Betty Mitchell Awards were created in 1998 to celebrate and honour outstanding achievement in Calgary's professional theatre community. It is commonly called the Betty Award and is named for Calgary theatre pioneer Dr. Betty Mitchell.[1][2][3]

Betty Award
Current: 22nd Betty Awards
Awarded forOutstanding achievement in Calgary's professional theatre community
Country Canada
First awarded1998; 26 years ago (1998)
Websitebettymitchellawards.com

Awards

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The awards ceremony for the 2018–19 season was held on June 24 at the Vertigo Theatre in Calgary.[4]

In 2019, Pakistani-Canadian actor Ahad Raza Mir, the first Pakistani actor to play Hamlet in Canada,[5] won the Betty for Outstanding Performance by an Actor in a Drama for his performance of the title role[6] In that same year Tiffany Ayalik became the first Inuit recipient of a Betty Award.[7]

Categories

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Awards are given in the following categories:

  • Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble
  • Outstanding Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role
  • Outstanding Lighting Design
  • Outstanding Set Design
  • Outstanding Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role
•Outstanding Projection or Video Design
2019[8]
Nicolas Dotsie BOOM X
Bretta Gerecke The Invisible Agents of Ungentlemanly Warfare
Amelia Scott A Love Letter to Emily C
Andy Moro Honour Beat
Elaine J. McCarthy Everest
2018[9]
Jamie Nesbitt Nine Dragons
Remy Siu Empire of the Son
T. Erin Gruber Easter Island
Corwin Ferguson Julius Caesar
Amelia Scott To the Light
2017[10]
Corwin Ferguson Richard III
David Leclerc BOOM
Jamie Nesbitt The Big Sleep
Amelia Scott with illustrations by Tyler Jenkins Crime Does Not Pay
JP Thibodeau Lest We Forget
2016[11]
Jamie Nesbitt Calamity Town
Sean Nieuwenhuis The Little Prince
Scott Reid Die Tote Stadt
JP Thibodeau The Boy’s Own Jedi Handbook
Amelia Scott and Joel Adria Cockroach
2015[12]
Andrzej Goulding Silent Night
Jamie Nesbitt Liberation Days
Jamie Nesbitt Farewell, My Lovely
Kalyna Conrad Legoland
Wladimiro A. Woyno R., Matthew Waddell and Laura Anzola The Last Voyage of Donald Crowhurst
2014[13]
Kaely Dekker n00b
Corwin Ferguson You Will Remember Me
T. Erin Gruber A Bomb in the Heart
Jamie Nesbitt The Hound of the Baskervilles
Sean Nieuwenhuis The Mountaintop
  • Outstanding Costume Design
  • Outstanding Sound Design or Composition
  • Outstanding Choreography or Fight Direction
  • Outstanding Musical Direction
  • Outstanding Performance by an Actress in a Comedy or Musical
  • Outstanding Performance by an Actor in a Comedy or Musical
  • Outstanding New Play
  • Outstanding Direction
  • Outstanding Performance by an Actress in a Drama
  • Outstanding Performance by an Actor in a Drama
  • Outstanding Production of a Musical
  • Outstanding Production of a Play

Ceremony

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Betty Mitchell Award Ceremonies
Ceremony Venue Date Host(s)
1st Stage West August 24, 1998 Lindsay Burns[14]
2nd Stage West August 30, 1999 [15]
3rd Stage West August 28, 2000
4th Stage West August 28, 2001 Dave Kelly
Elizabeth Stepkowski[16]
5th Stage West August 26, 2002 Dave Kelly
Karen Johnson-Diamond[17]
6th Stage West August 25, 2003 Mark Bellamy
Kevin Rothery[18]
7th Stage West August 30, 2004
8th Stage West August 29, 2005 Bob White
Laura Parken[19]
9th Stage West August 28, 2006 Grant Linneberg[20]
10th Stage West 2007
11th Stage West August 25, 2008 Dave Kelly[21][22]
12th Max Bell Theatre, EPCOR CENTRE for the Performing Arts August 24, 2009
13th Max Bell Theatre, EPCOR CENTRE for the Performing Arts August 30, 2010 AJ Demers
Julie Orton
14th Stage West August 20, 2011 Karen Johnson-Diamond
Kevin Rothery
15th Stage West August 27, 2012 Russell Bowers
16th Stage West August 26, 2013 Nicole Zylstra
Stafford Perry
17th Stage West August 18, 2014 Stephen Hair[23]
18th Vertigo Theatre August 24, 2015 Julie Orton
19th Vertigo Theatre 2016 Josh Bertwistle, Carly McKee
Chris Enright, Nicole Zylstra
20th Vertigo Theatre 2017 Mark Bellamy
Selena Wong
21st Vertigo Theatre June 25, 2018 Katherine Fadum
Michael Tan[24]
22nd Vertigo Theatre June 24, 2019 Raven Virginia

