2025/2026 OUTSTANDING PERFORMANCE IN A COMEDY - LEADING ROLE 1. Brent Gill, Hurry Hard, Rosebud Theatre 2. Meg Farhall, Beyond by the Sea, Lunchbox Theatre 3. Elinor Holt, How Patty and Joanne Won High Gold at the Grand Christmas Cup Winter Dance Competition, Lunchbox Theatre 4. Ellen Close, How Patty and Joanne Won High Gold at the Grand Christmas Cup Winter Dance Competition, Lunchbox Theatre 5. Lili Beaudoin, Juliet: A Revenge Comedy, Monster Theatre/One Yellow Rabbit

Postcard Review by Caroline Russell-King Show – Anne of Green Gables Playwright/s – Book and lyrics by Gretchen Cryer, music by Nancy Ford, based on the novel by Lucy Maud Montgomery. Production Company/Theatre space – Rosebud Theatre / Rosebud Opera House Length – 2 Acts, 2 hours, (one 15-minute intermission) Genre/s – Musical Premise – A feisty imaginative bright redheaded girl adopted by an elderly brother and sister (who were expecting a boy), changes lives, s

Postcard Review by Caroline Russell-King Show – Come From Away Playwright/s/Composer/s – Book, music and lyrics by Irene Sankoff and David Hein. Production Company/Theatre space (professional) Theatre Calgary / Max Bell Theatre, Werklund Centre. Length – 1 Act (1 hour 50 minutes, no intermission.) Genre– Musical Premise – It’s an emergency in Gander, Newfoundland. The skies are shut to aviation travel causing thousands of passengers to be hosted by the small town,

Postcard Review by Caroline Russell-King Show – Shrek the musical Playwright/s/Composer/s – Book and Lyrics by David Lindsay-Abaire, music by Jeanine Tesori, based on the Dreamworks Motion Picture and the book by William Steig. Production Company/Theatre space – StoryBook Theatre / The Beddington Arts Centre Length – 2 Acts, 2 hours, 40 minutes (one 15-minute intermission) Genre/s – Musical fantasy Premise – In a world populated by storybook characters, an ogre tasked with re

Postcard Review by Caroline Russell-King Show – Cabaret Playwright/s/Composer/s – Book by Joel Masteroff, music by John Kander, lyrics by Fred Ebb, based on the play by John Van Druten and stories by Christopher Isherwood. Production Company/Theatre space – (community) Front Row Centre Players / Victor Mitchell Theatre, Pumphouse. Length – 2 Acts (2 hours, 55 minutes one intermission.) Genre– Tragedy, Musical Premise – A gay American novelist in Berlin during the

Postcard Review by Caroline Russell-King Show – The Last Yiddish Speaker Playwright/composer – Deborah Zoe Laufer Production Company/Theatre space – (community) Chai Life Productions / Temple B’Nai Tikvah Length – 1 Act, 1 hour 45 minutes (no intermission) Genre/s – Fantasy Drama Premise – Awaiting passports, a father and daughter have fled New York (after it was cleansed of people of colour, immigrants, homosexuals, and Jews) to a small Christian community to hid

Postcard Review by Caroline Russell-King Show – Mamma Mia! Playwright/s/Composer/s – Music and lyrics by Benny Andersson and Björn Ulvaeus with some songs by Stig Anderson book by Catherine Johnson. Production Company/Theatre space – (professional) Judy Craymer, Richard East and Björn Ulvaeus for Littlestar, in association with Universal, Broadway Across Canada, The John Ware Organization / Jubilee Auditorium. Length – 2 Acts (2 hours, 35 minutes, one intermission.)

Postcard Review by Caroline Russell-King Show – The Verdict Playwright– From the novel by Barry Reed, adapted for the stage by Margaret May Hobbs Production Company/Theatre space – The Playhouse / Vertigo Theatre Length – 2 Acts, 2 hours 40 minutes (one intermission) Genre/s – Drama Premise – After visiting the bedside of a once vital woman who is trapped in a rapidly deteriorating body, an alcoholic lawyer decides to reject the offer of compensation from the Cath

Postcard Review by Caroline Russell-King Show – New Sound in Town Playwrights/Composers –Jason Pechet & Liz Gilroy with music and lyrics by the originators of the 47 songs. Production Company/Theatre space –Stage West. Length – 2 Acts (one intermission.) Genre/s – Musical Revue or “Wiki Concert” Premise – A sampling of 47 songs from artists whose work crossed over various genres from pop to rock to country. Why this play? Why now? – Stage West usually programs o

Postcard Review by Caroline Russell-King Show – Hairspray Playwright – Book by Mark O’Donnell and Thomas Meehan. Music by Marc Shaiman. Lyrics by Scott Wittman and Mark Shiman. Based on the film written by John Walters. Production Company/Theatre space – (Community) Painted Fish with The Costume Shoppe / Cite de Rocheuses Theatre. Length – 2 Acts (1 hour, 55 minutes, one intermission) Genre/s – Musical Premise – A girl, teased for being plus sized, wants to dance

Postcard Review by Caroline Russell-King Show – Wildwoman Playwright – Kat Sandler Production Company/Theatre space – (professional) Alberta Theatre Projects / The Martha Cohen Theatrre; The Werklund Centre. Length – 2 Acts (2 hour, 45 mins, one intermission) Genre/s – Drama Premise – When Cathy (a teenage bride married off to Henry) “fails” to fulfill the royal imperative to produce male heirs, she considers her options including advice from Henry’s older mistres

Postcard Review by Caroline Russell-King Show – The Barber of Seville Playwright/s/Composer/s – Music by Gioachino Rossini; Words by Cesare Sterbini based on Pierre Beaumarchais’s comedy The Barber of Saville in 1775 . Production Company/Theatre space – Calgary Opera / Jubilee Auditorium. Length – 2 Acts (2 hours 50 minutes including one intermission.) Genre – comic opera Premise – A barber helps a besotted count woo a woman whose guardian is planning on mar