Austin Eckert in The Royale, Citadel Theatre. Photo by Nanc Price.

By Liz Nicholls, 12thnight.ca

A vintage boxing story with a stinging right hook proved the top choices of jurors, as the the 35th annual Sterling Award nominations were announced Monday at Fringe Theatre headquarters.

The Royale, Marco Ramirez’s highly theatrical drama set in the 1905 boxing circuit, happens at the battering conjunction of ambition, celebrity and racial hatred. The Citadel production gathered nominations in nine of the 26 Sterling categories, including outstanding production and director, André Sills. As well there were juror nominations for the star performance of Austin Eckert, the supporting performances of Jameela McNeil and Mohamed Ahmed, Shakeil Rollock’s choreography, Dave Clarke’s sound design, Rachel Forbes’ costumes and Steve Lucas’s lighting.

Prison Dancer, with Julio Fuentes, Josh Capulong, Daren Dyhengco, Renell Doneza, Pierre Angelo Bayuga, Byron Flores, Citadel Theatre. Photo by Nanc Price.

A new Canadian musical inspired by a YouTube sensation and a homegrown musical comedy satire, the one from Edmonton’s largest theatre and the other from one of its smaller companies, each received eight nominations from the Sterling jury. Prison Dancer, inspired by a 2007 video of 1,500 inmates at a maximum security Filipino prison dancing to Michael Jackson’s Thriller, premiered in an all-Filipino production at the Citadel. Its nominations include outstanding musical and ensemble (the latter a new category this year). In addition to a leading role nod to Julio Fuentes, also nominated in the choreography and fight direction category, there are Sterling nominations for Diana Del Rosario’s supporting performance, for Joyce Padua’s costumes, Romeo Candido’s score, and Kierscey Rand’s musical direction.

Abby Vandenberghe and Donovan Workun in Jason Kenney’s Hot Boy Summer, Grindstone Theatre. Photo by Darla Woodley, Red Socks Photography

With Jason Kenney’s Hot Boy Summer, Grindstone Theatre joins the ranks of the Sterling-nominated for the first time, a contender in both the outstanding musical production and new play categories. As well it scooped up nods for Byron Martin and Simon Abbott’s original score, the latter’s musical direction, Donovan Workun’s lead performance as the infamous former Alberta premier, and supporting performances by Malachi Wilkins as both Trudeaus (father and son), Abby Vandenberghe as Kenney’s compliant chief medical officer Deena Hinshaw, and the ensemble.

Named after a theatre visionary in these parts, Elizabeth Sterling Haynes (that’s Mrs. Haynes to you), the awards celebrate excellence on Edmonton stages during the past season. And the Sterling nominations return to the gender-neutral landscape established in 2019, as per theatre awards elsewhere (with the notable exception of the Tonys).

The other top Sterling nomination draws are Northern Light Theatre’s A Hundred Words For Snow and the Plain Janes’ production of Sweeney Todd, with seven each.

Dayna Lea Hoffmann, A Hundred Words For Snow, Northern Light Theatre. Photo by Ian Jackson, Epic Photography.

A Hundred Words For Snow drew a Sterling nomination as an ‘outstanding production of a play’ contender. And it  garnered a leading role nomination for director Trevor Schmidt and solo star Dayna Lee Hoffmann, as well as nods for Alison Yanota’s evocative floating iceberg set and her lighting, Matt Schuurman’s multi-media design, and Daniela Fernandez’s ice-cracking soundscape.

The Janes’ ingenious chamber (eight-actor/ one pianist) account of  Sweeney Todd, Sondheim’s macabre and innovative masterwork of 1979, drew seven Sterling nominations. Kate Ryan’s production joins the quintet of nominees for outstanding musical production that  hail from theatres large, mid-sized, and small: the Citadel’s Prison Dancer and Jersey Boys, Theatre Network’s collaboration with the indie Wildside Productions on Joni Mitchell’s Songs of a Prairie Girl, and Grindstone’s Jason Kenney’s Hot Boy Summer.

Sheldon Elter as Sweeney Todd, Plain Jane Theatre Company, Photo by Mat Simpson

Sweeney Todd’s seven nominations include nods for director Ryan and musical director Shannon Hiebert, as well as both  leads — Sheldon Elter as the vengeful barber and Kristi Hansen as Mrs. Lovett — with a supporting role nod to Vance Avery as Judge Turpin. Additionally, the production garnered a nomination in the Sterlings’ new ensemble category.

Five of Shadow Theatre’s seven nominations were for the company’s production of the edgy Karen Hines satire All The Little Animals I Have Eaten: for outstanding production, Alexandra Dawkins’ direction, Dayna Lee Hoffmann’s “supporting” performance (curiously, in the lead role), Ainsley’s Hillyard’s choreography, and the ensemble work of the cast.

