Lakes Region troupes win big at NH Theatre Awards

CONCORD — Powerhouse Theatre Collaborative, of Laconia, and The Village Players, of Wolfeboro, took the awards for outstanding community productions of a musical and a play, respectively, during the 21st annual New Hampshire Theatre Awards ceremony at Capitol Center for the Arts on Jan. 31.

Powerhouse's staging of "The Hunchback of Notre Dame" was recognized as outstanding community musical, while "Escanaba in da Moonlight" earned top honors for a community play.

A recurring theme throughout the evening during acceptance speeches was the importance of the arts in troubled times. Producer Irene Cohen took a moment to decry the political challenges affecting the industry.

“The funding landscape for the arts has had some unfortunate changes in the state of New Hampshire,” she said, “and here we are celebrating in spite of it. I keep thinking of 'How the Grinch Stole Christmas,' and the Grinch has taken all the presents, and here we are in Whoville, singing and celebrating what matters. You may take the presents, but you cannot take the art, the creativity, and the community. You may change the funding, but you cannot change the people.”

Bryan Halperin, honored as outstanding director for Powerhouse Theatre’s production of “The Diary of Anne Frank,” and with Meg King as co-director for Powerhouse’s “The Hunchback of Notre Dame,” also spoke of the importance of such productions.

“As you can imagine, this was a strange year to be doing ‘The Diary of Anne Frank,’” he said. “I don’t think we’d ever in every normal year of directing, had more tears at the talk-through, after the first read-through, through the discussion and the parallels to current events, than in the read-through itself.”

Speaking directly to the cast and crew in the audience, Halperin continued, “I was very worried that first day that I was going to be torturing you for two months to tell the story and work on it. But you brought such heart and joy to the process that I think we had loads of laughs, and really made what could have been a difficult story to tell right now really powerful, and we got to tell it to 700 middle and high school students at a school day performance.

“We’ve overheard many talking about how they’ve never been in a theater like that before and never seen a play like that before, and it just hit home to how important it was to still be telling these kinds of stories today, so these kids can see this and learn from it, and hopefully not repeat it.”

Powerhouse was also recognized for outstanding lighting in "The Diary of Anne Frank" by Tyler Soucy, and Jake Stone and Alex Hunton as outstanding supporting roles in "The Hunchback of Notre Dame," along with that show's music directors Laura Iwaskiewicz and Jillian Spring, for their outstanding work.

The hero of the evening was Ryan Kaplan, who received awards for special achievement for his contributions to youth theater. The 18-year-old who founded Rise Theater Group, directing 16 shows and fostering an inclusive environment, will continue focusing on theater when he attends Tufts University.

Evie Roach, of Windham, introduced Kaplan, saying, “I had the privilege of student directing with Ryan for two productions, and assistant directing the most recent production at Rise. It’s one of the most welcoming and empowering environments I’ve ever been a part of since it began.

"Ryan has used theater to spark conversations about identity, kindness, and acceptance. You can tell that every story he picks is carefully chosen to make people think and connect. What stands out most about Ryan is his dedication and consistency in every role he takes, whether he is directing a full production, standing onstage leading a warmup, or supporting others to any position, Ryan shows up fully.”

In accepting the award, Kaplan spoke of his “subconscious realization” when he was 8 years old that he was gay.

“Around the same time, my peers at school came to the same realization about me, maybe a little less subconsciously. I was living in a time and place where, while acceptance was growing, little gay boys weren’t set up to be winners.

"Being gay puts you on a fast track to lose, and in that moment in my life, among my peers, I felt like a loser. But at the same time in my life, I was put into theater for the first time, and there, outside the brick walls of my school building, I thrived in a loving third space where I saw queerness and femininity treated with dignity. That dignity, that respect ... empowered me to explore my identity, free of shame, beyond the art, the drive, the spark of creation. Youth theater gave me a chance to grow up as myself.”

He continued, “I founded Rise Theater Group to create a space for the development and production of new and underperformed works, as well as to provide opportunities for young people like myself to explore creative and production team goals, which we are, by the way, incredibly capable of, most importantly, to foster an environment that was unabashedly supportive of queer and trans youth.”

To those who supported him, he ended with thanks “most importantly, to the New Hampshire theater community for creating a world where this little gay boy can feel like a winner.”

“Am I the only one who wants to grow up to be Ryan Kaplan?” quipped Brendon Fox, accepting the Peterborough Players’ award for Outstanding Direction of a Professional Production of a Play for “Hay Fever.”

The Barnstormers Theatre, of Tamworth, won a dozen awards for “Something Rotten!", along with several for "Front Row to Murder," but the winners could not attend the ceremony. Instead, they send video message: “We’re so proud of all of our artists who have been nominated for one piece here. Unfortunately, our team is scattered far and wide in the winter, and we are so grateful, though, for this opportunity to say 'hey' and to thank Irene and everyone at New Hampshire Theatre Alliance for all the awesome work that they do.

"Live theater is all about community, connection, and collaboration, and we all know it has never been more important than right now. So thank you for making that happen. I hope you come check out the Barnstormers this summer.”

The Francis Grover Cleveland Award for Lifetime Achievement went to Alan Kaplan, who has performed on stage since he was 7 years old. The award is named for the founder of The Barnstormers Theatre, billed as the longest-running professional summer stock theater in the country.

“I have been blessed to perform or direct on professional and community stages in Chicago, Boston, Florida, and here in New Hampshire. Every creative opportunity has been a chance to meet extraordinary artists, learn together, and share stories with diverse audiences,” Kaplan said.

“As a founding member of NH Theatre Awards and someone who has spent more than 75 years in the performing arts, I want to thank the alliance and the selection committee for this honor to be recognized by a community I love so deeply, and by people whose work I admire, means more than I can say.”

He said that, in co-founding Manchester Community Theatre Players in 2002, “Our vision was simple. We wanted to create an inclusive, educational space where those with great talent could work alongside those still finding their voice, and in some cases, those learning how to move their feet, by never charging performance fees and offering free education and acting, dance, vocal performance, and stagecraft. We open the doors of MCPT to everyone, including those who might otherwise never have stepped onto a stage or are financially challenged. The greatest award for any teacher or director [is to] find purpose in the lives of students and actors.”