2014 Halo Awards - A Recap

To say that the Wednesday night Halo Awards at the Palace Theater were exciting is the understatement of the theatrical year. I almost didn't make it into the sold out awards gala due to the fact that I thought I would be attending the Tuesday night edition instead of Wednesday night. (I apologize to the Tuesday night honorees for missing your ceremony this year.) It is a long and winding story; I won't bore my readers with all the details. Suffice it to say that with the help of one very supportive parent of a nominee, I got to sit in the back of the orchestra section and was probably just as excited to be in the theater as the teens that packed the house. They dressed up for the occasion and came whether they were nominated or not to support their fellow cast members.

As I got my seat assignment, Seven Angels photographer Gary Rosengrant called my name and snapped my picture. Waiting to enter the theater, I ran into the Woodland HS group and their music director Sean Lewis. We both agreed that his students were a little pumped to be there, and they should be proud of the four awards that they brought home.

If I had not been able to get into the gala, I would have been able to follow the proceedings on social media. In fact, the always wonderful host Michelle Gotay admonished the audience members to turn their cell phones ON and post throughout the evening. The teens loved it; I personally was disappointed that my battery gave out early in the evening.

What I would have dearly missed was the chance to see the excellent performances from the nominated shows...not to mention the opportunity to cheer loudly for the talented teens.

Stonington High School opened the evening with a medley by four young ladies from their production of Rogers & Hammerstein's Cinderella. Woodland Regional HS performed "We Go Together" from their recent presentation of Grease (which I was able to see,) followed by Newington HS singing "Grease is the Word" from their production. Avon High did "Matchmaker, Matchmaker" from Fiddler on the Roof and the all-freshman cast of Seymour High's Seussical did "Solla Sollew."

Westover School in Middlebury presented a scene from their original play Tales from the Mouth of the Golden Horse Head. Salisbury School sang a piece called "Little Toy Compass" from Burnt Part Boys.

Four talented young men from Waterbury's Kennedy HS took to the stage in togas to perform "Everybody Ought to Have a Maid" from A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum and they were good! From Aida, Cheshire HS sang "The Dance of the Robe" with some amazing dancing and Southington HS did "The Gods Love Nubia" with some excellent vocals.

Act Two opened with Wolcott High School and the lovely Leah Ciccone performing "Burnin' Love" from their All Shook Up! followed by Guilford High doing "Heartbreak Hotel" from their version of the same show. After a special recognition ceremony for the high school teachers (yay!) Conard (NOT Conrad) High School presented a trio from their production of Shrek with "Who I'd Be." Despite the fact that the three students were understandably not in costume, I loved it.

WAMS, the home team, returned the quartet from their excellent production of Into the Woods to their main stage. Bailey Cummings, Zach Carter, Alexa Campagna and Danielle Orlando sang "No One is Alone" in formal dress with Marianna Vagnini-Daddamo on the onstage piano. Crosby High was up next with a touching "Alabanza" from their In the Heights.

St. Paul's Catholic High School had their amazing Jillian Cailouette sing "Live Out Loud" from A Little Princess and she brought down the house. The evening's final performance was a stirring rendition by Simsbury HS of "One Day More" from, well you know.

In between these enjoyable performance, there were the awards of course and that was the main reason the teens had come. However, they were wonderfully supportive of their fellow nominees and the enthusiasm was infectious. Seven Angels Theater artistic director Semina De Laurentis thanked the judges, teachers, parents and sponsors during her remarks and there was a moment of silence for people that should have been in attendance but were not. She also reiterated that the Halos is a not for profit program and are not given lightly or for simply attending the ceremony.

Presenters for the evening included many celebrities. Ralph Cantito, actor, choreographer and teacher, returned to give out the dancing awards. WATR radio host Barbara Davitt was there, and I spoke with Trish Torello about how cold it was in the theater during intermission. Palace CEO gave out some Halos on his own stage and actors Joyce Jeffrey, Jimmy Donohue, and Jeff Tuohy were also there to support the young performers, as was Waterbury Rep-Am theater critic Joanne Greco Rochman.

Scholarships awarded throughout the evening included DMo NYC Dance Scholarship, Audition, Admission and Beyond and Denise Simon Acting & Coaching Scholarship, $1000 Senior Cash Award and the Gypsy Robe $250 Cash Award.

Halo judges volunteered to attend  88 productions this year at 48 high schools in six of the eight CT counties. These shows included a total of 2500 cast members. The judges deliberated for 16 hours before their final decisions were made. The dedicated judges included Donna Bonnasera, Kelly Boucher, Ralph Cantito, Joanne Chenkus, Carolyn Cicchetti, Terri DeLaurentis, Shannon Denihan, Richard DeRosa, James Donohue, Joyce Jeffrey, Julia Kiley, Brenda Morgan, Patty Paganucci, Meredith Porri, Bill Rinkel, Gary Rosengrant, Mary Rosengrant-Chiappalone, Val Vitalo, and John Michael Whitney. Thank you to these distinguished theater people for all their hard work in making the Halos such a valued tradition.

Special message to the two well-dressed men from Stonington seated near me that carried on loud and long conversations during presentation speeches and student performances despite glaring looks by me and some of the Woodland students seated in front of them: seriously? I appreciate that you traveled a long way to support your students, but you should have known better.