Phoenix Stage Company Takes Top Honor in CCTA CTFest 2018

The Connecticut Community Theatre Association (CCTA) held the CT Community Theater Festival on Saturday, Sept. 18, 2018 in the Warner Theatre's Nancy Marine Studio Theatre in Torrington. This is the third community theatre festival held by CCTA after a twenty year hiatus. The event began at 2pm and continued until about 7pm, when the winning production was announced by AACT Festival Commissioner Kay Armstrong.

There were three theater companies competing this year for the honor of representing the area in the New England Regional Festival in March. The local theatre companies included Backyard Theatre Ensemble, TheatreWorks New Milford, and Phoenix Stage Company. This year’s festival was co-chaired by Ed Bassett and Donna Storms.

Tori Richnavsky, the chair of the CCTA, noted that the participating theater companies are as diverse as the productions that they shared at this year’s festival. The “‘oldest’ company has a production history of over 27 years….the youngest just eight years old.”

Backyard Theatre Ensemble presented FOOL FOR LOVE by Sam Shepard that was directed by Marydell Merrill. This straight play tells the story of two people who just can’t live without each other whether they like it or not. Set in an old motel room in the Mojave Desert, this emotional and explosive work gave the audience a lot to think about when it was over.

Backyard Theatre Ensemble co-founder Chet Ostroski (BELLEVILLE) played Eddie and his real-life wife Kailee Ostroski (GIDION’S KNOT) played the role of May. The Old Man was played by Anthony Urillo and Ryan Wantroba took on the role of Martin in his fourth production with BTE. All of the actors gave their all to the demanding roles.

TheatreWorks New Milford brought back their recent production of the comedy AN ACT OF GOD by David Javerbaum. Since I had missed this show during its run, I was excited to be able to experience a slightly shorter version at the festival. This hilarious one-act directed by Katherine Ray featured Matt Austin in the role of God with Josh Newey (AVENUE Q at the Warner) and Suzanne Powers (ASSASSINS at the Warner) as his loyal archangels Michael and Gabriel. I literally could not stop laughing.

The final production was the musical ONE NIGHT WITH FANNY BRICE by Chip Deffaa presented by Phoenix Stage Company under the direction of Sharon W. Houk, a board member for CCTA. This solo performance featured Mary Cantoni-Johnson in the title role with Music Director TJ Thompson on the keyboard. Renee Purdy was the original costume designer. This was the third time I have seen Ms. Johnson perform this lovely work and I felt that despite the fact that it was a shortened version, this was her best performance ever.

Two adjudicators, Joan Luther of Naples, NY and Benny Sato Ambush, shared their notes at the conclusion of each of the one-act plays and those in attendance were allowed to listen in. I agreed with many (but not all) of their observations and criticisms that they were required to share within a ten minute time period. Strict guidelines concerning setup, length of performance, and strike had to be followed to ensure that all festivals are run fairly.

And the winners are:

Outstanding Set Design - FOOL FOR LOVE by Backyard Theatre Ensemble
Outstanding Performance by an Actor - Ryan Wantroba in FOOL FOR LOVE
Road Runner Award (for quickest set-up and breakdown) - TheatreWorks New Milford ACT OF GOD
Outstanding Solo Performance - Mary Cantoni-Johnson in ONE NIGHT WITH FANNY BRICE
Outstanding Props - ACT OF GOD
Outstanding Choreography - ACT OF GOD
Outstanding Lighting - Sharon W. Houk for ONE NIGHT WITH FANNY BRICE
Outstanding Ensemble Performance - FOOL FOR LOVE
Outstanding Costumes - FOOL FOR LOVE
Special Award for Musical Direction - TJ Thompson for ONE NIGHT WITH FANNY BRICE
Special Award for a New Work - ONE NIGHT WITH FANNY BRICE

Outstanding Production - ONE NIGHT WITH FANNY BRICE by Phoenix Stage Company
This production will advance to the New England regional competition next year on March 9.