Copeland’s stars shine in regional nominations!

The National Operatic and Dramatic Association (NODA) has released this year’s regional nominees, and Whitehaven Theatre of Youth, Whitehaven Theatre Group, Gosforth Amateur Dramatic Society and Millom Amateur Operatic Society have done themselves proud.

WTG's Marc Goodwin has received his second nomination in two years for Best Actor for Stags & Hens: The Remix, with Sarah Blaney nominated for Best Supporting Female in a Drama for the same production, and Louisa Morton being put forward for Best Female Comedy Performance in Frosted.

Youngster Aidan Wright from MAOS has been nominated for Best Male Youth Performer in an Adult Production for his role in Jack and the Beanstalk.

GADS has been nominated for Best Drama for their production of Lucky Sods, with Benita Finch also being nominated for Best Director of the show.

“To say that I was surprised to receive two nominations for our production of Lucky Sods would be an understatement!” the proud director said.

“This was the first Spring production for GADS for several years and it was a privilege to be able to direct it.

“I love the plays of John Godber which can always be relied upon to provide both humour and pathos.”

She continued: “I was very fortunate to have a talented cast and backstage crew who all coped admirably with my requests.”

“I remember explaining to the Stage Manager that it was going to be a very simple set which subsequently got more complicated as rehearsals progressed!”

And although she didn’t plan to both star and direct, Benita is thrilled with how it turned out.

“It was certainly a challenge to take my directors hat off and become an actor, and vice versa," she said.

“I am so pleased to be nominated for both Best Director and Best Drama, and hope that this will raise the profile of GADS – we may be a small society but we have big ideas!”

Emily Morton of WToY was delighted that the group had been put forward for Best Staging of a Youth Musical for Aladdin Jr, and said: “We were absolutely thrilled! “Whitehaven Theatre of Youth always aim to perform as professionally as possible – not only performance-wise but costuming, scenery, props, special effects, technical skills and staging.

“For Aladdin Jr we wanted to bring a bit of the West End to West Cumbria, including a magical flying carpet and an elephant carrying Aladdin on his grand entrance!”

She continued: “It is truly a collaborative effort between committee members, trustees, parents and volunteers, not just for show week but for months prior to achieve our goal of a professional production well supported by the community, but most of all enjoyed by all involved.

“We had some amazing parents and who volunteered to drive to Coventry in two vans to pick up some of our scenery, with a small group of our committee members spending hundreds of hours hand making the majority of our costumes.

“It's always a great honour to have our hard work acknowledged, and to attend the awards ceremony in Manchester in a ‘mini Oscar style’ with other groups from around the North West region.

She added: “It’s so amazing to celebrate the arts with other groups and meet new people who all share the same common interest.

“We would like to say a huge thank you to every single person who continues to support our group. It is not possible to thank everyone individually because we have such a strong built community at Whitehaven Theatre of Youth – there are too many to mention!”

Whitehaven Theatre Group chairman, Shaun Donald, was also thrilled for his group's nominees, and said: "We perform three shows a year for no other reason than to bring a couple hours escape from reality to members of the public and the performers themselves. But when we receive national recognition for what we do is an added bonus.

"This year we are extremely proud as a society, to see three of our members receiving NODA Nominations – Marc, Sarah and Louisa.

"Although the three individuals were nominated for these awards, it’s a credit to the whole cast, crew and the society itself.

"It's fantastic that Whitehaven Theatre Group will once again be represented at the National Awards in May (hopefully), along with others from our county who were nominated in separate categories, who I would like to take this opportunity to congratulate once again."

He added: "If the awards ceremony was to be postponed or even cancelled this year, nothing can be taken from these individuals who are fully deserving of the recognition they have received. It just means we won’t get the weekend away!

"Well done each and every one, stay safe and we will see you all back very soon."