Wednesday Halo Awards Shine Brightly - A Recap

All photos by Seven Angels Theatre

Night two of the Halo Awards presented by Waterbury’s Seven Angels Theatre went more smoothly than the first one on Tuesday night, but there were still a few technical glitches that needed to be worked out. Almost everyone’s music was were it need to be so that performances could go on, but this time the informative graphic displays decided to stop working toward the end of the almost four-hour show. Considering the length of the live production, the snafus were minor and the talent of the high school students more than made up for them. I was once again one of the few people, save the production team and some of the presenters, that attend both evenings, but how can I attend one night and not the other if I can manage to do so at this very busy time of the theatrical/school year?

Wednesday night featured performances from the rest of the participating high schools and of course the awards in the same categories that were presented the evening before. Wolcott HS in full costume opened Act I with their rousing “Why We Tell the Story” from their production of ‘Once On This Island,’ which went one to win both Best Featured actor for Thomas Bergamo as Papa Ge and Jessica Irizarry for Best Featured Actress at the Goddess of Water. Semina DeLaurentis reprised her role of the actress winning the Halo for “Shortest Artistic Director” in order to show the students how to come to the stage the accept their trophy and exit stage left.

Host Michelle Gotay was once again at her comedic best and the students loved her self-deprecating jokes. She again donned a (different) appropriate mini-costume for upcoming awards and kept the evening moving along briskly with the help of her partner in crime, Jimmy Donohue.

Seymour HS came out in costume with buckets and mops to perform “Hard Knock Life” from their ‘Annie’ before the first of the awards were given out. The Hopkins School did a scene from their play ‘Dancing at Lughnasa’ and next up was Oxford HS and (to quote my review) “the daughter that leaves home [in ‘Fiddler on the Roof’] was played beautifully by Sanya Kayfus; this young lady had an outstanding singing voice and made the most of her solo in “Far from the Home I Love.”

After more awards, Woodland sand “All for the Best” the classic way from their production of ‘Godspell’ in costumes and the beads I had seen on many students in the Palace lobby before the event began. After the Special Recognition Awards, Kennedy HS came out in all black to perform “Magic to Do” from ‘Pippin.’ New Fairfield HS did ‘Annie Get Your Gun’ and performed “I’ve Got the Sun in the Morning” in suits and gowns, followed by Cheshire HS with “Fascinating Rhythm” from ‘Nice Work If You Can Get It’ with some amazing tap dancing.

Pomperaug came on to sing “Five Forever” from their recent production of ‘Little Women’ and the Stango sisters and their castmates were in costume as well. The girls from Westover School did a scene from ‘As You Like It’ in modern dress and Bethel HS showed off a scene from ‘Charley’s Aunt.’ The first act closed with New Canaan HS with “We Go Together” from Grease in costume and hula hoops.

Presenters at the Halos always include some local celebrities and dignitaries. Some present awards on Tuesday and some attend on Wednesday and several make it to both nights. The Wednesday night celebrity presenters included WATR’s Tom Chute and Barbara Davitt, Detective Peter Morgan of the Waterbury Police Department (who in full uniform took a selfie with his back to the cheering teens,) and several Broadway actors appearing in ‘Footloose’ at 7A including the wonderful Alec Varcas.

On both evenings, the annual Halos Gypsy Robe ritual takes place. The robe is a Broadway honor that celebrates the ensemble in a show. Here, every school created a patch for the robe and nominated a member of the chorus for Gypsy of the Year. From all the production choruses, eight choruses are then nominated as Best Ensemble Chorus. The gypsy member from the school that is awarded this Halo is then presented to wear the Gypsy Robe and lead the ritual. The robes go on to be displayed in the lobby at Seven Angels.

Kate Katcher is the overworked and very tired Halo Awards Coordinator and she is assisted by Melissa Stemmer and Rachel Wolf. Some of the distinguished judges on the panel are Joanne Chenkus, James Donohue, Joyce Jeffrey, Holly and Meric Martin, Patti Paganucci, Todd Santa Maria and Ms. De Laurentis and Ms. Katcher. Kudos to them on a very tough task that must be undertaken with all of the outstanding shows that are happening at high schools around the state.

Click here to read the list of Wednesday Halo Award winners. I have posted the complete list of winners that includes the recipients of the special recognition awards.