Two notable productions presented by Common Ground Art Society — which hosts and facilitates RISER Edmonton, a national initiative to support indie theatre in partnership with Toronto’s Why Not Theatre — gathered four Sterling nominations. Both Even Gilchrist’s Re:Construct and Carly Neis’s In My Own Little Corner are nominated in the outstanding new play category (along with Darrin Hagen’s 10 Funerals and Lianna Makuch’s Alina). And both RISER shows have nominations in the independent production category too.

Geoffrey Simon Brown and Émanuel Dubbeldam in Re:Construct, RISER 2022. Photo by Brianne Jang

In the end, the Citadel comes away with 32 Sterling nominations, overwhelmingly the most of any theatre company. Three Citadel productions — The Royale, Network, and Pride and Prejudice — are up for outstanding production, along with Northern Light’s A Hundred Words for Snow and Shadow’s All The Little Animals I Have Eaten. And Edmonton’s largest theatre has a two-production presence (Prison Dancer and Jersey Boys) as well in the outstanding musical category.

Dayna Lea Hoffman, centre, Elena Porter, Noori Gill, Coralie Cairns, Sophie May Healey in All The Little Animals I Have Eaten, Shadow Theatre. Photo by Ian Jackson.

Unusually, all five costume design nominations are for Citadel productions: Prison Dancer, Jersey Boys, Pride and Prejudice, The Royale, and Trouble in Mind. And of the supporting performance (in a play) nominees, four were in two Citadel productions: Jameela McNeil and Mohamed Ahmed in The Royale, Ben Elliott and Nadien Chu in Pride and Prejudice.

After that, the nomination dispersal lands on Edmonton’s array of smaller theatres: Northern Light Theatre with 10; Grindstone Theatre with eight; Leave It To Jane and Shadow Theatres with seven each. The indie production category, particularly competitive, introduces a new company, AuTash Productions, whose calling card production, Anahita’s Republic, an exploration of the struggle for women’s rights in Iran, garnered as well nominations for Roya Yazdanmehr’s leading performance and Farhad Khosravi’s score.

Nathan Cuckow and Doug Mertz in 10 Funerals, Shadow Theatre. Photo by Ian Jackson, Epic Photography

Darrin Hagen is in an exclusive Sterling subset reserved for the extremely versatile. His 10 Funerals has an outstanding new play nomination. In a year when score and sound design have for the first time been deemed separate categories, he’s nominated for his Unsung: Tales From The Front Line score at Workshop West Playwrights Theatre. And he’s competing against himself in sound design for that company’s Subscribe or Like and (with Morag Northey) for the Theatre Network premiere of Eugene Strickland’s The Innocence of Trees.

The Theatre for Young Audience categories are dominated by Jana O’Connor’s CTL-ALT-DEL at Concrete Theatre and Alberta Musical Theatre’s Jack and the Beanstalk. 

The Sterlings get divvied up at a June 16 gala, written by April Banigan and Sue Goberdhan and directed by Kate Ryan. Goberdhan, Azimuth Theatre’s co-artistic producer, and Rapid Fire Theatre artistic director Matt Schuurman co-host the event at Fringe Theatre, a new Sterling venue after many years at the Mayfield Dinner Theatre. And, hey, there are new Sterling statuettes, designed by Tessa Stamp.

On gala night, Coralie Cairns will be honoured with the Margaret Mooney Award in administration. Mel Geary will receive the Ross Hill award in production. And the Outstanding Contribution to Edmonton Theatre Sterling, goes, posthumously, to the late great Judy Unwin, long associated with  Walterdale, the Varscona Theatre and the Sterling Awards themselves, who was the very embodiment of public-spirited stand-up support for theatre.

Tickets: tiered pricing in effect with no-cost and pay-what-you-will options are available now at fringetheatre.ca, 780-409-1910, or in person at the Fringe box office. 

The 2022/23 Sterling Award nominations

Outstanding Production of a Play: The Royale (Citadel Theatre); Network (Citadel Theatre and Royal Manitoba Theatre Centre); All the Little Animals I Have Eaten (Shadow Theatre); A Hundred Words for Snow (Northern Light Theatre); Pride and Prejudice (Citadel Theatre)

Timothy Ryan Award for Outstanding Production of a Musical: Prison Dancer (Citadel Theatre and Prison Dancer Inc.); Sweeney Todd (Plain Jane Theatre Company); Jason Kenney’s Hot Boy Summer (Grindstone Theatre); Jersey Boys (Citadel Theatre); Joni Mitchell’s Songs of a Prairie Girl (Theatre Network/Wildside Productions)

Outstanding Independent Production of a Play: Smoke (Tiny Bear Jaws);
Re:Construct (Common Ground Arts Society); Anahita’s Republic (AuTash Productions); In My Own Little Corner (Common Ground Arts Society); Boy Trouble (Amoris Projects)

