Tickets on sale for Theatre Mask Awards April 26 and BPAs June 29
Lifetime Achievement Awards to Nancy Crouse and Karen Mason
Ryan Cooper, local performer, producer, and past Best Performance Awards recipient, will return to host the 25th BPAs for a record sixth time.
“I’m a big Arts for Life fan. I’m excited. As a lifelong St. Louisan, I grew up working with many of the wonderful companies that make up the vibrant St. Louis community theatre scene,” he said.
In recent years, he has been seen wearing a variety of hats (literally) with Stages St. Louis in roles such as the Mad Hatter in “Alice in Wonderland,” Seussical’s Cat in the Hat, and The Barber in “Man of La Mancha.”
Out of town, he spent several seasons at the Walt Disney World Resort in Orlando, Florida, performing in the long-running Hoop-Dee-Doo Musical Revue and short-lived Storybook Circus Giggle Gang shows.
A proud member of Actor’s Equity Association, by day Ryan is the Signature Event Producer for the Main Street Historic District in Saint Charles, Mo., where for 20 years he has been involved with their annual Saint Charles Christmas Traditions festival, in addition to creating new programming for Halloween and Valentine’s Day with the Legends & Lanterns and Once Upon a Valentine festivals.
Tickets are now available for the Arts For Life annual awards ceremonies for community theater recognition – the Theatre Mask Awards on April 26 and the Best Performance Awards June 29.
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Lifetime Achievement Awards
Nancy Crouse,a legend in local community theater,and Karen Mason, a musical theatre actress and cabaret singer who grew up in St. Louis, will both be honored with Lifetime Achievements Awards at the BPAs on June 29.
After an impressive career in both theater education and theater administration, Crouse moved to St. Louis in 1999 and has kept busier than ever working for several theater companies as a performer, director, set designer and costume designer. Hawthorne Players is her home base, and she won Best Director for her “The Color Purple” production last year, which also won best large ensemble musical.
Growing up in Indiana, she received a master’s degree in theatre from Ball State University. She taught English and Theatre for 33 years, and spent many years as the Managing Artistic Director for Muncie Civic Theatre
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Mason originated the role of Tanya in the Broadway production of “Mamma Mia!” in 2001, performed as Madame Giry in the North American tour of “Love Never Dies” and was Glenn Close’s standby as Norma Desmond in the Los Angeles production of “Sunset Boulevard.”
She was in “White Christmas” at the Muny Opera and has appeared on stages across the country.
She won an Outer Critics Circle Award for her performance in the off-Broadway Kander and Ebb review “And the World Goes Round.”
A renowned cabaret singer, she is the most lauded vocalist in MAC Awards history, with 13, which honors the best of Manhattan cabaret. She has performed locally with the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra and at the Sheldon Concert Hall.
Awards Ceremonies
The Theatre Mask Awards have honored drama and comedy plays since 2015.
This year’s 10th annual TMAs will take place starting at 11 a.m. on Saturday, April 26, at the Royale Orleans banquet center, 2801 Telegraph Road, St. Louis, Mo. 63125. Doors open at 10:30 a.m.
Awards will be presented in 17 categories as lunch is served. Cocktail attire is suggested. Tickets to the event are $30 + $2 service fee. Table seating is available at 10 per table. A full meal will be served, and a cash/card bar will be available.
Clayton Community Theatre topped all TMA nominations with 22, with a production-leading 11 for “The Play That Goes Wrong,” 8 for “Twelfth Night,” and 4 for “Night of the Iguana.”
Act Two Theatre followed with 17 overall, 10 for “Over the River and Through the Woods” and 7 for “The Play That Goes Wrong,” and so did Hawthorne Players with 17, 10 for “All My Sons” and 7 for “for colored girls who have considered suicide when the rainbow is enuf.”
Other groups receiving TMA nominations included Kirkwood Theatre Guild, Monroe Actors Stage Company and Theatre Guild of Webster Groves.
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Mark Lull returns as the master of ceremonies after hosting in 2022 and 2024. An 11-time AFL nominee, he won Best Performance by a Comedic Actor as Uncle Fester in Alfresco Productions’ “The Addams Family” in 2015.
A retired school principal, he has performed at Worlds of Fun in Kansas City, The Muny, and with other theater companies in the St. Louis metropolitan area. He is currently teaching early childhood education at St. Louis Community College and serves as vice president on the AFL board of directors.
Tickets are available online with a service fee of $2 added: https://arts-for-life-2.square.site/.
A combination ticket for both TMAs and Best Performance Awards, at a discounted price of $50 with a $2 service fee, is available, but must be purchased by April 11.
The BPAs have honored musical theater in community and youth productions for 25 years. The awards ceremony will take place on Sunday, June 29, at 2 p.m. at the Keating Theater at Kirkwood High School. Formal attire is requested, and the event will be reserved-style seating. Soft drinks and snacks will be available in the lobby. Doors open at 1:30 p.m.
The event will include performances from the top musicals nominated in the three Best Musical Production categories. Tickets to the show are $30+ a $2service fee per ticket. Seating is reserved seating.
Special Youth Awards will be presented to Bella Crank, for Best Youth Musical Performance Award, as Nancy in “Oliver!” at Gateway Center for the Performing Arts, and Alyssa Sayuk for Best Youth Featured Dancer Award, as Odette in “Anastasia” at the Stages Performing Arts Academy.
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Take Two Productions led with 16 nominations, 8 for “Merrily We Roll Along,” 6 for “Head Over Heels” and 2 for “The Prom.” Kirkwood Theatre Guild’s “Anything Goes” received the most production nominations, with 15, while Hawthorne Players earned 14 for “Bright Star” and Goshen Theatre Project had 11 for “The Hunchback of Notre Dame” with 9 and “The Trail to Oregon” with 2.
Other groups receiving BPA nominations included Act Two Productions, Alpha Players, Curtain’s Up Theater Company, and Monroe Actors Stage Company.
In the Youth Performance Awards categories, Gateway Center for the Performing Arts received a total of 31 nominations, 16 for “Alice By Heart,’ 7 for “Ragtime” and 8 for “Oliver!” Young People’s Theatre followed with 17 – 9 for “Seussical” and 8 for “Anastasia: The Musical.” Stages Performing Arts Academy received 8 nominations for “Anastasia: The Musical.”
Nominations are listed on the website, www.artsforlife.org.
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Arts For Life is a local not-for-profit arts organization dedicated to the healing power of the arts through its work with youth, the underserved, and the community, with its goal of “Making a Dramatic Difference.”
AFL is dedicated to promoting public awareness of local community theatre, encouraging excellence in the arts, and acknowledging the incredible people who are a part of it.
For more information, email afltrg@artsforlife.org or visit the website, www.artsforlife.org
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Lynn (Zipfel) Venhaus has had a continuous byline in St. Louis metro region publications since 1978. She writes features and news for Belleville News-Democrat and contributes to St. Louis magazine and other publications.
She is a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic, currently reviews films for Webster-Kirkwood Times and KTRS Radio, covers entertainment for PopLifeSTL.com and co-hosts podcast PopLifeSTL.com…Presents.
She is a member of Critics Choice Association, where she serves on the women’s and marketing committees; Alliance of Women Film Journalists; and on the board of the St. Louis Film Critics Association. She is a founding and board member of the St. Louis Theater Circle.
She is retired from teaching journalism/media as an adjunct college instructor.