The party's over: a look back at the Fourth Annual St. Louis Theater Circle Awards

The St. Louis Theater Circle critics at the 2016 awards

So, (to paraphrase Mr. Kipling a bit) the tumult and the shouting have died after the Fourth Annual St. Louis Theater Circle Awards last night. The general consensus appears to be that we have really hit our stride with this one, with a new and very classy venue at the Skip Viragh Center on the Chaminade campus, slick media production from HEC-TV, and an all-around positive vibe from everyone in attendance, regardless of who did or didn't get an award or nomination.

Speaking of the awards, though, here's the official list of who got what. For those of you keeping score, the companies that got the largest number of awards were Stages St. Louis and the Repertory Theatre of St. Louis with five awards each. Next were Opera Theatre of St. Louis and St. Louis Actors' Studio with four each; Mustard Seed Theatre, Shakespeare Festival, and Upstream Theater with two each; and one each for Insight Theatre Company, Max and Louie Productions, Metro Theatre Company, Slightly Askew Theatre Ensemble, The Black Rep, Union Avenue Opera, and West End Players Guild.

As someone who reviews classical music as well as theatre, I was struck by how well our local opera companies did this time around. I thought it was especially notable that the awards for outstanding actor/actress in a musical both went to opera productions. That says something, I think, about the dedication local opera companies have to the theatrical aspects of their craft.

The event was broadcast live on HEC-TV and, for those of you who missed it, will be available on their web site shortly. Thanks to them for all their great work on this project.

Congratulations are also due to some Theater Circle members who go above and beyond the call of duty in helping put this whole shebang together. Specifically:

• St. Louis Post-Dispatch critic Judith Newmark for her script
• Andrea Torrance of St. Louis Theater Snob for pulling all the production photos together
• Bob Wilcox and Gerry Kowarsky for their work with HEC-TV
• Executive Board member Mark Bretz of Ladue News for his tireless work behind the scenes, along with Judith and our administrator Eleanor Mullin
• The original Funny Lady herself, Donna Weinsting, for her hilarious opening monologue

It was fun, folks. See you next year. And meanwhile, keep reading our reviews. And here's the complete list:

Category	Person	Show	Company
Supporting Actress in a Comedy	Betsy Bowman	Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?	St. Louis Actors’ Studio
Supporting Actor in a Comedy	Michael Brightman	Mr. Marmalade	West End Players Guild
Actress in a Comedy	Kari Ely	Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?	St. Louis Actors’ Studio
Actor in a Comedy	Jeremy Webb	Buyer and Cellar	Repertory Theatre of St. Louis
Lighting Design in a Play	Peter E. Sargent	Angel Street	Repertory Theatre of St. Louis
Sound Design in a Play	Greg Mackender and Rusty Wandall	Antony and Cleopatra	Shakespeare Festival St. Louis
Costume Design in a Play	Beth Ashby	An Invitation Out	Mustard Seed Theatre
Set Design in a Play	Wilson Chin	Angel Street	Repertory Theatre of St. Louis
Supporting Actress in a Drama	Jennifer Theby-Quinn	Afflicted: Daughters of Salem	Metro Theater Company
Supporting Actor in a Drama	John Flack	Sublime Intimacy	Max & Louie Productions
Actress in a Drama	Amy Loui	The Amish Project	Mustard Seed Theatre
Actor in a Drama	J. Samuel Davis	Bashir Lazhar	Upstream Theater
New Play	Nancy Bell	The World Begun	Shakespeare Festival St. Louis
Musical Director	George Manahan	Emmeline	Opera Theatre of Saint Louis
Choreographer	Keith Tyrone Williams	Once on This Island	The Black Rep
Supporting Actress in a Musical	Zoe Vonder Haar	The Full Monty	Stages St. Louis
Supporting Actor in a Musical	Joneal Joplin	The Fantasticks	Insight Theatre Company
Lighting Design in a Musical	Christopher Akerlind	Emmeline	Opera Theatre of Saint Louis
Set Design in a Musical	Shoko Kambara	The Barber of	Seville Opera Theatre of Saint Louis
Costume Design in a Musical	Brad Musgrove	Anything Goes	Stages St. Louis
Actress in a Musical	Joyce El- Khoury	Emmeline	Opera Theatre of Saint Louis
Actor in a Musical	Jordan Shanahan	Rigoletto	Union Avenue Opera
Ensemble in a Comedy		The 39 Steps	Slightly Askew Theatre Ensemble
Ensemble in a Drama		All the Way	Repertory Theatre of St. Louis
Ensemble in a Musical		Anything Goes Stages	St. Louis
Director of a Comedy	John Contini	Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?	St. Louis Actors’ Studio
Director of a Drama	Patrick Siler	The Rime of the Ancient Mariner	Upstream Theater
Director of a Musical	Michael Hamilton	Anything Goes	Stages St. Louis
Production of a Comedy		Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?	St. Louis Actors’ Studio
Production of a Drama		All the Way	Repertory Theatre of St. Louis
Production of a Musical		Anything Goes	Stages St. Louis