Review: META awards

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November 4, 2015

Westmount Mag
By Byron Toben
November 4, 2015


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AWARDS ARE A SHOW UNTO THEMSELVES

The Montreal English Theatre Awards (META) hosted their third annual Oscar-like gala on October 26 at the magnificent Rialto theatre. About 300 attendees jammed the floor for the boisterous event.

REVIEW

IN THE BEGINNING…

This review will list some of the highlights below, but first features the background and quantum leap into pizzazz of this glittery event.

In the beginning was MECCA, not the holy city but the acronym for Montreal English Critics Community Awards. It was created in 1998 by the late Myron Galloway and Gaëtan Charlebois, judged only by critics, and sending winning certificates by mail. In 2006 it went live, the year Galloway died at 86. An actor and writer, he had been the theatre critic for the Montréal star (folded in 1979) and then Food and Entertainment reporter for the Suburban.

MECCA held ceremonies at the Sala Rosa and later at Théâtre Ste-Catherine, by which time it was organized and hosted by Mirror theatre critic Neal Boyce and CKUT “upstage” legend Estelle Rosen. Guest M.C. actor Don Anderson often presided.

Beginning in 2012 and championed by then Quebec Drama Federation director Jane Needles, a movement to have a peer group of judges. actors, technicians, writers, producers was created.
Beginning in 2012 and championed by then Quebec Drama Federation director Jane Needles, a movement to have a peer group of judges. actors, technicians, writers, producers was created. Much honoured actor Leni Parker and director Amanda Kellock as well as many others were instrumental in setting this up, just as sports and film have separate awards judged by the player peers or coaches or reporters. MECCA had filled a gap and folded in 2011.

HIGHLIGHTS OF THE THIRD ANNUAL MECCA

Now, on to the third annual META based on nominees from shows from 31 August 2014 to 1 September 2015.

Music
As in the first two editions, Nick Cartenter composed novelty and bridge music, and played piano assisted by a great trio: Shawn Campbell (bass), Glenn Roy (trombone) and Brett Watson (drums).

Hosts
Last year the elegant and the glamorous Holly Gauthier Frankel and suave Marcel Jeannin were the main hosting duo. This year, those duties were taken over, without missing a beat by vivacious singer/dancer Gitanjali Jain and cool U.K. arrival actor James Loye. They wowed the house with an original ditty about the varied joys of Montreal. Ms Jain was resplendent in a silky red gown. Mr. Loye wore black formal wear with a giant bow tie. Part of their patter had him refusing to dance and vowing to eat his top hat if he succumbed to so doing.

Nine other well known duos announced the nominees and, with Academy award style envelopes, the winners, who traipsed up to the stage to receive their META cylinders (no figurative statues or cups). The first such duo was versatile Danny Brochu and recent Order of Canada recipient Elsa Bolam, founder of Geordie Children’s theatre. They received rousing applause as a huge percentage of the pros in the audience got their post school start in that program.

… Danny Brochu and recent Order of Canada recipient Elsa Bolam, founder of Geordie Children’s theatre… received rousing applause as a huge percentage of the pros in the audience got their post school start in that program. After the intermission, Ms Jain reappeared in a glittery silver gown while Mr. Loye had somehow become barefooted. This costume change fitted in with a little divertissement wherein Ms Jain displayed her dancing skills and did indeed entice Mr. Loye to dance. One complaint — he not only did not eat his hat but neither he nor any one else mentioned this omission. We will have to check with writers Alexis Diamond and Michael Mackenzie about this deviation from their clever script. The smooth overall direction by Mike Payette moved the show right along so maybe no one else noticed but me.

THE BIG WINNERS

The big winners when the evening was over (but all the nominees were also winners – as in sports, lots of parity in this league) in terms of number of awards collected were:

Segal Centre — 4 (3 for Travesties and 1 for The Graduate) and Tableau d’hôte — 4 (all for Hosanna )
Black Theatre Workshop — 2 (for random) as did Geordie (Chloe’s Choice and a special new award for Equity, Diversity and Inclusion)

The metas does observe distinctions between professional theatres (PACT), independent productions and community productions. School productions are not considered.
PACT winner — Travesties
Independent — Hosanna
Community — Hairspray

Other special moments:
Howard Mendelssohn, long time production manager at the Centaur, received an “unsung hero of the theatre” nod.

A sad moment interrupting the jollity was a tribute to local theatre community persons who have recently shuffled off this mortal coil, many elderly. The youngest was Stephen Pietrantoni who had founded CETM (Centre of Education and Theatre in Montreal) to develop musical comedy.

Recap on most popular individual awards:
Lead actor — Eloi ArchamBeaudoin — Hosanna
Lead actress — Lucinda Davis — random
Supporting actor — Davide Chiazzese — Hosanna
Supporting actress — Jennifer Roberts — Chloe’s Choice
Ensemble — Chip Chuipka, Alain Goulem, Mike Hughes — The Mighty Carlins
Director — Mike Payette — Hosanna
Emerging artist — Virgilia Griffith — Gas Girls

Hope to see all same time, next year!

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