December 18, 2006 – The Leanor and Alvin Segal Theatre came away from last night’s 13th Annual Soirée des Masques Awards with the Best English Language Production trophy for last season’s hit musical, Cabaret, directed by Steven Schipper. Bryna Wasserman, Executive and Artistic Director of the Segal Theatre, accepted the award on behalf of the Theatre.

“What Steven Schipper and the whole family of dedicated designers, actors and crew did was to create nothing short of magic at the Segal,” beamed Wasserman, clutching the award with pride. “Actors and audiences alike came away feeling that special something that only live theatre can create. This award acknowledges that and I couldn’t be more proud,” she added.

Schipper team included John Gilbert (Musical Director), Tracey Flye (Choreographer), John C. Dinning (Set Designer), Sonoyo Nishikawa (Lighting Designer), Rob Denton (Sound Designer) and Luciana Burcheri (Stage Manager). Costumes were originally designed by François Barbeau for Theatre Rideau Vert’s production of the same play and appeared courtesy of Zone 3 Inc.

The performance on stage was led by the award-winning Damien Atkins as the MC, Naomi Costain as Sally Bowles, Cameron MacDuffee as Cliff Bradshaw and included a cast of 16, featuring: Ashley Burton, Stephenos Christou, Greg Ellwand, Catherine Friesen, Francis Gregoire, Nicko Giannakos, Eran Goodyear, Steve Hanley, Emily Josset, Joel Madden, Marina Matic, Kathleen McAuliffe, Melanie McInenly, Brad Picken and Michael Rudder.

The Segal Theatre went into the night with multiple nominations, including Cabaret and A Doll House, directed by Peter Hinton in the Best English Language Production category and Cabaret in the Lotto Quebec “audience choice award” category. Actor Kathleen McAuliffe was also nominated in the Best Supoorting Actor category for her role as Fraulein Schneider in Cabaret. The Soirée des Masques is an annual gala, presented publicly by L’Academie Quebecoise du Theatre, to recognize “the quality, diversity and richness of Quebec theatre.”

“To enter the holiday and New Year’s season on such a high is probably the best gift we could receive. We have many blessings that deserve counting,” Wasserman went on to say. Indeed, the Segal Theatre has been very fortunate of late, not the least of which being a record number of subscribers to its current season. In October it won four MECCA awards, presented by the Montreal English Critics Circle, including Best Professional Production for The Importance of Being Earnest, a co-production with Soulpepper Theatre Company. And in recent weeks its primary patron, Mr. Alvin Segal, was presented with a prestigious award from the Montreal Board of Trade and Le Conseil Des Arts de Montreal, in recognition of the commitment he has made as a Montreal businessman to increasing the profile and overall health of the arts and culture community in Montreal.

The second half of the season begins in February with Domini Blythe starring in Lynn Redgrave’s Shakespeare for My Father, directed by William Carden. The production is presented as part of the Montreal High Lights Festival.