The NEPTA Awards Show Report

We hope our words find you well. Our Good Friend Marty Courtney has shared with us his impressions of what occurred during the NEPTA Awards Show which took place on Saturday April 14th in Scranton, PA. We, at The Forwardian Arts Society, would like to express our sincere appreciation to Marty for keeping us informed on what is happening in the Theatrical world and in reminding us of the many wonderful achievements of our local (i.e. NEPA) talent. We’d like to encourage you to share your news with us so we may post it on our blogs. We look forward to hearing from you and we’ll keep a good thought for you until then.

The Forwardian Arts Society

NEPTA Awards Show
Written by Marty Courtney

Last night at the annual NEPTA Awards Show it was proven that there is a great amount of talent in Northeastern Pennsylvania. Community theatre groups from all over the area received awards for their performances in 2006 and the competition was fierce. Here are some of the highlights for the Monroe County area theatre groups and their performers.

The Pennsylvania Rep Company won 3 awards for "Tiny Tim's Christmas Carol".
Best Choreographer.....Nance Brown.
Best Supporting Actress in a Musical.....Debbie Chambers as Mrs. Cratchit.
Best Director of a Musical.....Michael Harron.

The Stone Porch Theatre Company won 3 awards for "One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest".
Best Lighting Design.....Arthur Ritter & Will Rothfuss.
Best Director of a Drama..... Will Rothfuss.
Best Drama of the Year.

The Stone Porch Theatre Company won an award for "Breaking Legs".
Best Lead Actor in a Comedy..... Marty Courtney as Lou Graziano.

Among the awards won by The Lakeside Players was Best Supporting Actor in a Drama won by Marty Courtney as Doctor Lane in "The House On The Cliff".

Nance Brown and Marty Courtney represented Penn Rep, and Amy Cramer and Matt Christie represented Stone Porch as presenters.

Cassie Dierolf beautified the stage as she represented Penn Rep as a "Trophy Girl" handing awards to the winners.

Chris Martinelli and Danielle Catrillo led several cast members from "Tiny Tim's Christmas Carol" in a scene from the show including the song "Christmas Time".

Easily the best acceptance speech of the night was by Chris Martinelli speaking on behalf of the cast of "One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest" for the Best Drama award.

Rick Cummins spoke from the heart as part of the tribute to Michael Harron and film clips were shown going back to 1983 that included dramatic and musical scenes as well as some very funny bloopers and
out-takes. Michael received an extended standing ovation when he was given the NEPTA Lifetime Achievement Award and in his speech he called it the Half-Lifetime Award because he is not even half finished yet.

Community Theatre keeps getting better and better in our area and it will keep getting better as long as we all keep supporting it. If you involved with one theatre group in our area, support the other groups too. Go to their shows, audition for their shows, you'll find they have the same interests that you have. We are all in this for fun and the more we work together, the more fun we will all have. If you're not having fun acting, you must be doing something wrong.

He who laughs the most before he dies wins, and I'm in the lead.