Some show! A look back at the Some Sort of Show Theater Awards

Last Monday’s presentation of The 2015 Some Sort of Theater Awards (SSoTA) provided a pleasant respite on an otherwise dreary, rainy evening. The members of Some Sort of Show, Tampa’s only sketch comedy troupe, created the awards show last year in an effort to draw attention to the growing theatrical presence on both sides of the Bay. The Smith Black Box Theater, housed within Tampa Preparatory School, came alive with laughter, singing and a few heartfelt goodbyes.

Typical awards shows present awards for categories along the lines of: Best Actor in a Musical, Best Original Score or Best Play. The SSoTA, however, had categories such as Youngest Baby, Best Set Building Material and Most Artistic Director; all of whose winners were arbitrarily chosen.

It was an evening of pregnant with silliness, and though I wish I could give a play by play of every moment, brevity is the order of the day (though I’m admittedly terrible at it). We met Winnie Poots (played by Jaime Giangrande-Holcom), who created a playful disturbance when vying for the Youngest Baby Award against nominees Carlos Garcia (Jobsite Theater’s Occupation), Nick Hoop (Jobsite’s Twelfth Night), Erin Foster (Stageworks’ The Last of the Red Hot Lovers), and Melissa Ruchong (TRT2’s Tampawrights 3). 

In the end it was baby Olivia Holcom, appearing with newly minted father Chris Holcom, who snagged the coveted award. Poots was not impressed.

Edward Albee (Jamie Jones), Flannery O’Connor (Betty-Jane Parks), George R.R. Martin (D.G. Speirs) made appearances as nominees for Honorary Local Writer, though August Wilson (Robert Richards, Jr.) was the ultimate winner. At Martin’s prompting, Bernier briefly considered murdering co-host Cho, but the topic was quickly changed.

Brianna Larson, creator of the 4×6 Festival, was “spontaneously” given the task of coming up with a new award category in 24 minutes. She appeared periodically throughout the evening in various forms of frenzy.  Her category creation: people she found backstage.

Eddie Gomez (Jobsite’s Twelfth Night) and Maggie Mularz hosted the Technical Awards. Nathan Juliano (Tampa Shakespeare Festival) presented the Sound Design portion, which became less sound and more interpretive dance thanks to Julia Teal (Some Sort of Show). Do you know how to dance to the music of “Bright Lights, Big City” when there’s no actual music playing? Julia Teal does.

Ryan Finzelber had the Lighting and Scenic category, which turned into an homage to departing lighting designer, Mike Wood. 

Best Set Material went to Brian Smallheer for his use of metal in Jobsite’s Annapurna. Best Costume, presented by Emily Belvo (Occupation), went to “whoever designed the invisible rabbit in [freeFall Theatre’s] Harvey."

The SSoTA spotlighted theatrical endeavors from area staples such as Stageworks (“Where we make the Stage — Work”), Tampa Repertory Theatre, Jobsite Theater, and Hat Trick Theatre; allowing representatives to speak about their upcoming seasons. Spokespersons for The Tampa Shakespeare Festival (Megan Lamasney and Dan Granke) and The Heather Studio (Dahlia Legault) were also featured.

Becca McCoy, Georgia Mallory Guy, Jonelle Marie Meyer (One Slight Hitch) each joined Cho on stage to perform hilarious original songs about various plays put on during the season.

New this year was The Premio Award which was announced entirely in Spanish. Though I grew up in Miami around more Spanish speakers than English, I don’t remember much more than the intro to “¿Qué Pasa, U.S.A.?” The nominees were Carlos Garcia (Jobsite’s Occupation), Cornelio Aguilera (Stageworks’ The Motherfucker with the Hat), Jessy Quinones (Stageworks’ The Motherfucker with the Hat) and Maggie Mularz (Jobsite’s Twelfth Night). Much was said, though I have no idea what any of it was. There were rolled R’s, sassy facial expressions and wild gesticulations from those on stage. It was like a live Telenovela that resulted with Aguilera as the winner.

Matt Frankel performed the title role in “The Apocrypha of David Frankel,” with Nathan Jokela as the handsome, charming and talented Ned Averill Snell.

Landon Green and Robert Richards, Jr. offered a “Me-meow-iam” in lieu of a memoriam for those who couldn’t attend that night (due to scheduling conflicts, not death). Among those included were Natalie Symons (Catalie Symons), Christopher Hubbard (Christo-fur Hubbard), Katie Berger (Katie Purr-ger), Paul McColgan (Paw-l McColgan), Christina Capehart (apparently she’s in Cats), and Miriam Rochford (Meow-iam). Rochford’s upcoming departure resulted in an especially touching goodbye, complete with a room full of sad people waving at a fetching photo of her in a glittery hat.

It is also worth noting that the Bay area is also losing Richards Jr., Tia Jemison, Regan Moore and Ami Sallee.

Jobsite’s Katrina Stevenson called for a women-only audition for Jobsite’s upcoming production of Silence! The Musical. Caitlin Eason, Colleen Cherry, Jonelle Marie Meyer and Roxanne Fay all gave their best Hannibal Lecters, though Cherry said she wasn’t particularly interested in the role. Jonathan Harrison, who will actually be playing the part of Lecter, made a surprise appearance and shut the audition down.

Hat Trick Theater’s Jack Holloway and Steve Fisher were in house as well; Steve donning the trademark HT bowler hat. Holloway, who will be directing their production of Death Trap, invited all to audition for their next season. Auditions began Saturday at Ruth Eckerd Hall.

There were shout-outs to the area stage managers, without whom the play could not go on, and the audience for being a part of the fun.

So, besides the opportunity to rub elbows with the Bay area’s theater glitterati, what’s the point of a fake awards show?

“I know it's kind of a weird theory, but I've always felt the best way to get the community to celebrate its artists is to treat them like celebrities.” Said Cho. “I was humbled and ecstatic to have so many artists participate and I can't thank them enough!”

Who knows what antics next year’s show will bring? Hopefully Brianna Larson will be ready.

This article appears in Aug 6-12, 2015.