Stage Awards Revisited
As the Sioux Falls Stage Awards officially hit the five-year mark this summer, we reconvened cast members of some of the most memorable nominated shows of the first Stage Awards, from the 2019-20 season, to reunite and recreate some of the moments that made audiences stand up and cheer.
The Comedy of Errors
Bare Bodkins Theatre Company (July 2019)
A classic and humorous case of mistaken identities, The Comedy of Errors marked Bare Bodkins Theatre Company’s 22nd season at the Queen Bee Mill in Sioux Falls’ eponymous park. The production nabbed four nominations at the first-ever Stage Awards, including Best Lead Actor (Dakota Driver), Best Play or Musical and first-time winners in Best Direction (Jayna Fitzsimmons) and Best Lead Actress (Alex Newcomb Weiland).
Pictured: Debbi Jones, Ryan Howe, Alex Newcomb Weiland & Jeff Larsen (Photo Credits: Peter Chapman)
A community need
One thing we know to be true among performing artists? The phrase “oh shoot — I have rehearsal that night” is something of a hallmark. After all, Sioux Falls’ most accomplished artists tend to keep themselves busy at most every moment of the calendar year.
This very sentiment played a looming role in the conception of the Sioux Falls Stage Awards. Founded in fall 2019, Sioux Falls Stage started as a response to the waning coverage of local fine arts. Vociferous fans and tenacious participants in local arts have always made the compelling case for promoting their own work, but there was a marked need for a showcase of these goings-on in a more official, consistent, universal capacity. (After all, performing artists do enough work to keep Sioux Falls entertaining — a modicum of coverage is well-earned!)
One component of this early era of the organization was the notion of a celebration — an excuse for those folks who throughout the usual performing season find themselves too booked and busy to join together in camaraderie and appreciation for one another’s endeavors. Add to that the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020, and the idea of connection amongst local artists felt more vital than ever.
Though the first Stage Awards looked a bit different than initially planned due to the aforementioned pandemic, a masked and distanced outdoor gathering commenced in the Paladino Hohm Sculpture Garden outside the Washington Pavilion in July 2020. Hosted by Nathan Hults and featuring the safely pre-recorded musical talents of Maren Engel, Nick Jackson, Zach Dresch and Matt Morrison as our first-ever house band in residence, the affirming energy was palpable.
It was evident that these hard-working artists needed this excuse to not only see one another, but also to check in — life had shifted so monumentally in the preceding months, and the game-changing effects current events were having on live performing arts were devastating to all. Seeing friends and family, both relational and chosen, for the first time in months was the order of the day that evening.
In the years since, that sense of yearning for togetherness has remained a key part of the Stage Awards. Though we’ve gotten out of the pandemic and Sioux Falls artists have become more resilient, creative and innovative out of necessity, that desire to bump into other like-minded, inspiring and imaginative folks has never left.
That’s what the Stage Awards are all about — recognizing a mutual desire for excellent expressions of art in all forms. And coming together in a unified way to applaud each other’s exhausting — but essential — work.
Mamma Mia!
Sioux Empire Community Theatre (September 2019)
A smash hit for the since-renamed The Premiere Playhouse in fall 2019, Mamma Mia! was a colorful rendition of the ABBA jukebox musical, nominated for three Stage Awards at our first ceremony, including Best Direction (Kim Bartling), Best Featured Actress (Kerri Smith) and the first winner of Best Featured Actor (Rick Huffman).
Pictured: Sue Martens, Kjerstin Smith & Kerri Smith (Photo Credits: Peter Chapman)
Distinctly special
Introduced in the first year of the Stage Awards, special recognition became an instantly fundamental part of why we came together each year. In the 2019-20 season, some of Sioux Falls’ most committed artists were honored with such distinctions.
Dave Holly was honored for his tireless work to promote and spotlight local entertainers through his podcast, The Dave Holly Hour. That work has continued unabated in the five years since, recently approaching a whopping 250 episodes interviewing the people who make Sioux Falls a thriving arts space.
Amy Morrison was recognized for her tenacious dedication to her craft in It’s a Wonderful Life. A renaissance woman of the highest order, it was an opportunity to honor the late performer and educator for her multi-disciplinary work as actor, singer, musician and foley artist in the production. And in our recent fifth annual Stage Awards, we honored our first-ever Amy Eitemiller Morrison Award winner, Debbi Jones, for this very sort of dedication to multi-talented excellence.
Cindy Crawford was lifted up as a Special Distinction honoree for her hair design work across several productions throughout the season. A consummate go-to in the local arts scene for her kind-hearted and creative approach, Cindy has become something of a legend in period hair explorations, since nominated in 2021 for her work on the Premiere Playhouse’s It’s a Wonderful Life and in 2024 for her work on the Good Night Theatre Collective’s Miracle on 34th Street.
Raena Rasmussen’s longtime dedication to dance instruction and choreography was also raised up for particular distinction, with a special honor for her work in LiRa Dance Theatre Company’s most recent showcase, Face Forward. The company most recently marked their ninth season in Sioux Falls with a triumphant return to the Pavilion’s Schulte Room this past summer.
Full-Circle Book Co-Op received recognition for the business’s ongoing commitment to sharing space with artists. That year, Monstrous Little Theatre Company’s The How and the Why was among the many groups given an opportunity to perform in the downtown small business, which has continued to create an intimate venue for theatre, comedy, poetry and music in the years since.
And Sara Crosby, lifelong theatre performer, educator and taste-maker, received the first-ever Sioux Falls Stage Award of Excellence for her contributions to youth performing arts education and her commitment to programs like the Dakota Academy of Performing Arts and its Plays for Living initiative, bringing relevant, issues-driven performances to local schools.
The Rocky Horror Show
The Good Night Theatre Collective (October 2019)
Transforming then-ICON Lounge into an abandoned ‘90s mall for their rendition of The Rocky Horror Show, the Good Night Theatre Collective was honored with eight citations at the inaugural Stage Awards, including nominations for Best Direction (Luke Tatge), Best Featured Actress (Larissa Buchholz), Best Featured Actor (Simon Floss & Devin Basart) and Best Lead Actress (Mary Ridder & Rachael Payne) and wins for Best Musical and Best Lead Actor (Bob Wendland).
Pictured: Brady Boerema, Pierce Humke, Mary Ridder & Bob Wendland (Photo Credits: Peter Chapman)
The next five years
Much has changed since the first Stage Awards. More communities and organizations have been folded into the Sioux Falls Stage family, with storied, decades-old companies like Mighty Corson Art Players and Olde Towne Dinner Theatre joining the expanded coverage area in the most recent year; four more stellar honorees for the Award of Excellence have been recognized, including Laura Tjaden, Cathy Britton, Chris Hill and Del Hubers, devoted music educators and artists of the utmost integrity; incomparably memorable live performances from groups like Headlights Theater, the Curious Music Collective, the Midtown Coffee Radio Hour and LiRa Dance Theatre Company have brilliantly trod the Belbas stage in the past three years of ceremonies; and dozens of worthy and exceptional performances, technical achievements and productions have seen their names on envelopes in our first five years.
But despite changing venues, changing global circumstances and changing artforms, the mission of the Stage Awards and the larger Sioux Falls Stage & Gallery organization will not change. We are certain that the next five years will bring more creativity and compelling storytelling than ever to our community. We see the efforts of our grassroots and long-established arts organizations raising the bar each and every day. And for our part, we’ll be here to tell and amplify that story to the larger community — and each summer to offer up the well-earned recognition our community’s most creative minds so richly deserve.