A HUGE double-cast production of “School of Rock”, seen at Gungahlin Theatre in late 2022, cleaned up tonight (February 10) with 12 awards at the inaugural Ovations Awards, held  at the Hellenic Club.

The Ovations, aimed specifically at the Canberra and Queanbeyan  performing-arts sector and  been built on  community nominations, honour performers, directors, designers, people involved in areas such as sound, lighting and costumes, and the companies that support them.

While “School of Rock” got awards for Best Orchestra School of Rock, Best Musical Director, Best Choreographer and many more under  musical theatre line-up, not far behind it in the theatre category were productions staged at  the newish ACT Hub, in Kingston, with all its participating companies, Chaika Theatre, Free Rain Theatre and Everyman Theatre taking out top honours. As well, “The Boys”, staged by Alchemy Artistic at ACT Hub, took out several awards.

The  highlight of the evening, announced by president of the Ovations, Michael Sparks, was the presentation of the new “Standing Ovation Award”  to a stalwart of the backstage community, David Tricks.

In a clear signal that these awards would pay tribute to all aspect of the theatre arts, the new award honours people who go above and beyond in the performing arts, on stage or behind the scenes.

The judges said Tricks had invested personal time and effort to understand the complexities of managing a high number of radio microphones to be able to deliver radio technician services to community theatre groups, thus saving them money on having to hire these services.

The full list of awards is:

Musical Theatre

• Best Set,  John Nicholls and team, for “School of Rock,” Dramatic Productions
• Best Lighting Design, Jacob Aquilina, for “School of Rock,” Dramatic Productions
• Best Sound Design,  James McPherson, for “Jersey Boys,” Canberra Philharmonic Society
• Best Costume Design, Miriam Miley-Read, for “School of Rock,” Dramatic Productions
• Best Properties Design, John Murphy, for “School of Rock,” Dramatic Productions
• Best Supporting Male Performance David Cannell as Sir Joseph Porter KCB, “H.M.S. Pinafore,” Queanbeyan Players
• Best Supporting Female Performance Louise Gaspari as The Mother Abbess, “The Sound of Music,” Queanbeyan Players
• Best Featured Performance, The Company, “Jersey Boys,” Canberra Philharmonic Society
• Best Youth Performance (18 and under) School kids ensembles in “School of Rock,” Dramatic Productions
• Best Lead Male Performance Max Gambale as Dewey, “School of Rock,” Dramatic Productions
• Best Lead Female Performance Taylor Paliaga as Rosalie Mullins, “School of Rock,” Dramatic Productions
• Best Orchestra “School of Rock,” Dramatic Productions
• Best Musical Director Kat Tang, “School of Rock,” Dramatic Productions
• Best Choreographer  Nathan Rutups, “School of Rock,” Dramatic Productions
• Best Director Marty King, “School of Rock,” Dramatic Productions

Dance

• Best Dance Item “Solid Gold,” Legs Performing Arts
• Best Choreography  “Wilkommen, Zealous,” High Kix Productions
• Best Production Jai Ho, “Solid Gold,” Legs Performing Arts

Theatre

• Best Set, joint Winners Phoenix Mae for Soul Trading, Canberra Youth Theatre and Luke Rogers for Collected Stories, Chaika Theatre
• Best Lighting Design, Antony Hately for How to Vote, Canberra Youth Theatre
• Best Sound Design, Patrick Haesler for Soul Trading, Canberra Youth Theatre
• Best Costume Design, Fiona Leach for “The Importance of Being Earnest,” ACT Hub
• Best Properties Design in to Lexi Sekuless and Tracy Cui  for “The Torrents,” Mill Theatre
• Best Supporting Male Performance Josh Wiseman as Nick, “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?” Free Rain Theatre Company
• Best Supporting Female Performance Natasha Vickery as Lisa Morrison, “Collected Stories,” Chaika Theatre
• Best Featured Performance, Alex Hoskison, Cole Hilder, Blue Hyslop as The brothers, “The Boys,” Alchemy Artistic in association with Shadow House PITS and Sophie Benassi
• Best Youth Performance (18yo and under)  Liam Prichard as Ste, “Beautiful Thing,” Everyman Theatre
• Best Lead Male Performance in a Play Michael Cooper as Jason/Tyrone, “Hand to God,” Everyman Theatre
• Best Lead Female Performance Karen Vickery as Ruth Steiner, “Collected Stories,”  Chaika Theatre
• Best Director  Amy Kowalczuk for “The Boys,” Alchemy Artistic in association with Shadow House PITS and Sophie Benassi

Youth

• Youth Award in Theatre Asha Ellis as Velveteen Rabbit, Child Players ACT
• Youth Award in Musical Theatre The company of “Matilda,” Gungahlin College Theatre Company

All Categories

• Best Promotion Concept  “The Importance of Being Earnest,” ACT Hub
• Judges award for outstanding achievement in theatre Sophia Carlton for four productions at ACT Hub in 2022, ACT Hub
• Judges’ award for outstanding achievement in musical theatre Teresa Wojcik for vocal coaching, “School of Rock,” Dramatic Productions
• Behind the Scenes Award in theatre Michelle Norris for movement direction, “The Boys,” Alchemy Artistic in association with Shadow House PITS and Sophie Benassi
• Behind the Scenes Award in musical theatre Lighting Crew for Fallen Angel Scene, “Jersey Boys,” Canberra Philharmonic Society
• Best Original Work or Adaptation Kate Walder for “Soul Trading,” Canberra Youth Theatre
• Best Production of a Play in Community  “How to Vote,” Canberra Youth Theatre
• Best Production of a Play in Independent “Collected Stories,” Chaika Theatre
• Best Musical less than $70k,  “School of Rock,” Dramatic Productions
• Best Musical more than $70k “Mamma Mia,” Free-Rain Theatre Company