Brents 2016 - runners and riders

The Brents 2016
Nominations - All awards are listed alphabetically within their category

Best Design of a Play

Nominated for Best Design of a Play, are:

for “a brilliant, evocative set, a ship's squalid and cramped prison cell”, with “the captain's quarters aloft” - New Venture Players' Female Transport.

for Great War trenches “simply and effectively” suggested, and an “excellent period set” for the “dark, depressing” drawing room of Kipling's Sussex home, with fine furnishings and Persian rugs, The Hutton Players' My Boy Jack.

and for “a simple, well-spaced set”, with newspaper cuttings on the flats, “in keeping with the era of the play” - Kytes' Thrill of Love.

Best Design of a Musical

The three nominations for the best designed musical are:

for a show where production values are high: the set cleverly uses minimal detail for Cinders' hearth, Rapunzel's tower, Jack's cottage and the baker's shop – Firebirds' Into The Woods

for “a stripped-back stage” which “worked well to create scenes” the amazing steam-punk Pirates of Penzance from Brentwood Operatic Society

and for a show “worthy of a West End performance” “a minimal set”, “beginning with an old-fashioned scene cloth and a clothes line”, which “worked well in such a small stage area” - The Wiz, also from Brentwood Operatic Society

The Gill Wilson Award for The Most Imaginative Costume

“amazing, beautiful costumes,” which the company were able to wear for many rehearsals in advance of the show, so that the characters visibly grew into their outfits, “the wolf, the Princes and the Witch, her frock reflecting her dark designs”

in Firebirds' Into The Woods

“excellent costumes”, complementing a great set design, “first class [assuming the holes in the fishnet tights were intentional]”, proving that Wardrobe had worked so, so hard

for Shenfield Operatic's Jekyll & Hyde

“ingenious costumes used to portray the Tornado, the Field of Poppies, the Yellow Brick Road” colourful creativeness for “an ever-changing chorus in varying shades of green – showgirls and demons, flappers and farm girls” adding colour to an often sparse set

in Brentwood Operatic Society's “fantastic” production of The Wiz

Best Performance by a Person Aged 18 and Under

A hugely talented field of young performers nominated for this category.

“... very polished!” “interpreting the part of Sharpay with fizz and authenticity, certainly a face of the future” - Amy Boyd in High School Musical On Stage from VIVID Theatre Productions

“acting with passion as Leonardo”, “a fine, intense performance” from Sam Fava in Blood Wedding from Horizons Performance Company

“Drama Teacher Darbus, confidently characterized by Fern Harrison”, “an enjoyable performance” in High School Musical by VIVID Theatre Productions

“playing his part to perfection” “depicting his 'disability' with dexterity and warmth” - Dan Pugh as Archie in 13 from BOSSY

“acting beyond her years and convincing us that she was a mature woman”, “with delightful interaction with her husband [Michael Johnson]”- Baker's Wife in Into The Woods from Firebirds – Fleur Sumption

“combining music and character to perfection” in “a remarkably confident performance” - Abbie Ward as Little Red Riding Hood in Firebirds'
Into The Woods

The Margaret Hutton Youth Group Award

“superbly sung – loved the concept on the stage” and “the energy and enthusiasm of the cast” of 13 from BOSSY

“an impressive attempt at a classic of European theatre in Julia Stallard's pared-back, and very stylish production” “an excellent performance” - Blood Wedding from Horizons Performance Company

“The creative team behind last year's Secret Garden triumphantly enter the more challenging world of Sondheim's tricky tunes, witty lyrics and twisted fairy tales” “choreographed & directed superbly” - Into The Woods from Firebirds

Best Supporting Actress in a Play

in “an excellent supporting role”, as the matron of a gentlemen's club, Josie Bruty as Sylvia Shaw in The Thrill of Love by Kytes Theatre Group

“playing to perfection the anguished wife and mother”, “searching desperately through eye-witness accounts long after her husband has tacitly accepted the truth of their son's death”, Lindsey Crutchett as Carrie Kipling in My Boy Jack by The Hutton Players

“an amazing performance in some very intimate scenes” “flirtatious at the party, resentful the morning after” - Claire Hilder as Lulu in The Birthday Party from The College Players

Best Supporting Actor in a Play

“really excellent acting” “the best performance I have seen him give”

Gary Ball as the “enigmatic” Stanley in The College Players' production of The Birthday Party

“inhabiting his character well” “newcomer” Danny Hemmings “stood out” as the boy Tommy in Female Transport from The New Venture Players

“a well developed Jewish accent” Goldberg in the College Players' production of Pinter's Birthday Party, played with a “sharp suit and insincere smile” by Matt Jones

“an excellent performance” of “impressive sensitivity and poignancy” from Ben Sylvester as John ('Jack') Kipling in My Boy Jack by The Hutton Players

