Colonial honored at NH Theatre Awards

CONCORD — Citing the “tremendous impact” that Laconia’s Colonial Theatre has had in the Lakes Region, the New Hampshire Theatre Alliance presented a special award for Significant Contribution to the Performing Arts in New Hampshire during its 19th NH Theatre Awards ceremony on Saturday.

Also recognized during the three-and-a-half-hour event at the Capitol Center for the Arts was Carol Bense, a founding member of Wolfeboro’s Village Players, who received the Lifetime Achievement Award; and Colleen Strang of Windham Actors Guild, recognized for Special Achievement in Youth Theatre for her work directing the guild’s Summer Youth Program. The Special Award in Recognition of Excellence in Playwriting went to "The Stands" by Jack Nearly.

The theatre awards came in several categories: professional, youth and community, for both plays and musicals. For each category, there were awards for best actor, best actress, best supporting actor, best supporting actress and best director. Other awards went to choreography, music direction, production, costume design, scenic design, sound and lighting.

Michaela Andruzzi won outstanding actress in a community theatre play as Martha in the Village Players’ production of “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf.”

Outstanding supporting actress in a community musical went to Kate Flower as Lily and Bryan Halperin was honored for outstanding direction in Powerhouse Theatre Collaborative’s production of “The Secret Garden.”

Laconia-based Powerhouse also won best community musical for “Captains Courageous” and, while not winning other categories, the production garnered several nominations: David MacNeill, outstanding actor in a community musical for his role as Manuel; Alex Hunton and Christine Chiasson for outstanding music direction and Samantha Tutasi for outstanding scenic design.

Nominated for their roles in “The Secret Garden” were Maci Johnson, outstanding actress in a community musical as Mary Lennox; and Asher Clark, outstanding supporting actor in a community musical as Dickon.

The evening’s program included short scenes by some of the performing arts troupes: “Gaston” from “Beauty and the Beast” by Peacock Players; “Daffodils” from “Big Fish” by Ro Gavin Collaborative Theatre; “I Am What I Am” from “La Cage Aux Folles” by Theatre Up; “Cell Block Tango” by the NHTA Performance Ensemble; “We Got Work To Do” from “Firebringer” by Actorsingers; a medley from “Cabaret” by Actors Cooperative Theatre; and “Carrying the Banner” from “Newsies” by Ovation Theatre.

Another highlight was a collection of scenes from “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf,” “Romeo and Juliet,” and “She Kills Monsters.”

During a memorial slide presentation honoring theater personalities who have died, performers sang a medley of “Somewhere,” “You’ll Never Walk Alone,” “Someday,” and “No One Is Alone.”

The Colonial Theatre was recognized for the renovation project under the leadership of former Laconia mayor and Laconia Daily Sun founder Ed Engler, who spearheaded a partnership between the city and the Belknap County Economic Development Council in 2016. Engler died in 2021. It involved removing the cinema partitions that had divided the auditorium and restoring the theater’s original beauty. Many of the original painted plaster and decorative elements were found intact but deteriorating, and tucked away in storage were the original hand-painted curtain featuring a Venetian tableau, brass railings and other fixtures.

“The interior was restored to resemble the theater’s 1930s heyday as accurately as possible while updating the theater to modern-day standards,” according to the narrative for a slide presentation. “The marquee originally installed in 1930 was restored and a ribbon-cutting ceremony for the reopening of the Colonial was held in August of 2021.”

The award noted that 15% of the Colonial Theatre’s tickets sold have been from community theater productions.

In naming the Francis Grover Cleveland Lifetime Achievement Award, the Alliance noted Bense had auditioned for the Village Players’ first show and got the part, and by her fifth production was directing as well. She went on to direct 53 shows over 45 years, appearing on stage in 23 productions. This past October, the Players named their stage the Carol Bense Stage.

Accepting the award, Bense noted that Francis Grover Cleveland, for whom the award is named, was instrumental in the revival of the Village Players in the 1940s.

“His incarnation of the group did not last after the ’50s, but it included some folks who, in 1978, reorganized and revitalized the group ... we celebrated our 45th anniversary last year.”

She spoke of the value of community theater, “especially in small, rural towns” like Wolfeboro.

“Community theater groups give anyone interested the opportunity to perform, learn, and grow as actors and directors as well as all the areas of production,” she said. “How wonderful for people young and old to have that feeling of accomplishment, and to see that everyone has a contribution to make.”

Irene Cohen, president of the New Hampshire Theatre Alliance, echoed that sentiment in her remarks, giving special recognition to the members of Theatre Up for standing strong “to honor the arts and the LGBTQ+ community over these threats and hate surrounding their recent production of ‘La Cage Aux Folles’ for they have handled these tough times with integrity, grace, and love. Thank you for staying true and holding the light.”