Big 'Newsies': List of winners from the 2023 Wilmington Theater Awards

John Staton, Wilmington StarNews
·2 min read

Opera House Theatre Co.'s production of "Newsies" was the big winner at the 10th Wilmington Theater Awards at Thalian Hall on Thursday night, taking home four awards, including the trophy for Outstanding Musical.

Big Dawg Productions' "School Girls; Or the African Mean Girls Play" won three awards, including Outstanding Play, and Opera House's production of "Kinky Boots" also won three awards. Opera House had the most awards of any Wilmington theater company, with 11 overall.

In addition, Cherri McKay, longtime director of Wilmington theater company Cape Fear Shakespeare on the Green, was honored with the 2023 Lela Thompson Award for Outstanding Contribution to Wilmington Theater.

The show, which was hosted by Sydney Smith Martin (who won two awards herself, for Outstanding Actress in a Play and Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Musical), was produced by the Arts Council of Wilmington and New Hanover County in association with Thalian Hall.

Because of the pandemic shutdown that kept most theater companies from staging shows for a year or more, all Wilmington-area productions that opened in 2020, 2021 and 2022 were eligible for the awards, which were last held in March of 2020. Full list of winners is below.

The cast of Big Dawg Productions' "School Girls; Or the African Mean Girls Play" perform at the 2023 Wilmington Theater Awards at Thalian Hall.
The cast of Big Dawg Productions' "School Girls; Or the African Mean Girls Play" perform at the 2023 Wilmington Theater Awards at Thalian Hall.

Wilmington Theater Awards, 2023 winners

  • OUTSTANDING PLAY: "School Girls; Or the African Mean Girls Play," Big Dawg Productions

  • OUTSTANDING MUSICAL: "Newsies," Opera House Theatre Co.

  • OUTSTANDING DIRECTOR, PLAY: Fracaswell Hyman, "School Girls; Or the African Mean Girls Play," Big Dawg Productions

  • OUTSTANDING DIRECTOR, MUSICAL: Kevin Lee-y Green, “Dreamgirls," Techmoja Dance & Theatre Co.

  • OUTSTANDING ACTOR, PLAY: Fracaswell Hyman, "Driving Miss Daisy," Thalian Association Community Theatre

  • OUTSTANDING ACTRESS, PLAY: Sydney Smith Martin, "With Love, Marilyn," Opera House Theatre Co.

  • OUTSTANDING ACTOR, MUSICAL: Brendan Carter, "Something Rotten," Thalian Association Community Theatre

  • OUTSTANDING ACTRESS, MUSICAL: Kendra Goehring, "Funny Girl," Opera House Theatre Co.

  • OUTSTANDING SUPPORTING ACTOR, PLAY: Robin Dale Robertson, "The Diary of Anne Frank," Opera House Theatre Co.

  • OUTSTANDING SUPPORTING ACTRESS, PLAY: Bianca Shaw, "School Girls; Or the African Mean Girls Play," Big Dawg Productions

  • OUTSTANDING SUPPORTING ACTOR, MUSICAL: Chad Hsu, "Kinky Boots," Opera House Theatre Co.

  • OUTSTANDING SUPPORTING ACTRESS, MUSICAL: Sydney Smith Martin, "Kinky Boots," Opera House Theatre Co.

  • OUTSTANDING YOUTH THEATER PRODUCTION: "Matilda," Snow Productions

  • OUTSTANDING ENSEMBLE IN A MUSICAL: "Newsies," Opera House Theatre Co.

  • OUTSTANDING NEWCOMER: Chad Hsu

  • OUTSTANDING MUSIC DIRECTION: Brian Whitted, "Kinky Boots," Opera House Theatre Co.

  • OUTSTANDING CHOREOGRAPHY: Carson Hobbs, "Newsies," Opera House Theatre Co.

  • OUTSTANDING SET DESIGN: Terry Collins, "Newsies," Opera House Theatre Co.

  • OUTSTANDING SOUND DESIGN: Jason Aycock, "Let the Right One In," Big Dawg Productions

  • OUTSTANDING LIGHTING DESIGN: Cole Marquis, "The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time," Big Dawg Productions

  • OUTSTANDING ORIGINAL PRODUCTION: “The Thursday Night Bridge Circle,” Ray Kennedy, Opera House Theatre Co.

  • OUTSTANDING COSTUME DESIGN: Terrill Williams and Allyson Moore-Mojica, "Dreamgirls," Techmoja Dance & Theatre Co.

This article originally appeared on Wilmington StarNews: List of winners from the 10th Wilmington NC Theater Awards 2023