Best Supporting Actress in a Musical

“very good, very lively” in a “knockabout double-act” with Bob Southgate's Bumble, a very merry Widow Corney from Gail Carpenter in Oliver!, staged by Billericay Operatic Society

“the star performance was the Wicked Witch of the West” an “enjoyably unsubtle” Nina Jarram in The Wiz, by Brentwood Operatic Society

“singing with a passion and really bringing her character to life”, “owning the stage as Lucy” - Kate Smith in Jekyll & Hyde from Shenfield Operatic Society

Best Supporting Actor in a Musical

Agony in the Woods, a great pairing of Tom Carswell & Seb Mayo as “the narcissistic Princes” in Into The Woods from Firebirds

“outstanding in his role of The Major General – really brought the show to life” - “a perfect choice to portray such a character” - “a hilarious characterization” from Martin Harris in The Pirates of Penzance by Brentwood Operatic Society.

Martin Harris was also “outstanding” as a dapper 'Slide Some Oil to Me' Tinman in The Wiz, again by Brentwood Operatic Society.

As a “big old pussycat, with his bouffant mane and his personal stylists”
the Lion in the same show, Allister Smith.

Best Performance by an Actress in a Play

A “performance that defies superlatives” as the “tortured Ruth Ellis, confident defiance masking the fear and the anguish” - Romy Brooks in Kytes Theatre Group's The Thrill of Love

“Brilliant with her accents and facial expressions”, “reminded me of Millicent Martin” Lesley Curtis as the charmingly named Emma Royds in Radio Ha-Ha from Jack Productions

“A pent-up and frustrated” Olive, “fit to appear on a West End stage” Candy Lillywhite-Taylor in The Odd Couple (Female Version), from Ad Hoc Players Theatre Club

Best Performance by an Actor in a Play

“Outstanding” in the role of Jack Gale – a “brilliantly convincing performance” which “subtly conveyed his concern for [the condemned] Ruth Ellis beneath his rough exterior” - Paul Sparrowham in Kytes' The Thrill of Love

Encouraging the audience to sing along – and also responsible for much of the writing – the Announcer for Jack Productions' Radio Ha-Ha – Lee Thompson

“A fine portrait of a domineering, driven man,” an “intense, profound performance” in which “a pause, a turn of the head, express deeper feelings” As Kipling in The Hutton Players' My Boy Jack - William Wells

Best Performance by an Actress in a Musical

“A bold, confident and compelling performance”, “blowsy with a big voice for the torch song, but touchingly dreaming of the domestic bliss she'll never know” - Sian Hopwood as Nancy in Billericay Operatic Society's Oliver

“Outstanding vocally” “a magical performance” as Dorothy in The Wiz from Brentwood Operatic Society - Rachel Lane

“Brilliantly conveying” a “dark, complex character” with “superbly crafted vocals” Charlotte Rayner as the Witch from Firebirds' Into The Woods
Best Performance by an Actor In a Musical

“An excellent portrayal, well rehearsed and entertaining” with “long hair and a goatee beard” - Fagin in his own production of Oliver for Billericay Operatic Society - Wayne Carpenter.

“Excellent in his final scenes,” “bringing his [dual] character to life, with a good singing voice”, “switching from good to evil with a change of vocal timbre and a red scarf” - David Pridige “mesmerizing” as Dr Henry Jekyll and Mr Edward Hyde in Jekyll & Hyde from Shenfield Operatic Society

On “marvellous form”, looking like “a young Hugh Laurie”, “an amazing Slave of Duty, Depp wig and designer stubble, bumping and grinding while giving full value to the comedy and the melody” Frederic in
The Pirates of Penzance from Brentwood Operatic Society – Ian Southgate

Best Production of a Play

“Sensitive direction” - “played to perfection by a fine acting company” “a splendid evening, first-rate in every department” “had the audience engaged from beginning to end” - My Boy Jack from The Hutton Players

“A wonderful performance from four very professional actors” “from facial expressions to dialogue it was brilliant – what a production!” - Radio Ha-Ha
from Jack Productions

“A sad and tragic play” - “a company on top of their brief who came together to produce a piece of theatre magic” - “we were all enthralled from start to finish” - The Thrill of Love from Kytes Theatre Group
The Kramer Family Best Production of a Musical

“an up-close and magical production on the intimate Brentwood stage”, “sensitively directed” “A great performance - each character sang and acted brilliantly, each creating their own fairy story” - Firebirds' Into The Woods

“A faultless production – truly brilliant”, “a stunner” “Shenfield bring a fine cast and skilled creatives to the bachelor party” - Jekyll & Hyde from Shenfield Operatic Society

“A magical performance by the entire company”, “a cracking show” with “huge energy, wonderful characterizations and splendid costumes” - The Wiz from Brentwood Operatic Society