What an amazing night we had at our 2012 CharACTers Awards Ceremony!  It was so much fun enjoying each other’s company, reuniting with old friends, watching all the musical numbers, and seeing who won in each category that were filled with amazing talent.

The evening began with the opening song from Wicked, “No One Mourns the Wicked”, with new lyrics that announced to the audience, “Good News!  The CharACTers Awards are here!”  The song ended with me coming out in a pink ball gown and a blonde wig as Glenda as I welcomed everyone to the awards.  We then went right into a medley of all the shows that CharACTers has produced over the past five years!  It was a very emotion trip down memory lane for me personally.  Listening to songs and watching the dances from each one of these productions brought back so many memories for me and many others.  Our amazing chorus did a terrific job bringing each show to life as we quickly jumped from one show to the next. 

The rest of the evening consisted of performances from each of the 6 shows produced during the 2012 Season and a special performance from CharACTers National Award Winning Musical Theatre Troupe, CCT KIDS.  Following each performance, awards were given out to winners in a variety of categories including: Best Kiss, Best Couple, Best Orchestra, and of course, Best Actor and Actress.

The night was filled with laughter, tears, and a whole lot of love!  We even were able to enjoy an AMAZING cake baked by our very own Santana Carlton of Santana’s Studio.

The night ended with the announcement of our closing show of this season and the announcement of our proposed 2014 Season.  (I will make a separate post about this exciting news very soon.)  The chorus closed the show with a beautiful rendition of “Thank You for the Music” and a hysterical performance of “Goodbye” from The Producers.

Reliving the past FIVE YEARS OF THEATRICAL MAGIC made for a terrific evening.  I would just like to say again, thank you to each and every person who has worked so hard over the years to make this group what it is today.  May the next five years be even better.  

I love you all!

Cody Carlton – Executive Artistic Director / President

The Winners of the 2012 CharACTers Awards –

Best Show *
Peter Pan

Best Actor *
Chris Dowdy – Oliver Warbucks - Annie

Best Actress *
Santana McKinney Carlton – Peter Pan - Peter Pan

Best Supporting Actor *
Chad Miller – Rooster - Annie

Best Supporting Actress *
Sally Waldrop – Ms. Hannigan - Annie

Best Actor in the Junior Category *
Chandler Jacobs – John - Peter Pan

Best Actress in the Junior Category *
Bailey Broome – Annie - Annie

Best Supporting Actor in the Junior Category *
Payton Russell – Michael - Peter Pan

Best Supporting Actress in the Junior Category *
Ramsey Whitney – Molly - Annie

Best Newcomer Actor *
Jamie Waller – Roosevelt – Annie

Best Newcomer Actress *
Lisa Urban – Grace - Annie

Best Villain *
Jason St. John – Captain Hook - Peter Pan

Best Comedic Duo, Trio, or Quartet *
Sally Waldrop, Chad Miller, Heather Boyete – Hannigan, Rooster, Lilly - Annie

Best Cameo *
Skylar Wheat – Dewey - Legally Blonde

Best Kiss *
Santana McKinney Carlton & Rebekah Wall – Peter & Wendy (a Thimble or a Kiss) - Peter Pan

Best Overall Cast *
Annie

Best Costume Design *
Amanda Russell, Cody Carlton & Beth Grove - Peter Pan

Best Makeup and Hair Design *
Amanda Russell, Cody Carlton, Becca Whisenant - Peter Pan

Best Scenic Design *
Cody Carlton - Peter Pan

Best Ensemble *
Titanic

Best Stage Manager *
Mari Minyard - Music Man

Best Crew *
Peter Pan

Best Orchestra *
Music Man

Best Musical Number *
Ugg-A-Wugg – Peter Pan

Best Onstage Couple *
Cody Carlton & Santana McKinney Carlton – Emmett & Elle - Legally Blonde

Best Master Carpenter *
Seth Williamson - Peter Pan

Making A Difference Award 
Angie Campbell

Have you ever wondered where the beautiful sets that decorate the stage during a CharACTers production come from?  Each show has different demands in terms of scenery.  CharACTers works hard to give each scene the special attention it deserves -  both in the performers' performances and with excellent scenery.  

Scenic design starts early in the planning stages of a production.  The whole production team will read the script and study the show (setting, time period, etc.) to try to get a better idea of what the show will require.  In some cases, a show may have a scenic designer that will work with the director to come up with a design that will both be pleasing to the eye and functional for the performers.  

Currently, CharACTers has two scenic designers, myself (Cody Carlton) and Santana Carlton.  I have had the honor of designing the set for most all of the shows that I have directed.  Santana designed the set for her recent directorial debut, Winnie the Pooh.  Santana also serves as CharACTers Charge Artist and is in charge of the painting (both as a manager for others painting and as a muralist for many of our more difficult pieces) for each and every set piece that has ever been used in a CharACTers production.

After I have read the script and figured out how many scenes and what type of set I am wanting to do (static or moving), I begin collecting images, videos, and items that I use as inspirational pieces before I begin sketching.  There are times that I will have 100's of inspirational pieces for a single show.  I will then begin sketching the set.  I am not much of an artist but I do okay if I have a ruler to draw straight lines.

When I began working on The Civil War, I decided that I wanted a static set that would have many different levels and lighting opportunities.  I started sketching the set and this is the final product - 

Once this part is done, I make a scale floor plan on the computer.

Then a team of volunteers begin constructing the set.  Over the past several shows, our new DIT's members have been taking turns being in charge of the construction of each set.  For the Civil War, Amanda Russell is in charge of set construction.  We have been working for the past several days putting together platforms, legs, and ramps for this production.

CharACTers also reuses, salvages, and recycles scenery for each show.  When you are watching a CharACTers production, you may be seeing scenery that has been used in every production we have ever done BUT you will never know it because of the awesome painting abilities of our scenic artists.  Set construction can take months to finish!

Once the set is constructed, our scenic artists will begin painting the set and truly bring it to life.  Once the set is completely painted, the set will be taken apart and removed from our workshop and loaded onto numerous trailers, trucks, and vans.  

The scenery then makes the trip down the interstate to Wallace Hall Fine Arts Center and is completely reassembled.  Touch ups are made and the scenery is ready for opening night!

Great care is taken to make sure that each show is terrific both as an acting performance and scenically.  Next time you join us for a night of THEATRE be sure to think about all of the hard work that went into the making of the scenery as well as the awesome performances by all the local talent!