PORTSMOUTH- The Portsmouth Little Theatre (PLT) recently met as a collective of actors, volunteers, board members, and patrons off the stage to spend a night celebrating at the Annual Marlowe Awards, as they closed the final chapter of their 2023/2024 season and move onto the next.

The event is one of few fundraisers organized by the theatre, but they also treat it as an important way to thank volunteers, presenting them and patrons with awards for their service.

“The Marlowe Awards are an important and exciting event for us each year,” PLT President Kayla Parker said. “They serve as a way to honor and celebrate our talented actors and crew and also a way to thank and give back to our many volunteers and patrons. It’s our own little Portsmouth Oscars or Tony Awards. We might not be able to roll out the red carpet but we can show you a great time and reward all the hard work that went into creating a successful season that we’re all proud of.”

While the theatre has changed a lot about the event over recent years, featuring many different performance styles and venues, the committee behind the event decided to slow things down and make the evening more about casual conversation and dancing.

In fact, one important dance that took the night by storm was the first dance of two paramount actors in their regular lineup, the newly formed Mr. and Mrs. Eva and Eric Gray. The two have starred in many productions over the years and recently married.

“As Eric’s little sister, my heart exploded with happiness for me to be able to share in that special moment in his life,” Kelli Riffe, vice president of the PLT Board of Governors. “I’m thrilled that theatre has been a matchmaker for him and my newly acquired sister-in-law, who I adore! I couldn’t have asked for a more special night for this to unfold with all their theatre friends present.”

Everyone was welcome to enjoy the event, which celebrates art and volunteerism in the community. The point of the night, of course, was celebrating a successful season that had many sold-out shows, encore performances, a fundraising show, and more.

“Last season was incredibly successful and exciting for our actors, board members, and patrons,” Parker claimed. “We had two huge shows with great name recognition, had the opportunity to introduce the community to some shows they weren’t familiar with, welcomed several new faces onto our stage, and increased our season ticket holders from 24 to 234.”

The season consisted of Misery, August: Osage County, Shawshank Redemption, Honky Tonk Hissy Fit, and Jacob Marley’s Christmas Carol.

Of course, the highlight of the night was the presentation of Marlowe Awards.

Best New Youth went to Bella Evans for Jacob Marley’s Christmas Carol; Best Youth went to Aubry Fritz for Jacob Marley’s Christmas Carol; Best New Actor went to Buster Davis for The Shawshank Redemption; Tech Superstar went to Jim Humphrey for Misery; Best Supporting Male went to Eric Gray for The Shawshank Redemption; Best Supporting Female went to Kelli Riffe for Honky Tonk Hissy Fit; Best Lead Male went to Andy Maillet for The Shawshank Redemption; Best Lead Female went to Eva Gray for Misery; Patron of the Year went to Todd Tussey, “A9”; Best Director went to Kelli Riffe and Erin Ballengee for The Shawshank Redemption; Best Production went to The Shawshank Redemption.

Shawshank Redemption Director Kelli Riffe was thrilled to sweep so many award categories.

“It’s an extreme honor winning best production with such a well-known show because of the pressure involved to do the play justice in the patrons’ eyes,” Riffe said. “I would like to think that Mr. King would have been proud of our cast and crew for bringing his story to life on stage, as each and every one of them fit their character so well. I have been directed by many wonderful directors that I’ve learned so much from, and I tried to implement their strategies into my own style of directing. I, of course, couldn’t have done any of this without Erin Ballengee, my assistant director. She deserves all the accolades as well for keeping everything in order and things running smoothly.”

While winning was a great touch for Riffe, she claimed that the entire night was wonderful, even without recognition.

“The Marlowe Awards have always been a fun atmosphere where friendships and talent mesh, and the hard work, dedication, and commitment by our volunteers are given their due respect,” Riffe said. “Bringing together the entire season of actors, directors, crew, sponsors and patrons to celebrate is a great way to keep the arts alive in our community.”

The newest award of the many given, Patron of the Year, was also a special presentation this year. The award went to a patron the theatre adored who passed away recently. Todd Tussey was fondly known as A-9 for his favorite seat in the house.

“Todd was seat A-9 first Saturday of every show since he purchased season tickets, and Garry is seat A-10,” Riffe explained. “It started during Clue—-during the first act, we all kept hearing this highly infectious laughter coming from the front corner of the house. During intermission the cast members started chatting about whether any of us knew who that was sitting up there. Looking out into the audience, we could tell it was coming from the man sitting in that specific seat. So, I picked up my phone, got on Ticketor, and looked at the seating chart for that night. The name in the seating chart was Todd Tussey. None of us knew him at that point, but when I told the cast members, I dubbed him “A-9” and after the show, some of us caught up with him. He was laughing so hard the entire night; it truly made our whole performance. We formed a friendship with him and his partner Garry, who was sitting in “A-10” They continued to get season tickets the following year, too, and we always looked forward to hearing that infectious laughter every first Saturday.”

Garry was there to accept the award for his partner.

“What a wonderful night. Todd was recognized tonight by the Portsmouth Little Theatre and was give the Patron of the Year award,” Garry said on the PLT Facebook after the event. “Eva Gray, thank you for your sweet words you had to say about him. And to all the actors…thank you. The last couple of years of his life, Todd struggled with several health issues and kept him from being able to enjoy a lot of things he used to be able to do. But you, PLT, will never know what you did for him. We would go to a performance, and, for two hours, you were able to take him to a place of joy and happiness. For two hours, he forgot about his inabilities. Forgot about his pain. For two hours, you gave him back his laughter. For this, PLT, I am and will be forever grateful. Thank you for your love.”

The upcoming season, which was also discussed, consists of Wait Until Dark, A Christmas Story, The Play that Goes Wrong, Tick, Tick, BOOM, and M*A*S*H*.

“I think PLT has a great momentum going and we have many things in the works to keep surprising and impressing the community,” Parker said. “We’ve really grown our volunteer base and it’s only making it easier to accomplish big goals and continue pulling off more and more exciting things. I think if the community sticks with us and continues to watch us grow and evolve, they are going to really love the direction we are taking in the seasons to come. Stay tuned!”

Tickets for the upcoming season, whether season or individual, may be purchased online at www.pltlive.com