Theatre Articles
Nominations For The Denver Post Ovation Awards, 2004
By Ellen Nelson, Dec 29, 2004
The Evergreen Players' production of "The Secret Garden" received three nominations in the Denver Post's fourth annual Ovation Awards. The musical, which ran for five weeks last summer at Center/Stage, earned nominations for Best Musical and Best Younger Actor for Jamie Billings (pictured right) and Matt Gottlieb.
Everyone in Evergreen knows that performances at Center/Stage are entertaining and extraordinary for our small community theater. But to be recognized by "the big boys" is certainly an accomplishment. Last week, the Evergreen Players received three nominations in Denver Post's prestigious fourth annual Ovation Awards.
The Ovation Award nominees were selected by The Denver Post's theater critics, who reviewed or observed 142 productions in 2004. Many of the shows were in the Denver Metro area and included the Arvada Center, Boulder Dinner Theatre and Country Dinner Playhouse, but 38 companies, as far as Creede, Fort Collins and Colorado Springs were recognized. Nominees were selected to categories including Best Musical, Best Actor, Best Lighting, along with a special category for Denver Center Theater Company.
Evergreen Players' "The Secret Garden" was nominated for Best Musical and actors Jamie Billings, who starred as Mary Lennox and Matt Gottlieb, who played young Dickon, received nominations in the Best Younger Actor category. "This was our first ever nomination for these awards," Evergreen Players past President John Davis exclaimed. Other nominees for Best Musical were: Arvada Center's "The 1940's Radio Hour," Boulder Dinner Theatre's "Cats," Country Dinner Playhouse's "Gypsy," and PHAMALy's "Guys and Dolls." "The Secret Garden" was the only non-professional production nominated for Best Musical this year.
"This was the first production I saw there as a critic," Denver Post Theater Critic John Moore explained. "Because we have more than 90 theater companies in the state, it's hard for me to see everything, but I was long overdue. I was particularly curious about 'The Secret Garden' because this is a show that requires operatic-quality singers. If these singers were not the real deal, it could have been a long evening. Instead it was a delight, and I am not known as a big fan of musical theater in general. I was most impressed that the directors had assembled such a topnotch 'amateur' cast."
Long-time Evergreen residents Kathleen Davis and P.K. Worley directed "The Secret Garden." Actors with Evergreen connections included Bergen Elementaries music teacher Mandi Ogle, Joann Goode, Kent Carney, Michael LaBarge, Joshua Rivera, Bobby Conte Thornton and Dylan Reed.
The musical, based on the novel by Frances Hodgson Burnett, with book and lyrics by Marsha Norman and music by Lucy Simon, tells the story of orphaned Mary Lennox who must redefine her extravagant childhood in India and deal with abandonment, death and the spirit world in her Uncle's dismal English mansion.
"A lot of good work can come undone in an 'adult' production if you have to rely to any great degree on untrained child actors," Moore continued. "There's nothing more draining to a production's energy than when an audience is forced to shift its attention from the actual story to having to empathize with a struggling or nervous young actor. Matt has been a young pro around Denver theaters for years so his fine work didn't really surprise me, but Jamie was a revelation. She was just very natural and she really navigated the entire evening with confidence. Really, despite the obvious talent throughout the cast, the success or failure of the production relied very much on the success or failure of all these youngsters - and they did not fail."
When the awards were announced on December 26th, the Evergreen Players did not capture the award for Best Musical (Boulder's "Cats" received the honor) or Best Younger Actor (won by Max Posner of the LIDA Project's "Bingo Boyz: Columbine"), but there was still the satisfaction of being included in the nominations.
Congratulations to Evergreen's Paige Larson, who won an Ovation Award as best supporting actress as the pioneering therapist Dr. Fried in Miner's Alley Playhouse's production of "I Never Promised You a Rose Garden" in Golden, based on the novel by Evergreen author Joanne Greenberg.
This article originally appeared in the Canyon Courier, December 29, 2004. Reproduced with permission.