Number of award nominations shocks and delights local musical theatre groups

(From left) Candy Stevenson, Shona Clout and Bobby Mihi Howard at Casablanca Theatre. Photo / Andrew Warner

There will be excitement in the air as Rotorua Musical Theatre and John Paul College come together to celebrate musical theatre achievements and wait with bated breath to find out the results of The Zony's awards.

Rotorua Musical Theatre has nine award nominations for different aspects of the shows Aotearoa - A NZ Rock Musical and Keep the Home Fires Burning.

John Paul College has 15 nominations for different aspects of its show Chicago.

They will be coming together on November 6 to celebrate and find out if their nominations are award winners.

Since The Zony's has had to be held online through livestream this year, they decided to have their own "mini Black Tie Zony's event".

The Zony's have been established to recognise performance and production excellence amongst members of the Musical Theatre New Zealand Zone 2 region.

There are a range of awards included in the Zony's, such as best musical, best youth production, best direction of a musical, best set design, best wardrobe design and best lighting design to name a few.

Rotorua Musical Theatre president Bobby Mihi Howard says it was great to have so many award nominations this year, and that it was special to have a number of them for Aotearoa - A NZ Rock Musical which was created with a new mentoring initiative.

"It's great for a show like Aotearoa which is out of the norm and not one of the usual musicals."

Shona Clout was production manager for Aotearoa - A NZ Rock Musical and Keep the Home Fires Burning, and also co-chair for the RMT Training and Mentoring Sub Committee. She says she had thought they might get a couple nominations, but was shocked when they received so many.

"There were many people in those roles for the first time in Aotearoa - A NZ Rock Musical.

"It's great to see people who have put their heart and soul in get recognised, including first time director Leah Fitzpatrick who is also the other co-chair for the RMT Training and Mentoring sub committee."

Candy Stevenson, production manager for John Paul College's Chicago, says it is amazing to have 15 nominations for the school's show.

"Sure, it's nice to win, but it's just fantastic that so many across Rotorua Musical Theatre and John Paul College have been recognised.

"As much as it's lovely to win I don't think it really matters. I know our kids are so excited to have been nominated, and the night will be a wonderful one to celebrate together."

- The Zony's were set up in 2017 after consultation with the Zone 2 members of Musical Theatre New Zealand (MTNZ) and is a separate entity to MTNZ.

The focus of The Zony's is to celebrate theatre and musical theatre in the region, recognising the hard work our communities put into local community theatre, and the many hours of volunteer and non-paid work that delivers joy and performing arts experiences.