Arts association announces awards, 2016 season

Receiving People’s Choice Awards at the 2016 Lantern Launch Party are, front row, Sarah Rawlinson, Best Actor in a Featured Role as an ensemble member in The Rocky Horror Show, and back row, from left, Pammi Fabert, Best Costume Design for Dog Sees God; Wendy Shirar, Best Actress for her role in Sordid Lives and Best Supporting Actress for her role in The Rocky Horror Show; Johnny Passmore, Best Supporting Actor for his role in The Rocky Horror Show; Brian Earles, Best Actor for his role in The Rocky Horror Show; and Justin Pike, Best Director, Best Scenic Design and Best Lighting Design for The Rocky Horror Show, which was also named Best Production for 2015.
Receiving People’s Choice Awards at the 2016 Lantern Launch Party are, front row, Sarah Rawlinson, Best Actor in a Featured Role as an ensemble member in The Rocky Horror Show, and back row, from left, Pammi Fabert, Best Costume Design for Dog Sees God; Wendy Shirar, Best Actress for her role in Sordid Lives and Best Supporting Actress for her role in The Rocky Horror Show; Johnny Passmore, Best Supporting Actor for his role in The Rocky Horror Show; Brian Earles, Best Actor for his role in The Rocky Horror Show; and Justin Pike, Best Director, Best Scenic Design and Best Lighting Design for The Rocky Horror Show, which was also named Best Production for 2015.

CONWAY — The people have spoken.

Voters in The Lantern Theatre 2015 People’s Choice Awards Survey really seemed to like the Conway Community Arts Association and Lantern Theatre production of The Rocky Horror Show, by Richard O’Brien. Approximately 300 people took the online survey and chose the campy cult classic as Best Production of 2015.

Conway native Justin Pike, who now lives in Little Rock and is the artistic director of The Studio Theatre, directed the local production of The Rocky Horror Show, which was presented from mid-October until Halloween. Pike won several awards himself — Best Director, Best Scenic Design and Best Lighting Design.

Pike thanked those gathered Nov. 13 at the 2016 Lantern Launch Party for their support in “taking a chance” on “something different” like The Rocky Horror Show.

Other People’s Choice Awards include the following:

• Best Actor in a Featured Role was presented to Sarah Rawlinson of Conway for her appearance in the ensemble of The Rocky Horror Show.

• Best Costume Design was presented to Pammi Fabert of Conway for Dog Sees God, by Bert V. Royal, directed locally by Trent Reese of Conway.

• Best Supporting Actor was presented to Johnny Passmore of Conway for his role as Brad Majors in The Rocky Horror Show.

• Best Supporting Actress was presented to Wendy Shirar of Conway for her role as Magenta in The Rocky Horror Show. Shirar also won the Best Actress award for her role as Latrelle in Sordid Lives, by Del Shores, also directed locally by Reese.

• Best Actor was presented to Brian Earles of North Little Rock, a student at Hendrix College, for his role as Dr. Frank N Furter in The Rocky Horror Show.

Shua Miller of Conway, president of the CCAA Board of Directors, said The Rocky Horror Show made more money and was presented more times than any other CCAA production in recent memory.

“We ran Rocky Horror for three weekends, including twice on Halloween, and charged $20 per ticket, which is more than our normal $15, but is what we charge for musicals. We also sold T-shirts and bags containing props that could be used during the show,” Miller said.

“Rocky Horror was really its own animal, as its ticket price was not included in our season-ticket package, but it would have to be considered a Late Night production because of the content. And because it took so much work, and was such a big production, it counted as two Late Night slots. So we are looking at [next year’s schedule that shows five Late Night offerings] like we are just doing one more Late Night show next year,” Miller said.

“The expansion of Late Night is really more of an expansion of what we are able to offer and what people in the area like to see,” he said. “Now we can offer family-friendly comedies, dramas and musicals, as well as not-so-family-friendly comedies, dramas and musicals.

“Late Night is not a separate season anymore, but rather a way to identify our productions containing adult themes and language. To me, this means that The Lantern is moving in a very inclusive and versatile direction. We really are offering something for everyone.”

The directors of the 2015 shows presented Davis Awards to cast and crew members for excellence in such categories as acting, stage management and technical theater. The Davis Awards are named for Milton and Claudia Davis of Conway, longtime supporters of community theater.

Those receiving Davis Awards include Matt Maguire of Little Rock and Scarlet Smith of Conway for Dog Sees God; Hali Free of Searcy, Dog Sees God and These Shining Lives; Christa Davis and Ashley Carnahan of Conway, These Shining Lives; Tom McLeod of Conway, These Shining Lives, Sordid Lives and The Orphans, by James Prideaux and directed locally by Miller; Paul Bowling of North Little Rock and Miguel Castillo and Liz Parker, both of Conway, The Hammerstone, by Jon Tuttle, directed locally by Ashley Carnahan of Conway; and Leila Namauu of Conway and Megan Myers of Greenbrier, Sordid Lives.

Also receiving Davis Awards were Elizabeth Williams and Katherine Renfro, both of Conway, The Orphans; Shane Atkinson and Jeannie Denniston, both of Morrilton, and Zoe Allison of Conway, Moonlight and Magnolias, by Ron Hutchinson, directed locally by Reese; and Reese, Darby Burdine, Chris Harris and Rawlinson, all of Conway, The Rocky Horror Show.

The board of directors gave two special awards: Volunteer of the Year to McLeod and Board Member of the Year to Reese, who is vice president of the board.

Entertainment during the evening was presented by Len Schlientz of Morrilton and Denniston, who presented readings from Love Letters, by A.R. Gurney; Carnahan, who presented a monologue from Time Stands Still, by Donald Margulies; Miller and Jeff Ward of Conway, who presented The Debate Sketch, which Miller wrote; Shirar and Fabert, who presented a scene from Steel Magnolias; and Earles and Passmore, who sang “Bare” from the production bare: A Pop Opera.

The Main Stage 2016 Season includes the following productions:

• Almost, Maine, by John Cariani, will be directed by Parker and presented Feb. 12-14 and 18-21.

• The play 110 Stories, by Sarah Tuft, will be directed by Reese and presented Sept. 9-11 and 15-18.

• Smoke on the Mountain, by Alan Bailey and Connie Ray, will be directed by Cindy Romero of Conway and presented April 22-28.

• Wrong Turn at Lungfish, by Garry Marshall and Lowell Ganz, will be directed by Carla Grant of Conway and presented Dec. 2-4 and 8-11.

• The Housekeeper, by James Prideaux, will be directed by Williams and presented Aug. 5-7 and 11-14.

The Late Night at the Lantern 2016 Season will include the following productions:

• Freud’s Last Session, by Mark St. Germain, will be directed by Eric Binnie of Conway and presented Jan. 7-9.

• Other Desert Cities, by Joe Robin Baitz, will be directed by Reese and presented March 17-19 and 24-26.

• Normal Heart, by Larry Kramer, will be directed by Romero and presented June 2-4 and 9-11.

• Love, Loss and What I Wore, by Delia and Nora Ephron, will be directed by Parker and presented June 30 and July 1-2 and 7-9.

• Bug, by Tracy Letts, will be directed by Miller and presented Oct. 20-22 and 27-29.

The Conway Community Arts Association and the Lantern Theatre will present the final production of the 2015 Season, A Tuna Christmas, in December. Romeo will direct this sequel to Greater Tuna on Dec. 4-6 and 10-13. Reservations may be made beginning Nov. 30 by emailing ConwayLanternTheatgre@gmail.com.

For more information, visit www.conwayarts.org or the Conway Community Arts Association’s Facebook page.

Upcoming Events