You already know Macon has professional-level community theaters. These awards back it up

It’s nice to start the year with good news, and Macon’s community theaters are doing that: Each is bringing home awards from BroadwayWorld’s 2023 Atlanta Region competition.

Kudos to the local, non-professional (but often better-than-professional) theater magic-makers here and those who lead and direct them for making 2023 such a great year for theater-goers.

I’ll recap some of the awards based on BroadwayWorld’s website:

Literally flipping a coin to see who to mention first — at Theatre Macon, Richard Frazier-Sostillio got awards for Best Direction of a Play and Best Direction of a Musical for “The Play That Goes Wrong” and for “Hair.” He also got Best Choreography for “Singin’ in the Rain.”

“The Play That Goes Wrong” won best play while the Best Performance in a Musical award went to Cassidy Hall and Best Supporting Performer in a Musical award went to Kahlil Harvey, both for their work in “Singin’ in the Rain.”

Over at Macon Little Theatre, where J.P. Hainey leads things, they won the Favorite Local Theatre category. They also got the Best Theatre for Young Audiences award for “The Addams Family,” Best Ensemble award for Chicago and Tim Hinmojos has to be happy with his work last year winning awards for Best Sound Design for “Young Frankenstein” and the Best Supporting Performer in a Play for “Lost in Yonkers.”

The final winners were based on voting by the public so that says something good about the passion local theater audiences here have as they went head-to-head with fans voting in other Georgia communities.

If you’re saying to yourself, “Oh, I’m sorry I missed those shows,” then resolve not to make that mistake in 2024. Theatre Macon opens its run of “The Prom” beginning Friday, Jan. 19, and takes it through Jan. 28. In the musical, trouble brews when a student simply wants to bring her girlfriend to prom. The result is transformation as love brings everyone together. “The Prom,” with the humor and heart of a classic musical comedy, is winner of the Drama Desk Award for Best Musical.

Showtimes, ticketing and more information on Theatre Macon are at www.theatremacon.com.

On Feb. 9-18, Macon Little Theatre presents Agatha Christie’s classic stage who-done-it, “The Mousetrap.” Showcasing Christie’s intrigue, sophisticated humor and surprising twists, the iconic murder mystery centers around a group of strangers trapped together during a snowstorm. See it and see there’s no mystery why it’s the world’s most successful and longest-running play.

Speaking of long-running, take note MLT is celebrating its 90th anniversary season of bringing fine drama, musicals and kids programs to Macon audiences. Go to www.maconlittletheatre.org for more information on the theater, ticketing and times for “The Mousetrap.”

Here’s what’s coming up

As a rule, I keep the art, entertainment and cultural happenings mentioned in this column immediate without getting into coming attractions too far ahead. But occasionally, such mentions are warranted and the New Year is a natural time for it.

I think this is something to get on your calendar: Feb. 22-25, Macon’s Rock Candy Tours is presenting “Macon Music Live: Origins” at The Capitol Theatre. As you’d imagine, the show is a guided, sit-in-your-seat journey through Macon’s musical origins as the hometown of iconic, world-changing musicians and performers and the birthplace of Southern Rock.

The live presentation features talented local musicians and actors bringing music and history together to provide great entertainment, solid history and something we can look back and be proud of and look forward expecting more of the same from coming generations. After all, they say there must be something in that Ocmulgee water.

According to a press release, the show is being co-presented by Macon200 and Visit Macon and is being directed by Jim Crisp, long-time Macon theater luminary and founder of Theatre Macon.

To me, the most exciting bit is that the show is based on a previous work conceived and written by Jessica Walden and presented back in 2018, something I learned of well after the fact on the occasion of Little Richard Penniman’s death. As I spoke earlier of resolving not to miss great shows in 2024, this is a case in point. As stated in the release, “Origins” combines storytelling and the deep-rooted history of musical genres, public figures and stories that created Macon’s cultural past, contributing to American — and world — music history.

“We have been wanting to revive the spirit of these initial performances but to do it right with a new venue, a larger production and a larger pool of talent,” said Jamie Weatherford, co-owner of Rock Candy Tours with Walden. “It took time. After receiving a grant from the American Rescue Funds, Macon200 and Visit Macon, we have built it into a spectacularly entertaining and exciting performance to share Macon’s story with everyone.”

A live concert by the Macon Music Revue, presented by Grant’s Lounge and 100.9 The Creek, will follow each performance. Stay tuned for more, but for now, get tickets and information at www.capitoltheatremacon.com, www.visitmacon.org/events/macon-music-live-origins, and www.rockcandytours.com. There’s also a Facebook event page.

More future dates: Keep in mind The Macon-Mercer Symphony Orchestra continues its season in 2024 with a concert Feb. 12 at The Grand Opera House featuring Mercer University alumnus Keitaro Harada who is now artistic director of the Savannah Philharmonic. The week prior, The McDuffie Center for Strings’ Fabian Concert Series gets underway on Feb. 6 on the Mercer campus in Fickling Hall, 1329 Adams St. For information on both, find links at www.mcduffie.mercer.edu/concerts.

Finally, a personal touch regarding great Macon events and missing good shows. It’s a shame I, and maybe you, missed getting tickets for Charlie Starr’s sold-out show tonight at The Capitol Theatre. That’s the way it goes sometimes, right? Starr was here last year at about the same time so, oops!, should have been on the lookout.

Leader of Blackberry Smoke, who are releasing a new album in February and are a leading proponent of modern Southern Rock, Starr is a tremendous songwriter and lively guitar player/guitar lover. On or around New Year’s Day, and obviously not thinking of the concert, I was greatly entertained watching a new YouTube video of Starr going through part — mostly the Gibson part — of his huge guitar collection. It took a while. I highly recommend it if you love the instrument, its history and aren’t getting to see Starr’s show, an acoustic set also featuring Benji Shanks.

Contact writer Michael W. Pannell at mwpannell@gmail.com.