'The kids' take TOP honors

By Ms. Mary Markos (IMCOM)May 7, 2009

'The kids' take TOP honors
The youth cast of Grafenwoehr Performing Arts Center's "Miss Nelson is Missing," (from left to right) Taylor Ausbrooks, Daniel Hale, Emily Manzo, Megan Markos, India Pinkney, Megan Moore and Jobee Kes¬sler display their golden statue after winning en... (Photo Credit: U.S. Army) VIEW ORIGINAL

GRAFENWOEHR, Germany - The squeals and shrieks of teenage girls could be heard throughout the Patrick Henry Village Pavilion Ballroom in Heidelberg April 18 as 'the kids' from the Grafenwoehr Performing Arts Center's "Miss Nelson is Missing!" were announced best ensemble in a comedy at the Installation Management Command- Europe Tournament of Plays award ceremony.

'The kids,' a cast of seven middle and high school students from the U.S. Army Garrison Grafenwoehr rushed to the stage to accept the coveted golden statue.

Also appearing on stage from the garrison was Holly Matesick, who accepted the award for best supporting actress in a drama for her role in "Agnes of God," and the wife and daughter of Sgt. 1st Class Fred Moore who received a special award for outstanding technical contribution to a community theatre program.

(Moore is currently serving in Afghanistan and was unable to attend the ceremony).

Known as "Toppers," the awards show recognized the best of the 2009 theater season in over 40 categories for productions, both comedies and dramas, throughout U.S. military and international community theaters in Germany, Italy, Belgium, the Netherlands and Turkey.

A record 88 Toppers and 216 framed nomination certificates were presented this year, with Grafenwoehr receiving 19 nods and three wins.

Relatively new in the theatre arena, the G-PAC was formed less than a year ago. In roughly eight months they performed three major productions: "Seussical the Musical," "Agnes of God" and "Miss Nelson is Missing!," two of which were judged for the Tournament of Plays.

The numerous nominations for the young organization, however, came as no surprise to G-PAC Director Joline Powell.

"It is a pleasure to receive such recognition for our first efforts into the Tournament of Plays. I knew we had a stellar group of cast and crew. (The nominations) were warranted and well deserved," Powell said.

"I knew very early on (the kids) would give other nominees a run for their money... Here is a group of young people with such different backgrounds, attitudes, dreams and personalities that came together to mount such an extraordinary end result," she added.

"I wasn't surprised until I heard my name called toward the end of the evening," Powell said.

And Powell's name was called not once, but twice for best director - one for the comedy "Miss Nelson is Missing!" and the other for the "Agnes of God" drama.

Powell's nominations were no surprise to the cast of the productions, or those who have watched her build the G-PAC program.

"We knew that in Joline we have a rising star in the field of performing arts and the number of nominations for her, as well as her productions, is a testimony to that fact," said Andrew Snoddy, the USAG Grafenwoehr's Department of Family, Morale, Welfare and Recreation Community Recreation Division chief.

Powell, who said her nominations are merely a reflection of the talented volunteers who dedicate themselves to bringing the performances to life, beamed with pride as her 'stars' accepted their statues on stage.

"Holly is an amazing actress that seems to always strike gold, and certainly not by accident... She can take a role and make it hers without compromises. Even with the most extreme roles, and I believe Agnes was one of them, she hands herself over completely to the material, the show and the director," Powell said of Matesick's best supporting actress win.

For Moore, who Powell said stood "shoulder to shoulder" with her to build G-PAC from the ground up, Powell spoke with sincere gratitude.

"Fred is one of those volunteers that keeps going regardless of what's happening around him, the group, or the theater... On more than one occasion, he was the only other person working with me to get the job completed," she said.

Moore's dedication as a volunteer did not go unnoticed by Snoddy either.

"To truly appreciate the herculean effort Fred put into our facility, you would have had to know what he started with," he said.

"Our facility, in several different iterations, has been a dining facility, a youth gym, a storage facility and more. Fred took what was and via his abilities and ingenuity, created the outstanding facility we have today... all the credit in the world goes to Fred and the adjudication committee saw and recognized that fact."

Both Powell and Snoddy said they hope the recognition the G-PAC has received through the nominations and wins will promote the arts and community theatre.

"Our desire and hope is these recognitions will serve as a catalyst and bring out those members of the USAG Grafenwoehr community who previously did not have a forum or venue where they could express their artistic abilities and talents. The theater is not all about just being on stage. The people behind the scene are critically important to a performance's success as well," Snoddy added.