Statue update

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The original Betty Mitchell Award statue, designed by local Calgary sculptor, Petronella Overes, was inspired by the geography surrounding Calgary. It was a steel base containing a glass monolith with motifs of mountains and prairies. For the 10th anniversary of the awards in 2007 she redesigned it replacing the steel base with powder coated aluminum and increased the contrast in the tone and texture of the awards metal and glass.[25]

The Award received its most recent design update in 2014 when the Overes design was replaced with a multi-colour teardrop-shaped glass sculpture created by a local glass blowing collective, Bee Kingdom Glass. Each one is unique, as they are hand-blown.

See also

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References

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  1. ^ Northof, Anne (February 18, 2018), Betty Mitchell, The Canadian Theatre Encyclopedia, Athabasca University Press, retrieved June 16, 2019
  2. ^ Morrow, Martin (18 June 1998), "City theatre launches Betty Mitchell Awards", Calgary Herald, pp. E2, retrieved 15 June 2019
  3. ^ Brooks, Bill (4 September 2014), "Betty Mitchell Awards honor the best of city's theatre world", Calgary Herald, retrieved 15 June 2019
  4. ^ Louis B. Hobson, Schemers and spies top the Betty Mitchell Award nominations, Calgary Herald, June 5, 2019
  5. ^ News Desk, Ahad Raza Mir becomes first Pakistani to star as Hamlet in Canada, Daily Times (Pakistan), March 31, 2019
  6. ^ Ahad Raza Mir Wins the Betty Mitchell Award for Hamlet!, Hip In Pakistan
  7. ^ "Inuit actress wins 'Outstanding Performance' prize". Windspeaker. June 27, 2019.
  8. ^ Louis B. Hobson, Schemers and spies top the Betty Mitchell Award nominations, Calgary Herald, June 5, 2019
  9. ^ Louis B. Hobson, Puppets and sisters big winners at Betty Mitchell Awards, Calgary Herald, June 26, 2018
  10. ^ Louis B. Hobson, Betty Mitchell Theatre Awards go Crazy for Theatre Calgary, Calgary Herald, August 22, 2017
  11. ^ Louis B. Hobson, Best of Calgary theatre honoured at Betty Mitchell Awards, Calgary Herald, August 23, 2016
  12. ^ Bill Brooks, Betty honors Calgary's shining stars, [Calgary Herald], September 12, 2015
  13. ^ Bill Brooks, Betty Mitchell Awards honor the best of city's theatre world, Calgary Herald, September 5, 2014
  14. ^ Boettcher, Shelley (August 30, 1998). "Bright Lights". Calgary Herald. Retrieved August 25, 2019.
  15. ^ Morrow, Martin. "Sage Theatre dominates Betties". Calgary Herald.
  16. ^ Muretich, James (July 3, 1999). "Comedy, drama at Betties". Calgary Herald. Retrieved August 25, 2019.
  17. ^ Clark, Bob (August 27, 2002). "Calgary's theatre community bestows Bettys". Calgary Herald. Retrieved August 25, 2019.
  18. ^ Clark, Bob (August 26, 2003). "Filumena, ATP stage major wins". Calgary Herald. Retrieved August 25, 2019.
  19. ^ Clark, Bob (August 30, 2005). "Pinocchio, Black Rider lead way at sold-out Bettys". Calgary Herald. p. D2. Retrieved August 25, 2019.
  20. ^ Clark, Bob (September 3, 2006). "Betty shines on Calgary stars". Calgary Herald. p. C6. Retrieved August 25, 2019.
  21. ^ Clark, Bob (August 26, 2008). "Ties the tale at 2008 Betty Mitchell Awards". Calgary Herald. Retrieved August 25, 2019.
  22. ^ "The Drowning Girls surfaces with 4 Calgary theatre awards". CBC Arts, Aug 26, 2008
  23. ^ Brooks, Bill (September 5, 2014). "Betty Mitchell Awards honour the best of city's theatre world". Calgary Herald. Retrieved August 25, 2019.
  24. ^ Theatre Alberta Staff (June 20, 2018). "Interview with Braden Griffiths: 21st Annual Betty Mitchell Awards". Theatre Alberta. Retrieved August 25, 2019.
  25. ^ Clark, B (27 August 2014), "Award gets an update", Calgary Herald, pp. C2, retrieved 15 June 2019
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