The full cast of Shrek The Musical Jr. The production received the most CAT nominations. Winners will be announced in February next year.
The Parkes Musical & Dramatic Society finished a fantastic year of three big shows with ten Canberra Area Theatre (CAT) Awards and one commendation.
The nominations are for: Lyn Townsend and costume team – Best Costumes for a school or youth production: Shrek The Musical Jr; Imogen Steele – Patricia Kelson Encouragement award: Shrek; Keola Aho – Patricia Kelson Encouragement award: Les Miserables; Libby Pepper – Best youth actress in a feature role in a musical: Shrek; Tom Buesnell – Best youth actor in a lead- ing role in a musical – Shrek; Krystle-Lee McMurray – Best youth actress in a leading role in a musical – Anne Of Green Gables; Kimberley Ryan – Best actress in a leading role in a musical – Les Miserables; Neil Westcott, Gail Smith and Rachael Westcott – Best musical direction in a school or youth production – Shrek; Lyn Townsend – Best direction in a school or youth musical – Shrek; and Parkes Musical and Dramatic Society – Best production of a school or youth musical – Shrek. Commendation – Parkes Musical & Dramatic Society for making productions accessible to people with special needs through presenting a special autism-friendly performance and providing closed captioning for the hearing-impaired.
A CAT judge made the comment that “Parkes M & D is certainly punching above their weight in quality of productions”.
For Director Lyn Townsend the biggest highlight was the collaboration of members of the society, working cohesively and co-operatively in the production of three successful productions, while welcoming many new members to the theatre family.