Local theater stars grab recognition at 2007 Po'okela Award presentation

Derrick Brown, Greg Howell, Laurence Paxton, Brad Powell and Scott Wallace made multiple trips to the winners' circle last night as the Hawaii State Theatre Council presented the 2007 Po'okela Awards at the Koolau Ballrooms.

Paxton received awards for his performance in the title role of Army Community Theatre's production of "Sweeney Todd" and for his work as musical director of "Gigi" at Diamond Head Theatre.

Powell won for directing and choreographing "Working" at Manoa Valley Theatre, and Wallace for his performances in "Gigi" and "Sweet Charity."

Howell was honored for his performance in MVT's "Fully Committed" and for his work on the tech crew of "Sweeney Todd," and Brown as cast member and director of "Jitney" at TAG.

Jo Pruden received the Pierre Bowman Award for lifetime achievement, and got a second "Pokie" for her performance in "Over My Dead Body" at MVT.

Manoa Valley Theatre was the big winner last night with 30 awards in 18 of the 21 categories. DHT followed with 24 awards in 16 categories, and Army Community Theatre was third with 13 awards in 11 categories.

Ohia Productions, Paliku Theatre, the Actors Group and the Hawaii Pacific University theater program also received awards.

The number of honorees this year is indicative of changes made while the theater council put the program "on hiatus" for the 2004-05 season.

Until then a panel of five adjudicators had used a two-tier voting system that ensured that no individual adjudicator's opinion determined the outcome in any category; there was also a limit of three honorees per category.

The new system uses three adjudicators, and each is allowed to name two winners per category for a possible total of six.

Several of Oahu's major community theater groups -- among them Kumu Kahua Theatre, Honolulu Theatre for Youth and the University of Hawaii at Manoa -- choose not to participate in the awards program.

Po'okela Award winners

Overall Play: "Jitney," TAG; "Lend Me a Tenor," DHT; "Over My Dead Body," MVT; "The Cherry Orchard," HPU; "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf," MVT

Overall Musical: "Oklahoma," Paliku; "Sweeney Todd," ACT; "Thoroughly Modern Millie," DHT; "Working," MVT

Leading Male in a Play: Jim Andrews, "Jitney," TAG; Tom Holowach, "The Lion in Winter," HPU; Greg Howell, "Fully Committed," MVT; Paul T. Mitri, "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf," MVT

Leading Female in a Play: Karen Bumatai, "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf," MVT; Becky Maltby, "Sylvia," TAG; Eden-Lee Murray, "The Cherry Orchard," HPU; Jo Pruden, "Over My Dead Body," MVT; Elizabeth Wolfe, "Antigone," TAG

Leading Male in a Musical: Laurence Paxton, "Sweeney Todd," ACT; Leonard Piggee, "Annie," ACT; Scott Wallace, "Gigi," DHT

Featured Female in a Musical: Cathy Foy, "Thoroughly Modern Millie," DHT; Angela Morales, "You Somebody," DHT; Danel Verdugo, "Urinetown," MVT; Tracy Yamamoto, "Oklahoma," Paliku

Leading Female in a Musical: Kristin Ing, "Sweet Charity," DHT; Pomai Lopez, "You Somebody," DHT; Loretta Ables Sayre, "You Somebody," DHT; Stefanie Smart, "Sweeney Todd," ACT

Ensemble Cast: "Christmas Gift of Aloha," Ohia Productions; "Our Town," TAG ; "Working," MVT

Featured Male in a Play: Gerald Altwies, "Lend Me a Tenor," DHT; Gerald Altwies, "Over My Dead Body," MVT; Derrick Brown, "Jitney," TAG; F. Quenton Collins, "Jitney," TAG; Stephen Mead, "Over My Dead Body," MVT; Elitei Tatafu Jr., "Over My Dead Body," MVT

Featured Female in a Play: Frankie Enos, "Our Town," TAG; Melinda Maltby, "The Cherry Orchard," HPU; Euphrosyne V.E. Rushforth, "Sylvia," TAG; Genny Wilson, "Who's Afraid of Virginal Woolf," MVT

Featured Male in a Musical: Gary Morris, "Gigi," DHT; Scott Moura, "Sweeney Todd," ACT; Matthew Pennaz, "Urinetown," MVT; Omar Williams "Working," MVT; Steve Wagenseller, "Oklahoma," Paliku; Scott Wallace, "Sweet Charity," DHT

Director, Musical: Stephanie Conching, "Sweeney Todd," ACT; Brad Powell, "Working," MVT; Andrew Sakaguchi, "Sweet Charity," DHT; Vanita Rae Smith, "Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat," ACT

Director, Play: Derrick Brown, "Jitney," TAG; Betty Burdick, "Fully Committed," MVT; Rob Duval, "Lend Me a Tenor," DHT; Glenn Cannon, "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf," MVT; Joyce Maltby, "The Cherry Orchard," HPU

Choreographer: Ahnya Chang, "Urinetown," MVT; Grace Bell Humerickhouse, "Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat," ACT; Brad Powell, "Working," MVT; John Rampage, "She Loves Me," MVT; Andrew Sakaguchi, "Sweet Charity," DHT

Musical Director: Lorna Mount, "Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat," ACT; Laurence Paxton, "Gigi," DHT; Ernest Taniguchi, "Working," MVT; Alethea Train, "Sweet Charity," DHT; Emmett Yoshioka, "Thoroughly Modern Millie," DHT

Nonresident Guest Artist: Lolly Susi, director, "Over My Dead Body," MVT; Darren Lee, director, "Thoroughly Modern Millie," DHT

Costume Design: Peggy Krock, "The Cherry Orchard," HPU; Lorena Jones, "Over My Dead Body," MVT; Evette Tanouye, "Oklahoma," Paliku; Karen G. Wolfe, "Gigi," DHT; Karen G. Wolfe, "Thoroughly Modern Millie," DHT

Hair, Wig, Makeup Design: Jess Aki, "Lend Me a Tenor," DHT; Jess Aki, "Gigi," DHT; Greg Howell, "Sweeney Todd," ACT

Lighting Design: Janine Myers, "The Lion in Winter," HPU; Daniel Anteau, "Over My Dead Body," MVT; Derron Peterson, "Sweeney Todd," ACT

Set Design: Karen Archibald, "The Cherry Orchard," HPU; MJ Matsushida, "Working," MVT; Willie Sabel, "Lend Me a Tenor," DHT; Dennis Hassan, "Sweeney Todd," ACT; David Minkoff, "Over My Dead Body," MVT

Sound Design: Mathias Maas, "Over My Dead Body," MVT; Mikel J Humerickhouse, "Lend Me a Tenor," DHT; BullDog, "Fully Committed," MVT; Jason Taglianetti, "Sweeney Todd," ACT; Jason Taglianetti, "Working," MVT

Adjudicators' Special Awards: Shell Dazell, for special effects in "Over My Dead Body," MVT; Ohia Productions, for "Christmas Gift of Aloha"; Kat Pelviak, for innovative use of puppets in "James and the Giant Peach," Paliku

Key to the theater groups Army Community Theatre (ACT) Diamond Head Theatre (DHT) Hawaii Pacific University (HPU) Manoa Valley Theatre (MVT) Paliku Theatre (Paliku) The Actors Guild (TAG)