'Of Mice and Men' dominates awards

Valley Life editor

Valley Performing Arts' production of John Steinbeck's "Of Mice and Men" dominated the organization's annual awards banquet June 13, accounting for six awards, including the coveted Best Production honor.

Director Larry Bottjen's work on the play earned him the Best Director award, while Steve Cuthbert and Calvin Rocquemore won Best Actor and Best Supporting Actor awards for their roles in the play.

Rocquemore appeared on stage for the first time in 40 years and immediately became an audience favorite.

"'Of Mice and Men' quite obviously was the most respected play of the this year's lineup," said Valley Performing Arts Managing Producer John Fairfield.

Tami Shelton earned the Best Actress award (see related story) for her role as Bella in "Lost In Yonkers." The Best Supporting Actress award was given to Mary Olsen for her role as Mother Abbess in VPA's opening play, "The Sound of Music."

In the technical categories, "Of Mice and Men" again dominated the rest of the competition. Connie Lutz won Best Set Design for the production, and Cuthbert won the Lighting Design award for the same play.

"The Sound of Music" also garnered several technical awards. Linda Olson and Mary Putnam worked together on "The Sound of Music" and they shared the Best Costume Design award. Best Sound Design went to John Simon for the same production.

"We mail ballots to season ticket holders for the acting and technical awards," Fairfield explained. "The board then votes on other awards, but in both cases, I tabulate the votes and nobody knows the results until the awards ceremony."

The Valley Performing Arts board of directors honored Cuthbert with the Board Appreciation Award, which recognizes season-long contributions.

The board also named Kevin Cochran as the top newcomer and Kelly Larson as the volunteer of the year. Grant Olson, VPA's artistic director, gave his annual Artistic Director's award to Aurora Pease.

As the curtain closes on the 29th season, plans are already under way for the 30th season for Valley Performing Arts, which is filled with musicals, comedies and dramas.

The season begins with "Sweet Charity," a musical scheduled for Sept.1 10 through Oct. 10.

"The Miss Firecracker Contest" is a comedy scheduled to run from Oct. 29 through Nov. 14, followed by an all-time classic, "It's a Wonderful Life," which opens Dec. 3 and runs through Dec. 19.

The musical "Hot Aging Women" opens Jan. 14, 2005 and runs through Jan. 31. It is followed by the comedy, "Caesar and Cleopatra," which is scheduled for Feb. 18 through March 6.

The season winds down with "Godspell, Junior," a musical, from March 25 through April 10.

"The Miracle Worker" finishes the season. The drama runs from April 29 through May 22.