The Desert Theatre League announced the nominees for their annual Star Awards Wednesday, recognizing excellence for community theaters in both the hi- and low-desert. The four participating Hi-Desert theaters garnered a combined 84 nominations. Categories include outstanding comedies, dramas and musicals, one-act productions and staged readings, plus youth theater shows, cabaret productions, technical design nominations in both amateur and professional categories. Yesterday in part one of this two-part story, Rebecca Havely named the nominations for Theatre 29 and Groves Cabin Theatre. Today she shares who was honored for Thought Theatre/Project Sheba productions as well as the nominations for the High Desert Cultural Center…
The Desert Theatre League gave seven nominations to Pioneertown’s Thought Theatre/Project Sheba productions: Outstanding Staged Reading for “The Vagina Monologues,” plus lead actress Ann Van Haney and supporting actress Dawn Davis. Davis was also nominated for her supporting role in “Kennedy’s Children.” The “Stand for Freedom” Cabaret garnered three nods: Outstanding Cabaret Production and Miri Hunter for both her direction and her original writing of the piece.
The Hi-Desert Cultural Center in Joshua Tree received 50 nominations, some for amateur and some professional thespians. Their Youth Theatre Production of “Madagascar” received six total. For Staged Readings, they received nine nominations. In the Cabaret categories, seven nods went to “Mother, Dearest,” including Outstanding Production, direction by Howard Shangraw, musical direction by Nelms Mc Kelvain and actor/singers Ben Bees, Scott Clinkscales, Analisa Pilecki and Haley Kooyman. The comedy “Tune in for Christmas” garnered four nods: lead actress Haley Kooyman and supporting actors Scott Cutler and Dawn Davis. The drama “Red Priest” is up for four nods, including outstanding production and Howard Shangraw is nominated for both directing and lead actor awards. “The Diviners” received nine for production, lead actor Andrew Accardi, as well as four supporting actor noms. “Little Shop of Horrors” has 11 nods for production, including direction and choreography by Howard Shangraw, and musical direction by Nelms McKelvain. Both lead actors Scott Clinkscales and Elizabeth Schmelling were nominated, plus three supporting actors and special effects.
The Desert Theatre League’s annual Star Awards dinner, honoring all the nominees and awarding trophies to the winners, will be held in Palm Desert this October. For the full list of nominees, visit Desert Theatre League’s website. The event is sold out.
Award ceremony information:https://deserttheatreleague.org/desert-star-award-info
Nominee list:https://deserttheatreleague.org/2018-nominees
