Canberra theatre director Chris Baldock scooped the pool at the 31st Combined Area Theatre Awards (CATS), held on Saturday at The Q in Queanbeyan.

Not only was Baldock named Gold Cat (top cat) for his extraordinary theatrical output at Belconnen Arts Centre, but he also won individual awards for Best Performance in a Monologue or One-Act Play, Best Actor in a Leading Role in a Play, and Best Direction of a Play.

As well, his company Mockingbird Theatrics took out four more top awards, meaning that the audience saw rather a lot of Baldock on stage during the evening.

Silver CAT Awards went jointly to Georgia Pike-Rowney, for her collaborations with Child Players to provide fun, yet artistically and musically satisfying educational and performance experiences for young people, and Telia Jansen, for sharing her high-quality and sensitive audio technical expertise.

The annual night of nights for amateur theatre drew enthusiastic barrackers from around regional New South Wales, with the Parkes Musical & Dramatic Society boasting the strongest lungs.

Many of those regional companies participated in a pacey musical and theatrical program directed and produced by Leisa Keen, interspersed with the announcements.

Although the showstopper which opened Act 2 featured Joe Dinn as Pharaoh in Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat and a gold-clad cast of hoofers, they were almost upstaged by a theatrical camel from the same show, who later took out the John Thomson Theatre Magic Award.

The awards announcements by MC Andy Bell and Keen, spread over two sessions, were greeted with whoops and cheers.

The 2025 CAT Awards

BEST SET DESIGN FOR A PLAY
Tom Berger
A Doll’s House Part 2, Canberra Repertory Society, Canberra

BEST SET DESIGN FOR A MUSICAL, VARIETY OR DANCE PRODUCTION
Sam Aspinall and Candy Burgess
Ladies in Black, Bay Theatre Players, Batemans Bay

BEST COSTUME DESIGN FOR A PLAY
Helen Drum
A Doll’s House Part 2, Canberra Repertory Society, Canberra

BEST COSTUME DESIGN FOR A MUSICAL OR VARIETY SHOW
The costume team
Solid Gold and The Wiz … from Aus, Legs Performing Arts, Canberra

BEST COSTUME DESIGN FOR A SCHOOL OR YOUTH PRODUCTION
Melanie Green, Louise Hutchinson, Nyla Collis, Linda Oldfield, Christine Corrin, Phoebe Williams, Emma Dyson, and Amelia and Pippa Green
Alice in Wonderland, Arcadians Theatre Group, Corrimal

BEST LIGHTING DESIGN
Bonnie Neate, Suzy Piani and Alex Clifford
The Fold, The Training Ground, Canberra

BEST SOUND DESIGN
Telia Jansen
The Addams Family, Canberra Philharmonic Society

TECHNICAL ACHIEVEMENT
Jack Costigan, Axis Rigging
Aerial work – flying of the dancer and the 3D cube, The Fold, The Training Ground, Canberra

JOHN THOMSON THEATRE MAGIC
The Camel
Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, Canberra Philharmonic Society

BEST ORIGINAL WORK
Ed Wightman
Adaptation of the novel for the stage, Baby Jane, Canberra Repertory Society

BEST ENSEMBLE IN A PLAY
The cast
The Wolves, Mockingbird Theatre, Canberra

BEST ENSEMBLE IN A MUSICAL, DANCE OR VARIETY PRODUCTION
The cast
Come From Away, Albury Wodonga Theatre Company

BEST ENSEMBLE IN A SCHOOL OR YOUTH PRODUCTION
Dorothy’s friends old & new
The Marvellous Land of Oz, Child Players ACT, Canberra

PATRICIA KELSON ENCOURAGEMENT AWARD
Maisy Chinnery
As Dorothy, The Wizard Of Oz, Goulburn North Public School, Goulburn

BEST YOUTH ACTOR IN A FEATURED ROLE IN A PLAY
Jasper Cullen-Christopherson
As Tik-Tok in The Marvellous Land of Oz, Child Players ACT, Canberra

BEST YOUTH ACTOR IN A FEATURED ROLE IN A MUSICAL
Leon Illades
As Pugsley in The Addams Family Young@part, Arcadians Theatre Group, Corrimal

BEST YOUTH ACTRESS IN A FEATURED ROLE IN A PLAY
Sophie Hart
As Queen Elizabeth in Shakespeare in Love, Marist College, Canberra
AND
Yzzy Bryant
As Mombi the Witch in The Marvellous Land of Oz, Child Players ACT, Canberra

BEST YOUTH ACTRESS IN A FEATURED ROLE IN A MUSICAL
Tessa Matthew
As Marmee March in Little Women the Musical, Macarthur Anglican School, Cobbity

BEST YOUTH ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE IN A PLAY
Wajanoah Donohoe
As Christopher in The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, Mockingbird Theatre, Canberra

BEST YOUTH ACTRESS IN A LEADING ROLE IN A PLAY
Emma Piva
As Viola De Lesseps in Shakespeare in Love, Marist College, Canberra

