Vernon Morning Star - Vernon’s Powerhouse wins best play in the province - Mobile Edition
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Vernon’s Powerhouse wins best play in the province
By Kristin Froneman - Vernon Morning Star
Published: July 09, 2012 10:00 AM
Updated: July 10, 2012 1:05 PM
The Woman in Black's Burnet McLean as
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Vernon Morning Star - Vernon’s Powerhouse wins best play in the province - Mobile Edition
The Actor joins the cast and crew of
Powerhouse Theatre in celebrating their win
for Best Production at Theatre BC
Mainstage Festival.
José Larochelle/Morning Star
The cast and crew of Powerhouse Theatre now have a few
bronze Thespians to go with their Woman in Black.
Vernon’s community theatre, representing the Okanagan Zone,
took home seven bronze-cast sculptures, made by celebrated
Kelowna artist Geert Maas, at Theatre BC’s Mainstage Festival in
Kamloops Saturday.
Powerhouse not only won Best Production and Best Director for
Matt Brown, but a number of technical awards for its ghostly
thriller, written by Stephen Mallatratt.
The Woman in Black, which won Best Production at the
Okanagan Zone (OZone) Drama Festival in May after it was
staged in Vernon for a two-week run in April, competed against
seven other winning plays from zones around the province.
“If there’s one thing aside from the awards and the appreciation
we received, it’s how Powerhouse is kept in high regard by all
circles,” said The Woman in Black’s winning director Brown. “They
are known to have their stuff together, and gave us the tools and
help to execute our play efficiently well.”
That was the case as the awards came just after Brown and his
cast, OZone award winning actors Burnet McLean and Chris
Froese, and his crew staged the play in Vernon for a two-night
fundraiser at Powerhouse, held July 3 and 4.
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Vernon Morning Star - Vernon’s Powerhouse wins best play in the province - Mobile Edition
The next day, the crew packed the sets, costumes, props and
everything else to transfer the play to Kamloops’ Sagebrush
Theatre, where it was presented on Friday to an audience and
adjudicator.
“When we went to Kamloops, it was hold your breath and triple
check everything. The effects and everything else pretty much
went without any hitches,” said Brown. “Out of the few shows I
saw, a few things happened, and then there were a few ‘whoas.’
When you transfer a show, there is always a margin of error.”
Adjudicating the eight-day festival was musical theatre veteran
Jeff Hyslop, who addressed the audience after each play was
staged and then gathered the cast and crew the next day for a
coffee critique.
“I’ve been going through adjudication since I was eight, and I’ve
never had someone that gracious,” said Brown. “... In a nutshell,
he got and up and said (The Woman in Black) was mesmerizing,
seamless and powerful... Everyone’s jaw was on the ground. He
also said that after two minutes into the show, he basically closed
his notebook and watched the play.”
And the accolades continued at the awards ceremony, when
Powerhouse also picked up Thespians for Best Properties,
awarded to Jean Given, and Best Technical Sound for Bob
Oldfield, as well as Best Program.
Powerhouse newcomer Jessika LaFramboise, who is a graduate
of W.L. Seaton Secondary School’s renowned drama program
and recently moved back to Vernon, won two awards for Best
Technical Lighting and Best Set Design.
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Vernon Morning Star - Vernon’s Powerhouse wins best play in the province - Mobile Edition
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