Merivale High wins five at Capital Cappie Awards

For the second straight year, Merivale High School was the big winner at the seventh annual Capital Cappie Awards, but this time they had to wait until the very last award was announced to claim the bragging rights.

Along with that award for Best Musical, their production of “Fame” won four other awards, including best female dancer for Danielle Denisko, Best Choreography for Denisko and Chloe Gill, Best Supporting Actress for Natasha Jarrett, and Best Marketing/Publicity for Victoria Beales, Evan Grice, Jenna Perklic and Ruby Pascoe.

That award shows the range of talents recognized in the Cappie program.

The program which, began in Washington, D.C. in 1999, has spread across North America to seventeen cities.  Ottawa’s version is the largest of the three in Canada.

The Cappies trains high school theatre and journalism students are trained to review shows from other schools in their city. Many of the reviews have appeared in the Ottawa Citizen throughout the year.

As he presented an award, Citizen publisher Gerry Nott said in spite of the recent cutbacks at the paper, it remains committed to the program and that won’t change.

Of all the year-end galas in North America, the Ottawa stage at the NAC’s Southam Hall is second only to the Washington, D.C.’s John F. Kennedy Performing Centre for the Arts in size.

The Ottawa version has come a long way since 1995.  Now, almost 40 schools in Ottawa and the surrounding area take part, and in what is a great indication of the talent in our community, the awards were shared by 21 schools.

Colonel By won four awards, for Best Male Critic, Best Female Critic, Best Critic’s Team and Best Featured Actor in a play.

Nepean High School’s production of Xanadu also took home four trophies, thanks in large part to Grade 10 student Emma Makin, who seemed shocked by the accolades.

“All I did was air guitar,” she said.

Still, she picked up the award for Best Comic Actress in a Musical, Best Ensemble in a Musical, and Best Song.  Makin shared the last two awards with Robyn Campbell.

It was also a big night for Ridgemont High.  Their production of “Powerplay” won Best Play.  “Powerplay”, a gripping drama about bullying in high school will be taped and shown in schools across the Ottawa area.

2012 Capital Cappie Winners

• Award for Female Critic — Kathleen Atkins, Colonel By
• Award for Male Critic — Michael Hassar, Colonel By
• Award for Featured Actor in a Play — Max Pettifer, Colonel By, “Don’t Drink the Water”
• Award for Featured Actress in a Play — Erin Chapman, Elmwood, “The Trojan Women”
• Award for Featured Actor in a Musical — Connor Price-Kelleher, All Saints, “Xanadu”
• Award for Featured Actress in a Musical — Christine Aman, Longfields-Davidson Heights, “Lucky Stiff”
• Award for Male Dancer — Patrick Lamothe, Ridgemont, “Power Play”
• Award for Female Dancer — Danielle Denisko, Merivale, “Fame”
• Award for Props — Rob MacGregor, St.Thomas Aquinas, “And Then There Were None”
• Award for Stage Crew — St.Mark Stage Crew, “The 39 Steps”
• Award for Choreography — Danielle Denisko, Chloe Gill, “Fame”
• Award for Sets — Andrea Boles, Helene Govinden, Channa Payette McLean, Odette Issa, Lester B. Pearson, “Alice in Wonderland”
• Award for Comic Actor in a Play — Spencer Donnelly, Sacred Heart, “Alice in Wonderland”
• Award for Comic Actress in a Play — Jenna Blacquierre, Glebe, Wallis Simpson: a.k.a The Duchess”
• Award for Comic Actor in a Musical — Louis-Alexandre Boulet, Ashbury, “Anything Goes”
• Award for Comic Actress in a Musical — Emma Makin, Nepean, “Xanadu”
• Award for Sound — Rebecca Dy, Melanie Blood-Rojas, St.Mark, “The 39 Steps”
• Award for Lighting — Hayan Imadi, Ryan Mockett, Ridgemont, “Power Play”
• Award for Special Effects and Technology — Aaron Lynch, Krista McCormick, Theodore Van Dusen, All Saints, “Xanadu”
• Award for Makeup — Alice Makeup Crew, Sacred Heart, “Alice in Wonderland”
• Award for Costumes — Deanna Betts, Candace Mantha, Rebecca Nichols, Sir Wilfrid Laurier, “The Wizard of Oz”
• Award for Female Vocalist — Robyn Campbell, Nepean, “Xanadu”
• Award for Male Vocalist — Nick Moolenbeek, Sir Wilfrid Laurier, “The Wizard of Oz”
• Award for Creativity — Victoria Rutkowski, directing, Holy Trinity, “Nunsense”
• Award for Marketing and Publicity — Victoria Beales, Evan Grice, Jenna Perklic, Ruby Pascoe, Merivale, “Fame”
• Award for Ensemble in a Play — James Hughes, Sayana Izmailova, Garrett Lihou, Karen MacDonald, Liam McMullen, Devon Power, Konah Raynes, Sierra Ward-Bond (as The Outta Tunas), A.Y. Jackson, “Greater Tuna”
• Award for Ensemble in a Musical — Robyn Campbell, Emma Makin (as The Evil Muses), Nepean, “Xanadu”
• Award for Supporting Actor in a Play — Adam Riddall, A.Y. Jackson, “Greater Tuna”
• Award for Supporting Actress in a Play — Emilie Ingram, Gloucester, “Dracula”
• Award for Supporting Actor in a Musical — Marlow Stanfield, Ashbury, “Anything Goes”
• Award for Supporting Actress in a Musical — Natasha Jarrett, Merivale, “Fame”
• Award for Lead Actress in a Play — Makanaka Ngwenya, Elmwood, “The Trojan Women”
• Award for Lead Actor in a Play — Itzy Kamil, Ottawa Jewish Community School, “Death of a Salesman”
• Award for Lead Actress in a Musical — Jordan Gowling, D’Arcy McGee, “Anything Goes”
• Award for Lead Actor in a Musical — Antonio Pezoulas, Mother Teresa, “Jesus Christ Superstar”
• Award for Orchestra — The Earl of March Pit Bulls, Earl of March, “Footloose”
• Award for Song — Evil Woman, Nepean, “Xanadu”
• Award for Critics’ Team — Colonel By
• Award for Play — “Power Play”, Ridgemont
• Award for Musical — “Fame”, Merivale