26 February 2008

CAT awards Wrap-up

| Crikey
Join the conversation
4

A friend invited me to the Canberra Area Theatre Awards on Saturday night. I had been to see three local productions over the past year – Buddy, the Producers and Oliver – so I was looking forward to the night.

The awards were held at the Canberra Theatre and it was a full house. I was impressed that many of the nominations and productions were from the Capital region – Orange, Cowra, Wagga Wagga, South Coast, Bowral etc.

The performances on the night were very professional. Canberra and region has so much talent. I was also amazed by the hype in the room.

Senator Gary Humphries not only opened the night but also appeared in a segment from the musical The Producers. While Mary Porter MLA closed the night. Former Miss World, Belinda Green was a special guest.

Telstra often gets its share of knockers but have been sponsoring the awards night for three years. I understand that if it wasn’t for Telstra, the CAT awards would no longer exist.

The Chairman of the CAT awards, forget his name, said it was disappointing that both sides of ACT politics still refuse to fund amateur theatre in Canberra. I wonder why this is. They appear to spend thousands of dollars on attractions that no one seems to be interested in but give no support to our vibrant amateur theatre groups.

Well done to all those involved in the CAT awards and also to our local theatre groups.

Join the conversation

4
All Comments
  • All Comments
  • Website Comments
LatestOldest

Its not disappointing that politics refuse to fund theatre in the ACT, its normal.

Perhaps we should “ban” all adjectives and return to caveman grunting like they do in ant’s household.

Judging from an email I received at 3.10am on Sunday morning, a seriously good time was had by all! Though the only coherent information it contained was that a small dog won an award, and the drinks were unreasonably inexpensive.

The standard of amateur theatre in Canberra is fantastic, overall, and deserves all the support the community can give it. If that could extend to sponsorship for a professional theatre company, there’s no shortage of talent to supply it, and it’d be nice to think that some of the people who give so much to this work might actually get paid for it occasionally.

Do you think we could get someone to ban the use of the word “vibrant” for ever?

Daily Digest

Want the best Canberra news delivered daily? Every day we package the most popular Riotact stories and send them straight to your inbox. Sign-up now for trusted local news that will never be behind a paywall.

By submitting your email address you are agreeing to Region Group's terms and conditions and privacy policy.