Outstanding New Play (Award to Playwright): Carly Neis, In My Own Little Corner (Common Ground Arts Society); Byron Martin and Simon Abbott, Jason Kenney’s Hot Boy Summer (Grindstone Theatre); Even Gilchrist, Re:Construct (Common Ground Arts Society); Darrin Hagen, 10 Funerals (Shadow Theatre); Lianna Makuch, Alina (Pyretic Productions)

Outstanding Performance in a Leading Role – Play: Davina Stewart, Squeamish (Northern Light Theatre); Austin Eckert, The Royale (Citadel Theatre); Dayna Lea Hoffmann, A Hundred Words for Snow (Northern Light Theatre); Roya Yazdanmehr, Anahita’s Republic (AuTash Productions); Kristin Johnston, Enough (Northern Light Theatre); Maralyn Ryan, The Innocence of Trees (Theatre Network)

Outstanding Performance in a Leading Role – Musical: Julio Fuentes, Prison Dancer (Citadel Theatre and Prison Dancer Inc.); Sheldon Elter, Sweeney Todd (Plain Jane Theatre Company); Donovan Workun, Jason Kenney’s Hot Boy Summer (Grindstone Theatre); Farren Timoteo, Jersey Boys (Citadel Theatre); Kristi Hansen, Sweeney Todd (Plain Jane Theatre Company)

Outstanding Performance in a Supporting Role – Play: Jameela McNeil, The Royale (Citadel Theatre); Ben Elliott, Pride and Prejudice (Citadel Theatre); Nadien Chu, Pride and Prejudice (Citadel Theatre); Mohamed Ahmed, The Royale (Citadel Theatre); Andrea House, The Wrong People Have Money (Shadow Theatre); Dayna Lea Hoffmann, All the Little Animals I Have Eaten (Shadow Theatre)

Outstanding Performance in a Supporting Role – Musical: Etta Fung, Orphée+ (Edmonton Opera); Diana Del Rosario, Prison Dancer (Citadel Theatre and Prison Dancer Inc.); Malachi Wilkins, Jason Kenney’s Hot Boy Summer (Grindstone Theatre); Abby Vandenberghe, Jason Kenney’s Hot Boy Summer (Grindstone Theatre); Vance Avery, Sweeney Todd (Plain Jane Theatre Company)

Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Play or Musical: Prison Dancer (Citadel Theatre and Prison Dancer Inc.); Jason Kenney’s Hot Boy Summer (Grindstone Theatre); All the Little Animals I Have Eaten (Shadow Theatre); Pride and Prejudice (Citadel Theatre); Sweeney Todd (Plain Jane Theatre Company)

Outstanding Director: André Sills, The Royale (Citadel Theatre); Trevor Schmidt, A Hundred Words for Snow (Northern Light Theatre); Alexandra Dawkins, All the Little Animals I Have Eaten (Shadow Theatre); Kate Ryan, Sweeney Todd (Plain Jane Theatre Company); Mieko Ouchi, Pride and Prejudice (Citadel Theatre)

Outstanding Set Design: Stephanie Bahniuk, Alina (Pyretic Productions); Lorenzo Savoini, Network (Citadel Theatre and Royal Manitoba Theatre Centre); Beyata Hackborn, Freaky Green Eyes (Screaming Mantis in Association with Punctuate! Theatre and Fringe Theatre); Scott Reid, Clue (Citadel Theatre); Alison Yanota, A Hundred Words for Snow (Northern Light Theatre)

Outstanding Costume Design: Joyce Padua, Prison Dancer (Citadel Theatre and Prison Dancer Inc.); Leona Brausen, Jersey Boys (Citadel Theatre); Deanna Finnman, Pride and Prejudice (Citadel Theatre); Rachel Forbes, The Royale (Citadel Theatre); Sarah Uwadiae, Trouble in Mind (Citadel Theatre and Royal Manitoba Theatre Centre)

Outstanding Lighting Design: Steve Lucas, The Royale (Citadel Theatre);
Narda McCarroll, Listen, Listen (Teatro Live!); Kat Evans, Freaky Green Eyes (Screaming Mantis in Association with Punctuate! Theatre and Fringe Theatre); Roy Jackson, Enough (Northern Light Theatre); Alison Yanota, A Hundred Words for Snow (Northern Light Theatre)

Outstanding Multi-Media Design: Hugh Conacher, Network (Citadel Theatre and Royal Manitoba Theatre Centre); S Katy Tucker, Orphée+ (Edmonton Opera); Matt Schuurman, A Hundred Words for Snow (Northern Light Theatre); T. Erin Gruber with Rebecca Cypher, The Space Between Stars (produced by Small Matters Productions and presented by SkirtsAfire); Ian Jackson, Subscribe or Like (Workshop West Playwrights’ Theatre)

