Hammy Awards 2004

La Traviata -
This Hammy goes to two co-conspirators. You all recall the very sexy flamenco dancers at Flora's party. Well, this pair of Supers didn't feel that their backstage view was adequate, so they asked an ASM if they could return to the stage and stand in a doorway to get better views of the performance. They succeeded, well worth the "hey-this-show's-all-about-me" Hammy award, which goes to Steven Clark and Ray Sullivan.

La Boheme -
This veteran Super was the cover for the waiters in La Boheme. The waiters had a brief but nerve-racking plate toss where they threw plastic plates across stage to each other. On one of the occasions that John was covering for Scott Sanford he accidentally threw the plate off-course and it was heading straight towards the Musetta of that evening, threatening decapitation. All looked on in horror but the swift moves of another super waiter knocked the plate off it's deadly course and it went crashing safely to the floor. The Hammy goes to John Martin.

La Traviata -
In TRAVIATA, as the action moves to Flora's Party, six of the elegant and well mannered male servants are pre-set onstage and serve wine and champagne to the guests in the blue room. During this scene, all the servants at one time or another are to exit Up Stage Right or Left to pick up more trays of champagne flutes and return to further serve the guests. At their appointed time, two of the servants, Production Super Captain Mark Burstein and Steve Bauman leave, on cue. Unfortunately, only one reappears. Flora's guests, in this case lady choristers, are left without a server and their champaign flute props!! This is not insignificant and several choristers are somewhat distressed that they have been left unattended and make comments to that affect to stationary servants Philippe Arbeit and Rob Wonder. As always, the show went on and no one (except those mentioned here) knew the difference. Asked about his momentary lapse afterwards in the canteen, Steve acknowledged that he had simply forgotten to go back on stage. For that omission, Steve Bauman is awarded a Hammie.

Billy Budd and Tosca -
For having the most mutinous and indomitable lag cramps of the 2004 season, this Super cramped up onstage in Billy Budd and the tradition continued well into Tosca. Although no doubt a painful nuisance, his condition afforded several supers an opportunity to step in at the last minute and find their own tiny bit off the spotlight. This award is given to Bjon Farber with the hope that he has completely recovered and will be ready to perform on two strong legs in the 2005 season.

Tosca -
This super very dramatically arranged to have a heart attack during the run of Tosca. Not, unfortunately, onstage as he would have preferred, but on the morning of a day before a performance. After an overnight stay in the hospital, he took MUNI directly to the Opera House to make sure his signature role of Scarpi’s Agent was somehow going to be covered. He had to be physically restrained by security guards as he attempted his Act I entrance dragging an IV stand and oxygen supply and finally agreed to stand aside and watch the show from the House. The “I NEVER Miss a Performance” Hammy goes to Bruce McNaughton.

Tosca -
One of our newest Supers bravely stepped in at the last minute to cover for Bruce Mcnaughton in Tosca. He had watched the scene several times and was observed to have been personally coached at least once by Carol Vaness during rehearsal. But a real performance is something different. The scene consists of dragging Cavarodossi back and forth at least 5 times and finally seizing him as he attempts to attack Scarpia. Our novice did well until the last moment when Cavaradossi finally raised his fist. This new super somehow became confused and figured that Cav was going to hit Tosca and was so appalled that he froze for second or two. Poor Cav was expecting to be restrained by him and when that didn’t happen he just leaped on poor Scarpia and gave him a big Russian bear hug. Carol Vaness and Mike Harvey joined in and it looked for a while like props might have to use a fire hose to separate the combatants. The crowd finally got Cavarodossi turned around in time for Paul Szczesiul to slug him and they all limped offstage. Mirislav then gave our hammy winner, Derek Ailes, his own bone-crushing bear hug offstage and a pat on the back for a job well done. The “New Super Under Fire” hammy goes to Derek Ailes.

Tosca -
The finale of the Tosca Act I Te Deum is a magnificent procession of Supers finishing up with a huge silk brocade canopy that glorifies our own Cardinal Jim Downey. The procession is precisely timed and due to backstage space constraints, the canopy has to be rigged at the last minute. On this particular evening when our intrepid canopy bearers hoisted the thing skyward, it proceeded to fall apart. One of the front corners came off first and as soon as the props person had refastened it, one of the back corners collapsed. This was happening as the procession was swiftly moving forward and of course there is no turning back. A split second before the guys would have had to hold the thing up with their bare hands the opera gods seemed to have had their joke and it all came together perfectly. The hammy goes to Phillipe Arbeit, Marcel Delgado, David Grace, Al Knoll, and Don Stoddard.

The Flying Dutchman -
This is a unique award since there were actually no Supers in Flying Dutchman at all. Five talented Super women were, however, cast and to the show’s great loss, were cut even before rehearsals began. These talented women receive the hammy this year because even though they were cut from Dutchman, their names appeared in the program for Le Grand Macabre. This just illustrates the point that real Supers always find a way. This Hammy goes to Kimberley Thompson, Lisa Gelling, Ursula Grunfeld, Marie McNulty, and Karen Horvath.