By: Austin Schwartz, Staff Writer
Newman’s Theatre department awards banquet, the Maria Awards, returned back to campus after a three year hiatus. Due to COVID and other complications within the organization, the Theatre department has been unable to host the Maria Awards since 2019.
The whole student body and faculty were able to vote for the nominee of their choice for the selected categories.
The Maria Awards honor achievements in all aspects of theatre over the course of the school year.
Allsion Williams, a senior Psychology and Criminal Justice major, won 5 awards at the Maria Awards. She said she was both surprised and excited for the event's return.
“The Maria’s give us the opportunity to show appreciation for the people we share the stage with in a more formal way than usual,” Williams said. “I love this department because everyone truly wants the best for each other and wants to see each other succeed and the Maria’s are a platform we are able to utilize to show each other that support.”
Brenden Schwartz, the Treasurer of the Theatre club and senior Psychology and Theatre Major won three of the awards, but his play won five more awards for the actor performances in them.
“I am honored to get such a recognition from my peers,” Schwartz said. “I mean I’ve always been proud of my own work and the actors performances but that obviously comes with a sort of bias so it’s nice to know that what I’ve done is actually deserving of some recognition.”
Schwartz had high praise for those who acted in his award winning play, he said.
“I don’t think I could have asked for a better group of people,” he said. “I told both my cast for Hibema and Secret Origin of Mojo Man, ‘I didn’t win this. This was because of all of you.”
A list of all award winners is listed below:
Best Lead Actor in a Musical
Elijah Klein - Big Fish
Best Supporting Actor in a Musical
Brenden Schwartz - Big Fish
Best Supporting Actress in a Musical
Allison Williams - Big Fish
Best Tech for a Musical
Emily Maddux - Big Fish
Best Lead Actor in a Full-length Play
Mathew Clark - Mary Queen of Scots
Best Lead Actress in a Full-length Play
Allison Williams - Mary Queen of Scots
Best Lead Actor in a Student-led Production
Austin Schwartz - Hibema
Best Lead Actress in a Student-led Production
Allison Williams - Hibema
Best Supporting Actor in a Full-length Play
Daniel Knolla - Mary Queen Scots
Best Supporting Actress in a Full-length Play
Marie Moore - Cafe Noir
Best Supporting Actor in a Student-led Production
Daniel Cubias - Hibema, Minh Nguyen - Hibema, Clayton Norris - Robin Hood
Best Supporting Actress in a Student-led Production
Catherine Maddison - Hibema
Best Cameo in Any Production
Father Adam - Mary Queen of Scots
Best Tech for a Play
Allison Williams - Cafe Noir
Best Full-length Solo
Talia Powers - Big Fish
Best Embedded/Partial Solo
Asher Khokhar - Big Fish
Best Onstage Couple
Elijah Klein and Talia Powers - Big Fish
Best Onstage Death
Mathew Clark - Mary Queen of Scots
Best Overall Full-length Production
Big Fish - Directed by Deanne Zogleman
Best Overall Student-led One-act
Hibema - Directed by Brenden Schwartz
Best Overall Student-led 10 Minute
Secret Origin of Mojo Man - Directed by Brenden Schwartz
Best Technical Design
Lucas Farney - Big Fish
Best Costume Design
Christy Railsback - Mary Queen of Scots
Theatre MVP
Allison Williams
Kindest in Theatre
Catherine Madison
PHOTO: Courtesy photo, University Relations