BEST YOUTH ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE IN A MUSICAL
Toby Breach
As Seymour in Little Shop of Horrors, Hawker College, Canberra

BEST YOUTH ACTRESS IN A LEADING ROLE IN A MUSICAL
Antonija Johansen
As Jo March in Little Women the Musical, Macarthur Anglican School, Cobbity

GRAHAM ROBERTSON BEST VARIETY PERFORMANCE BY AN INDIVIDUAL OR ENSEMBLE
Oliver Boniface and Julien Daher with Harry Coates

BEST PERFORMANCE IN A MONOLOGUE OR ONE-ACT PLAY
Chris Baldock
Gabriel’s opening monologue, When the Rain Stops Falling, Mockingbird Theatre, Canberra

BEST DANCE PERFORMANCE BY AN INDIVIDUAL OR ENSEMBLE
Sian Gray
‘DOTY’, The Wiz … from Aus, Legs Performing Arts, Canberra

BEST ACTOR IN A FEATURED ROLE IN A PLAY
Richard Manning
As Morgan in The Drawer Boy, Mockingbird Theatre, Canberra

BEST ACTOR IN A FEATURED ROLE IN A MUSICAL
Joe Dinn
As Pharaoh in Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, Canberra Philharmonic Society

BEST ACTRESS IN A FEATURED ROLE IN A PLAY
Crystal Moore
As Alice Tinker in Vicar of Dibley Christmas – The Second Coming, Milton Follies

LOLA NIXON BEST ACTRESS IN A FEATURED ROLE IN A MUSICAL
Amelia Andersson-Nickson
As Alice Beinecke in The Addams Family, Canberra Philharmonic Society

BEST ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE IN A PLAY
Chris Baldock
As Angus in The Drawer Boy, Mockingbird Theatre, Canberra

BEST ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE IN A MUSICAL
Mitch Clarke
As Bert in Mary Poppins, Albury Wodonga Theatre Company
AND
Ricky Bloomfield
As Fagin in Oliver!, Spectrum Theatre Group, Merimbula

BEST ACTRESS IN A LEADING ROLE IN A PLAY
Lainie Hart
As Nora in A Doll’s House Part 2, Canberra Repertory Society

BEST ACTRESS IN A LEADING ROLE IN A MUSICAL
Talia Sigsworth
As Cinderella in Into The Woods, Arcadians Theatre Group, Corrimal

BEST CHOREOGRAPHY FOR A MUSICAL
Caitlin Schilg
Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, Canberra Philharmonic Society

BEST ORCHESTRA FOR A SCHOOL OR YOUTH PRODUCTION
Seussical The Musical, Canberra Girls Grammar School, Canberra

BEST MUSICAL DIRECTION FOR A SCHOOL OR YOUTH PRODUCTION
Wyana O’Keeffe
Seussical The Musical, Canberra Girls Grammar School, Canberra

BEST DIRECTOR OF A SCHOOL OR YOUTH PLAY
Phil Cunich
Treasure Island, Oxley College, Bowral

BEST DIRECTOR OF A SCHOOL OR YOUTH MUSICAL
Jennifer Bond
The Addams Family Young@part, Arcadians Theatre Group, Corrimal

BEST ORCHESTRA
Into The Woods, Arcadians Theatre Group, Corrimal
AND
The Addams Family Young@Part, Canberra Philharmonic Society

NORMA ROBERTSON BEST MUSICAL DIRECTION
Rowan Keyes
Into The Woods, Arcadians Theatre Group

BEST DIRECTION OF A PLAY
Chris Baldock
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time, Mockingbird Theatre, Canberra

STEPHEN PIKE BEST DIRECTION OF A MUSICAL OR VARIETY SHOW
Kelda McManus
Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, Canberra Philharmonic Society

BEST DANCE PRODUCTION
The Fold, The Training Ground, Canberra

BEST PRODUCTION OF A SCHOOL OR YOUTH PLAY
Treasure Island, Oxley College, Bowral

BEST PRODUCTION OF A SCHOOL OR YOUTH MUSICAL
The Addams Family Young@part, Arcadians Theatre Group, Corrimal

BEST PRODUCTION OF A PLAY
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time, Mockingbird Theatre, Canberra

TONI LAMOND BEST PRODUCTION OF A MUSICAL
Into The Woods, Arcadians Theatre Group, Corrimal

SILVER CAT (JOINT AWARD)
Georgia Pike-Rowney
AND
Telia Jansen

GOLD CAT
Chris Baldock

Special CAT Awards commendations went to BYTESIZED Productions (Albury), Edward Andrade, Child Players ACT (Canberra), Southern Stars The Arena Spectacular, Ruth Ellevsen, Ash Symes, The Ballet Team (Wollongong), See Me Hear Me Theatre (Tumut) with Xander Starbuck – Space Cowboy, ANU Med Revue (Canberra), Priya, 6th Position (Canberra), the student technical team at Narrabundah College (Canberra), Rising Arts Productions (Camden), Tall & Short Theatre Co (Sutherland), and the puppets from Avenue Q at Rehearsal Room (Campbelltown).