musical in One Act).

Technical Achievement:  Jeffrey Steinhoff (McGraw).

Also the students themselves will pick a “Most Valuable Player” from each production.  This award is chosen for the person involved in the production who went above and beyond the call of duty for their show.  This recognition is voted on and chosen by the cast and crews themselves; no outside judges are involved.

Scholarships are also available for graduating seniors who are pursuing higher education in the theatre arts.  Members of the CRT Board of Directors Youth Programming Committee decide the recipients of these scholarships.

For the productions and acting awards, volunteer judges attended the shows.  All are involved with Central New York theatre in some way, whether as a performer, technician, within the educational system or as an avid theatre-goer. In each category, the nominees who received the most votes have been selected as finalists. In the event that a judge is unable to attend a performance, the total number of points each nominee receives is divided by the number of judges attending to determine ranking.  Factors such as the size of the role, number of songs, time on stage, etc. determine the category in which each actor is placed.

The Pavilion Award Ceremony will be held on Monday, June 8th at 7:00 pm at the Little York Pavilion, home to CRT.  The awards will be presented on the set for CRT’s first show “Always a Bridesmaid” and each school will perform a musical number from their show at the ceremony.  Presenters will include actors, administration and staff of the 2015 CRT summer season.  The CRT Board of Directors will host a reception beforehand as a Meet-and-Greet for the actors from different schools.  Tickets are arranged through the school or show directors, not through the CRT Box Office.