O.M.G.

The 2007 WATCH nominations were announced this evening.

For those of you just tuning in, WATCH is the community theater awards program that I spend a fair bit of time volunteering for (and talking about). WATCH judges adjudicated 109 shows for 2007, about 2/3 of them plays and 1/3 musicals.

The numbers: 29 member companies, 4 judges per company, 109 shows seen by 10 judges semi-randomly selected from each company. Scores are tabulated with highest and lowest numbers eliminated. The top five people in each category are the nominees for the year. The winners are announced at the beginning of March.

And this year, I am a nominee.

My "nomination memento" (i.e., pretty postcard) reads "In Recognition of Your Nomination for Outstanding Featured Actress in a Play" for playing Alma in Taking Leave.

There were roughly 250 women in the "Featured Actress in a Play" category, by the way. Some truly excellent women. I am stunned that I was nominated. And very pleased. And flattered. And did I mention stunned?

I am also delighted that six of the staff and my cast mates and some very good friends were nominated, Debbie and her team for Boston Marriage at Elden Street, Michael and his team for Never the Sinner, Bridget and her team for The Drawer Boy, Megan and her team for Agnes of God among them. I am in very good company.

Within the DC-area community theater scene this is something of a Big Fat Hairy Deal. It means that every bio I write from now on can mention my nomination. It'll be on my theater resume. That nomination memento? Going on my desk at work, where I'm thinking of requiring that the engineers and accountants address me as "Miss Nominee" from now on. I am also considering putting together a list of diva demands* for the future - suggestions cheerfully accepted!

In reality, not so much. The people who loved me before or thought highly of me, still do. The people who didn't care about me or thought me overrated or annoying, still do. My annual salary won't be positively or negatively affected. My cat still thinks that I need to spend more time on the sofa providing a lap for him.

And, really, this isn't just my nomination. Theater is my favorite team sport and we don't do this alone. My name is on the card, but Lorraine** directed us, Angie stage managed us, Suzanne** lit us, Pat clothed us, John Vasko** built our set, and I shared that stage with five lovely, talented, hard-working, people: Ann, Cassie**, Clayton, Lori, and Rick**. The nominations our show got are our nominations. Without Tinker and Evers, you haven't got a Chance.

Baseball's Sad Lexicon by Franklin P. Adams.

These are the saddest of possible words:
"Tinker to Evers to Chance."
Trio of bear cubs, and fleeter than birds,
Tinker and Evers and Chance.
Ruthlessly pricking our gonfalon bubble,
Making a Giant hit into a double --
Words that are heavy with nothing but trouble:
"Tinker to Evers to Chance."

The complete list of nominees can be found on the WATCH website.


Oh, you know, like "M&Ms must be pre-sorted by color with only even numbers of each color" or "Tea. Darjeeling. Fresh. Hot." or the exact eye color and nationality of my Cabana Boys.

**Also nominated. We received seven total nominations for the show. :-)