Outstanding Score of a Play or Musical: Romeo Candido, Prison Dancer (Citadel Theatre and Prison Dancer Inc.); Hawksley Workman, Almost a Full Moon (Citadel Theatre); Simon Abbott and Byron Martin, Jason Kenney’s Hot Boy Summer (Grindstone Theatre); Farhad Khosravi, Anahita’s Republic (AuTash Productions); Darrin Hagen, Unsung: Tales From the Front Line (Workshop West Playwrights’ Theatre)

Outstanding Sound Design: Aaron Macri, Alina (Pyretic Productions); Dave Clarke, The Royale (Citadel Theatre); Daniela Fernandez, A Hundred Words for Snow (Northern Light Theatre); Darrin Hagen, Subscribe or Like (Workshop West Playwrights’ Theatre); Darrin Hagen and Morag Northey, The Innocence of Trees (Theatre Network)

Outstanding Musical Director: Shannon Hiebert, Sweeney Todd (Plain Jane Theatre); Chloe Meyers, Stabat Mater (Edmonton Opera); Simon Abbott, Jason Kenney’s Hot Boy Summer (Grindstone Theatre); Steven Greenfield, Jersey Boys (Citadel Theatre); Kierscey Rand, Prison Dancer (Citadel Theatre and Prison Dancer Inc.)

Outstanding Choreography or Fight Direction: Shakeil Rollock, The Royale (Citadel Theatre); Ainsley Hillyard, All the Little Animals I Have Eaten (Shadow Theatre); Amber Borotsik, Alina (Pyretic Productions); Morgan Yamada, Death Trap (Teatro Live!); Julio Fuentes, Prison Dancer (Citadel Theatre and Prison Dancer Inc.)

Outstanding Individual Achievement in Production: Even Gilchrist (production designer and builder); Kat Evans (production manager); Andrea Handal Rivera (stage manager); Tristan Fair (house technician); Nancy Yuen (stage manager)

Outstanding Production for Young Audiences: CTRL-ALT-DEL (Concrete Theatre); Jack and the Beanstalk (Alberta Musical Theatre Company)

Outstanding Artistic Achievement for Young Audiences: Shrina Patel, choreographer, Jack and the Beanstalk (Alberta Musical Theatre Company); David Anderson, performer, Jack and the Beanstalk (Alberta Musical Theatre Company); Corben Kushneryk, director, CTRL-ALT-DEL (Concrete Theatre); c.m. zuby, set and props design, CTRL-ALT-DEL (Concrete Theatre)

Outstanding Fringe Production: Ride the Cyclone (Uniform Theatre and Scona Alumni Theatre Co); Jesus Teaches Us Things (Dammitammy Productions); Crack in the Mirror (Guys in Disguise); Fags in Space (Low Hanging Fruits); Conjoined (Straight Edge Theatre)

Outstanding Fringe New Work (Award to Playwright): Ellie Heath, Fake n’ Bake (Oh Hello! Productions); Rebecca Merkley, Jesus Teaches Us Things (Dammitammy Productions); Jake Tkaczyk, White Guy on Stage Talking (Innocent Operations); Liam Salmon, Fags in Space (Low Hanging Fruits);
Seth Gilfillan and Stephen Allred, Conjoined (Straight Edge Theatre)

Outstanding Fringe Performance by an Individual: Rebecca Merkley, Jesus Teaches Us Things (Dammitammy Productions); Zachary Parsons-Lozinski/Lilith Fair, Pansy Cabaret (Guys in Disguise); Ellie Heath, Fake n’ Bake (Oh Hello! Productions); Andrea House, Salsa Lesson (Stardust Players); Josh Travnik, Conjoined (Straight Edge Theatre)

Outstanding Fringe Performance by an Ensemble: Ride the Cyclone (Uniform Theatre and Scona Alumni Theatre Co); Walter (Pansy Haze Collective); The Erlking (Scona Alumni Theatre Co); Destination Vegas (Whizgiggling Productions); Crack in the Mirror (Guys in Disguise); Fags in Space (Low Hanging Fruits)

Outstanding Fringe Director: Linette J. Smith, Ride the Cyclone (Uniform Theatre and Scona Alumni Theatre Co); Brennan Doucet, Walter (Pansy Craze Productions); Trevor Schmidt, Crack in the Mirror (Guys in Disguise); Kristi Hansen, Fake n’ Bake (Oh Hello! Productions); Carmen Osahor and Jessy Ardern, The Big Sad (The Fox Den Collective)

The Margaret Mooney Award for Outstanding Achievement in Administration: Coralie Cairns

The Ross Hill Award for Outstanding Achievement in Production: Mel Geary

Outstanding Contribution to Theatre in Edmonton: Judy Unwin