Community Players earn first place at festival

Contributed to the Daily Sun

Community Players’ fast-paced ensemble comedy “The Brothers Grimm Spectaculathon” was awarded top honors at the Nebraska Association of Community Theatres one-act festival this weekend in North Platte.

The production took first place in the contest, earning the right to represent Nebraska at the American Association of Community Theatre regional festival next April in Minden.

In addition to taking home first place for the production, the cast of the show was recognized as Outstanding Ensemble, cast member Matt Rogge earned the Best Supporting Actor award and Jamie Ulmer, Community Players artistic director, was presented with the award for Best Director.

“This year’s festival was particularly competitive, with outstanding productions coming from all over the state,” Ulmer said. “The cast and crew did a terrific job putting this show together and showing the kind of high-quality fun live theater can achieve.”

The comedy follows an unruly group of actors attempting to perform all 209 fairy tales of the Brothers Grimm as one giant, strung-together super-story.

Members of the cast were Matt McNiff, Julie Bratt, Matt Rogge, Missy Marlatt, Pat Marlatt, Janet Apfelbeck, Bill Bratt and Heidi Krieger. Elizabeth Claassen was the stage manager, Cindy Shepherd was the assistant stage manager and Alyssa Bratt was run crew.

This was the first time in more than 11 years and only the second time ever that Community Players has entered a show into the competition that is held every other year. The Nebraska Association of Community Theatres is a statewide organization with more than 25 member theaters that works to promote the development of quality theater in communities across Nebraska.