Noises Off, The Boyfriend Sweep Theatre Palisades Awards

Winners of the Theater Palisades Awards. Front row, left to right: Joanne Reich, Dennis Owens, Monica Gilsanz, Drew Fitzsimmons, Amy Coles. Back row, left to right: Manfred Hofer, Sherman Wayne, Martha Hunter, Andrew Frew, Meredith Sweeney, Matt Landig.
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Winners of the Theater Palisades Awards. Front row, left to right: Joanne Reich, Dennis Owens, Monica Gilsanz, Drew Fitzsimmons, Amy Coles. Back row, left to right: Manfred Hofer, Sherman Wayne, Martha Hunter, Andrew Frew, Meredith Sweeney, Matt Landig.
Photo by Rich Schmitt, Staff Photographer

Call it our Tonys, only a tad smaller and with much more agreeable weather.
About 65 members of the town’s theater community attended the Theatre Palisades Annual Meeting and Awards Show on a pristine August 17 evening, when Noises Off proved to be the big winner.
Noises Off won for Best Play, Best Director and Best Set Design, with Noises Off director Sherman Wayne accepting in all categories. The Boyfriend charmed most of the major acting awards. Manfred Hofer, a graphic artist at the Palisadian-Post, won the award for his design work on the poster for The Boyfriend.
In-between the award presentations, Theatre Palisades history was celebrated, from actress and producer Cindie Wright-Banks, the current member with the longest history at Theatre Palisades, to the Theatre’s trips to Berlin (where they staged a production of On Golden Pond), and a church tour. Wright-Banks explained the Theatre Palisades venue history, from its start at the local Jewish Community Center to the Rustic Canyon Recreation Center to its current location at the Pierson Playhouse. Oft-evoked was former Theatre Palisades property mistress Teresa Trout, whose satirical, inside joke-laced rhymes were read throughout the evening.
Presenting the awards were Julia Whitcombe, Story Cunningham, Mary Dryden, Kimshelley Garner, Monica Gilsanz, Carol Ketay, Shirley Churgin and Mike Macready. Also at the dais was Sherry Coon, who directed Theatre Palisades’ very first play (at the Pierson) and also helmed recent productions, such as A Few Good Men.
Troubadour Doug Green, who in years past directed several Theatre Palisades plays, entertained the crowd with his acoustic guitar ditties sending up the Theatre’s nominated plays. Along the way, he parodied Johnny Cash’s “Folsom Prison Blues” and poked at current affairs (“Listenin’ to John and Barack talk and talk . . . [long beat] . . . and talk!”).
Robin Shelby and Sean Spence acted out a scene from the Theatre’s most recent production, I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change. Also gracing the stage was Miss Theatre Palisades, a.k.a. Wright-Banks’ daughter, Alexandra Wright-Banks.
Gamely hosted by Gail Matthius, the awards event was produced by Hunter, Wayne and Matthius.
Dana McElwain accompanied the evening’s program on piano.
The awards ceremony followed a cocktail hour and a catered dinner (from chicken kabobs to ice cream sundaes) held picnic-style on the grassy Founder’s Oak Island in front of the Pierson, as well as the annual meeting, during which treasurer Dieter Holberg broke down Theatre Palisades’ revenue and expenses and, in summation, reported the good news that Theatre Palisades is in the black.
Theatre Palisades’ upcoming fall and winter season will include productions of Early One Evening at the Rainbow Bar & Grille by Bruce Graham (Sept. 5 through Oct. 12) and You Can’t Take It With You by George S. Kaufman & Moss Hart (Nov. 7 through Dec. 14). Audition info for the latter is posted at www.theatrepalisades.org.