Theatre Calgary's Come From Away sweeps Betty Mitchell Awards
Musical takes seven wins at the 27th annual Bettys, cementing its status as this season's critical and audience favourite.
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Theatre Calgary's production of Come From Away dominated the 27th annual Betty Mitchell Awards, announced Monday at the Southern Alberta Jubilee Auditorium, taking seven of eight nominations.
The musical had already proven its popularity—its run was extended by a week and all performances played to standing room only and thunderous standing ovations. The Betty awards, which honour excellence in professional theatre in Alberta, confirmed what critics and audiences had been saying all season.
Come From Away won outstanding production of a musical. Jesse Robb earned Bettys for both choreography and direction. Steven Greenfield was named outstanding musical director. Scott Reid received a Betty for set design, Cory Pattak for lighting design. The cast won for best performance by an ensemble.
Other standouts: Wildwoman, a joint venture from Alberta Theatre Projects and Vancouver's Gateway Theatre, was named outstanding production of a play and took home four additional Bettys including three for acting performances—Natascha Girgis and Connor Stuart for supporting roles, Nathan Kay for outstanding lead performance in a comedy. Olivier Lunadi won for fight direction.
Eric Wigston received the Betty for outstanding lead actor in a drama for his performance in Downstage and Hit & Myth's Botticelli in the Fire. Grisha Martirosyan took the Betty for outstanding lead performance in a musical for the opera Barber of Seville. Theatre Calgary's Tale of the Gifted Prince brought Bettys for Nikko Angelo Hinayo's supporting performance in a musical and Jessica Poirier's costume designs.
Alberta Theatre Projects' Casey and Diana earned Helen Knight a Betty for outstanding supporting work. Chromatic Theatre's Hucksterland saw Caleigh Crow, Sasha Crow, and Gus Rendell honoured for their original play, with Neil Fleming winning for video and production designs. Mike Renaldi received a Betty for outstanding sound design and composition for his work on the Old Trout Puppet Workshop's The End.
