The National Youth Arts Awards announced the winners of their 13th annual competition, honoring outstanding work by youth in the arts. Over 600 productions were submitted this year, including shows from 220 members across 17 states and the UK.
Golden West College Theater Arts earned the top UniArts college award, winning Outstanding College Production for Never the Sinner, directed by Tom Amen. Actors Matthew Cobb and Alex Jean, who played “Leopold” and “Loeb” respectively, both won the Outstanding Lead Performance for their starring roles in Never the Sinner.
GWC dominated the Outstanding College Production category, earning five out of the seven total nominations. Under the helm of Martie Ramm, professor and chair of GWC’s Theater Arts, all five productions staged in the 2017-18 season were honored with a nomination, including category winner Never the Sinner (directed by Tom Amen), Evita (directed by Martie Ramm), The Glass Menagerie (directed by Tom Amen), The Little Dog Laughed (directed by Jill Cary Martin), and Macbeth (directed by Martie Ramm).
Additional UniArts nominations for GWC cast and crew include:
- Outstanding College Production: Evita
- Outstanding Direction: Martie Ramm for Evita
- Outstanding Choreography: Martie Ramm for Evita
- Outstanding Guest Performance: Kalinda Gray as “Eva Peron” in Evita
- Outstanding Lead Performance (College Division): Jamie Somers as “Diane” in The Little Dog Laughed
GWC Theater Arts also won last year’s UniArts Award for Outstanding College Production of Hairspray, directed by Martie Ramm, with three of the show’s actors winning awards in the Outstanding Supporting Actor (Alex Jean as “Link Larkin”) and Outstanding Supporting Actress categories (Kyra Olschewske as “Penny Pingleton,” Taylor Windle as “Amber on Tussle”).
A complete list of all of the winners and nominees can be found at the National Youth Theatre’s website.
GWC’s Theater Arts has another fantastic season planned this year, with Dracula kicking off the 2018-19 season from October 5-14. Five Women Wearing The Same Dress follows from October 26-28, then the fan-favorite musical Sister Act launches November 9-18. In the New Year, The Great God Pan premieres March 9 and runs through March 17, 2019. American La Ronde runs April 5-7, 2019, followed by The Pirates of Penzance from April 26 – May 5, 2019.
For more information about these productions and GWC Theater Arts Program, and to purchase tickets, please visit www.gwctheater.com.
