NCT director claims statewide award

Melinda Worthington received an individual award recently, but she hardly was one to take personal credit for how it happened.

Worthington was chosen for a 2016 Iowa Community Theatre Association honor for best direction for last year’s Newton Community Theatre production of “Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat.” She said it’s important to realize any honor bestowed upon a director is also a credit to the cast and crew, and sometimes many others.

“You never work alone,” Worthington said. “There are always a lot of people needed to make a quality production happen.”

Two of the people Worthington credits for that particular NCT production were co-director Cindy Healy, who shared technical direction duties with her son, Tom and Cathi Wickett who handled the music direction. All three received finalist honors for this year’s ICTA awards, as did many others who worked on the play.

“I’m not real clear on all of the exact criteria,” Worthington said. “But basically, what happens is two critics come down to watch two separate productions, and decide on award nominations based on what they see.”

Worthington was the only finalist from the Newton Community Theatre to then be chosen for a “best” award this year.

The longtime NCT director said the top-six performances reflect both hard work and talent.

“I was happy to see we had so many in the top six,” Worthington said. “We really had a marvelous cast for ‘Joseph.’”

This is hardly the first honor for Worthington, who has been directing productions for many years. In the fall of 2013, she received an American Association of Community Theatre Spotlight Award, given annually to an outstanding community theatre volunteer.

Worthington began attending NCT productions with her parents in the early 1970s and has run a summer youth theater workshop since 1997.

Here is a full list of the finalists from the play to earn top-six honors as finalists for 2016 ICTA Awards:

Iowa Community Theatre 2016 Awards of Excellence

Newton Community Theater finalists from “Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat”

Choreography

Melinda Worthington

Costumes

Sue Beukema and Dawn Ulrey

Direction

Melinda Worthington

Music Direction

Cathi Wickett

Technical

Tom and Cindy Healy

Scenic Design

Marvin Campbell

Lead Actress

Leah Cope as the narrator

Lead Actor

Will Edgar as “Joseph”

Supporting Actor

Conor Fudge as “Pharaoh”

Ensemble

“Josephs’ Brothers”: Scott Schaeffer, John Dougan, Steve Barnett, Kent Leckband, Sean Healy, Matt Moran, Mike Moran, Keith Laube, Chase Kolpin, Chris Johnson, Anthony Moran.

Contact Jason W. Brooks at 641-792-3121 ext. 6532 or jbrooks@newtondailynews.com