The Colorado Springs Gazette final

Musical nominated for 6 awards

BY BENN FARRELL

MONUMENT • Palmer Ridge High School Theatre Department’s fall musical has been nominated for several of the statewide Bobby G Awards.

Bear Necessity Theatre Company, the performing arts group of the PRHS Theatre Department, was recently announced as the recipient of six Bobby G Awards for its production of “Once Upon a Mattress.”

The Bobby G Awards is a regional high school musical theatre program from the Denver Center for the Performing Arts, which participates in the The Jimmy Awards. This program honors Colorado students and educators in the areas of performance, technical aspects and overall production.

The eighth annual awards event, which was on hiatus last year due to pandemic restrictions, will be held May 26 at Ellie Caulkins Opera House in the DCPA.

The Jimmy Awards also return to an in-person event for the first time in two years June 27 at the Minskoff Theater in New York City. Winners of the Bobby G awards for Outstanding Lead Actor and Actress awards are given the opportunity to represent Colorado in a weeklong series of intensive workshops and with industry professionals and rehearsals for the one-night Jimmy Awards event on Broadway.

41 Colorado high school theatre productions from 18 counties participated in the Bobby G program this year; 29 of the productions received nominations. Bear Necessity Theatre Company signed up last fall to have the DCPA send four adjudicators to score its “Once Upon a Mattress” production after viewing almost every performance of its four-show weekend end. Scores are provided on the production in all categories available as well as extensive feedback. Five productions receive nominations in each category.

Bear Necessity’s “Once Upon a Mattress” production, directed by Christy Inama with a theme of “Authenticity is more to be desired than perfection,” was nominated in the categories of Outstanding Achievement in Hair & Makeup Design (Inama, Emily Osborn), Outstanding Performance by a Chorus, Outstanding Achievement in Choreography (Inama, Georgia Lawrence, Riana McHugh), Outstanding Achievement in Direction (Inama, Josh Belk), Outstanding Achievement by an Actress in a Leading Role (Lawrence) and Outstanding Overall Production of a Musical.

Josh Belk, PRHS director of theatre, said the cohesiveness of the fall production stood out for him. He said Inama’s theme in the direction permeated the production.

“It provided a backbone that reinforced all areas of the show,” Belk said. “All of the pieces seemed to fit together.”

After not being able to perform on stage together for the past two years, the company had a new energy and it was “electric” in the way the production’s cast and crew was able to tell a story together, Belk said.

Riley Shell, a PRHS theatre student, said a lot of work went into making the “Once Upon a Mattress” production one the cast and crew could be proud and would represent them as a company.

“It feels really good to have all that work acknowledged and know that it paid off,” she said. “I’m proud of the growth that we as a company and individuals experienced. We all learned from each other and I think we’d all improved a lot by the end.”

The nominations came as a surprise to the theatre company, said PRHS theatre student Naomi Snyder. She said she was also pleased for the company to be able to perform together again and have its work acknowledged. Snyder said she was particularly proud of the choreography, music and set design.

“It’s been a huge dream of mine to be recognized for something big, and this was a pretty big thing,” theatre student Riley Troy said. “I’m proud of how well we all got the choreography down quickly. It was difficult at times, but with people helping each other out, it came together.”

Belk said the acknowledgment was very important to the students.

Colorado has two major programs that honor excellence in high school theatre, the Colorado Thespian Conference and the Bobby G Awards. These are as close to a “state championship” as educational theatre gets, Belk said.

The accolades are also important to the company’s technical theatre students, which Belk said can get overlooked for their parts behind the scenes of a production.

“The actors get the spotlight and applause, but it is easy to overlook the contributions of the crew and orchestra,” he said. “The opportunity to be recognized, not just for performing but objectively performing excellently is incalculable.”

Belk noted Bear Necessity Theatre Company is unique for several reasons, including inclusivity and striving to reinforce the idea that it is one company working to produce a show, rather than individuals who happen to be in the same place. Although that focus is sometimes difficult to maintain, the feedback from students is the company has a family atmosphere, he said.

In addition, BNTC encourages student leadership in both the performance and technical aspects of production. Crews are led by students who are given latitude to decide how to get their work done, Belk said.

“We rely on experienced students to teach our younger students how theatre, and Bear Necessity specifically, work,” he said.

Snyder said she became attracted to the performing arts because acting is intricate and expressive, and because BNTC is extremely welcoming. She also noted acting is a path to improving public speaking and communication skills.

Snell added, “I think it’s a great way to learn new things and make memories that will stick with me, I’ve also met a lot of wonderful people through theatre who have really helped me feel comfortable to just be myself.”

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2022-05-25T07:00:00.0000000Z

2022-05-25T07:00:00.0000000Z

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The Gazette, Colorado Springs