City Theatre took home five awards at the Sacramento Area Regional Theatre Alliance’s Elly Award Ceremony on Sunday, including the award for Best Overall Production in a Comedy for Scapino!
While California Stage Company earned bragging rights as the most-awarded theater of the year with six wins, City Theatre was right behind, tied for the second-most with Green Valley Theatre Company. Both companies took home five awards.
The company with the third-most awards was Falcon’s Eye Theatre at Folsom Lake College, which was recognized for its production of The Crucible and took home three awards in the drama category.
Scapino! won the third-most awards of any single production this year, taking home four total. It came in behind The Vanishing Point at California Stage, which took home six awards in the drama category, and A New Brain at Green Valley Theatre Company, which earned five awards in the musical category.
City Theatre Director Peter Mohrmann, who accepted the award for Best Overall Production, smiled widely as he and three other City Theatre representatives stepped up to the stage.
Mohrmann thanked SARTA, the cast and crew of the show, and the Los Rios Community College district in his acceptance speech.
“The four schools consistently put on excellent shows,” he said. “[Los Rios] builds wonderful new places to perform and really supports the arts.”
City Theatre’s production of Scapino! a modern retelling of Jean-Baptiste Molière’s classic Les Fourberies de Scapin, was a major winner, bringing home four of City Theatre’s five awards.
In addition to the Best Overall Production in a Comedy, City Theatre brought in awards for Set Design, Lighting Design, Direction, and Leading Male in the Comedy category. All told, City Theatre took home half of the 10 Elly Awards in the Comedy category.
Other City Theatre wins included Set Design in a Comedy, which went to Shawn Weinshienk for his work on Scapino! Steven Decker was recognized for his lighting design in Snow White: A British Panto. Anthony M. Person took home the award for Leading Actor in a Comedy for his portrayal of the title character in Scapino! The Elly for Best Direction in a Comedy went to Peter Mohrmann for Scapino!
“I’m so excited that I don’t even know what to do with this,” said Anthony M. Person, indicating his Elly plaque.
Person thanked his family and the cast of Scapino! during his acceptance speech, and also thanked the directors who worked with him in the past.
Named in honor of Eleanor McClatchy — late publisher of The Sacramento Bee and renowned arts lover — the Elly Awards are the Sacramento area equivalent to the Tony Awards. The Elly Awards recognize all aspects of theatrical production, from the actors on the stage to the designers and technicians behind the scenes.
SARTA is an alliance of non-professional, community-level theaters, artists, technicians and administrators who foster and promote high-quality theater in the Sacramento region, according to its website. It keeps community theater calendars, sends out audition and performance notices, and recognizes theatrical excellence with the annual Elly Awards Ceremony.
Anthony Person, during his acceptance speech, nodded to the theater patrons who support local arts.
“And to the audiences,” Person said, “we wouldn’t be here without you. We hope you’ll all come see more comedy at City Theater. Thank you.”
Article originally written for the Sacramento City College Express.
MEG MASTERSON 