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To all Association of Community Theaters of Greater Cincinnati member groups, and all of the actors and technical craftsmen who worked on those productions this past season,

At the first ACT Cincinnati Long-Range Judging Committee meeting after the ACT Banquet this year, the LRJC decided that the results for Mariemont Players, Inc production of Noel Coward’s HAY FEVER could not possibly have been correct. As a result, the LRJC went through the raw Orchid nomination data, and determined that HAY FEVER should have received 11 awards.

Obviously, the LRJC was both incredibly embarrassed by this, and was also concerned that there were other awards that may have been missed. Two of the committee members conducted full, independent reviews of the Orchid nomination data, and have identified the following additional Orchid awards for the 2015-2016 Season:

• Excellence in Musical Direction, Jeanne Bilyeu; Acting Up, GUYS AND DOLLS

• Excellence in Program, Jen Mielbrecht; Beechmont Players, Inc, THE SMELL OF THE KILL

• Excellence for Acting in a Play, Abby Bielski, Centerstage Players, ALICE IN WONDERLAND

• Excellence in Overall Performance Quality, Skip Fenker and Cast; Cincinnati Music Theatre, BIG FISH
• Excellence in Overall Technical Quality, Kathy Beiting and Catherine Fields Shultz and Crew; Cincinnati Music Theatre, BIG FISH
• Excellence in Properties, Lizanne Ingram; Cincinnati Music Theatre, BIG FISH
• Excellence in Ensemble, Skip Fenker and Cast; Cincinnati Music Theatre, BIG FISH

• Excellence in Acting, Barbara Karol; Mariemont Players, Inc, HAY FEVER
• Excellence in Acting, Bryce Willson; Mariemont Players, Inc, HAY FEVER
• Excellence in Acting, Elizabeth Beatty; Mariemont Players, Inc, HAY FEVER
• Excellence in Acting, Jeanette Tacon; Mariemont Players, Inc, HAY FEVER
• Excellence in Acting, Lon Nease; Mariemont Players, Inc, HAY FEVER
• Excellence in Ensemble, jef brown and Cast; Mariemont Players, Inc, HAY FEVER
• Excellence in Dialect Coach, Ann Nixon; Mariemont Players, Inc, HAY FEVER
• Excellence in Producing, Wayne Kirsch and Amy Stier; Mariemont Players, Inc, HAY FEVER
• Excellence in Program, Amy Sullivan; Mariemont Players, Inc, HAY FEVER
• Excellence in Properties, Pam Kaesemeyer; Mariemont Players, Inc, HAY FEVER
• Excellence in Set Construction, Bill Pauly and Crew; Mariemont Players, Inc, HAY FEVER

• Excellence in Acting, Amy Stier; Mariemont Players, Inc, RADIUM GIRLS
• Excellence in Acting, jef brown; Mariemont Players, Inc, RADIUM GIRLS
• Excellence in Acting, John Langley; Mariemont Players, Inc, RADIUM GIRLS
• Excellence in Acting, Laura Berkemeier; Mariemont Players, Inc, RADIUM GIRLS

• Excellence in Lobby Display, Wes Ledyard; Showbiz Players, CATCH ME IF YOU CAN, THE MUSICAL
• Excellence in Sound Execution, Forrest Goodwin; Showbiz Players, CATCH ME IF YOU CAN, THE MUSICAL

• Excellence in Program, Nancy Anderson; Sunset Players, DUCK HUNTER SHOOTS ANGEL

• Excellence in Musical Theatre Performance, Kevin Breslin; The Drama Workshop, I LOVE YOU, YOU’RE PERFECT, NOW CHANGE

The ACT Long Range Judging Committee sincerely apologizes for these errors. We all feel incredibly badly for those who should have been publicly recognized for their achievements at the awards banquet, and weren’t.

The LRJC not only wants to correct the record, but also to determine exactly how this happened. During the audit, errors were discovered in both the Orchid nomination Google Form and in the software that consolidates the data. Both of these are now in the process of being corrected for the upcoming season. This was a systemic data processing problem, and no one individual was responsible for these errors.

The LRJC also plans to go through archived data from other seasons that have used this process to see if there are any additional Orchid awards from previous seasons that should also have been awarded.

Please rest assured that the LRJC is working hard both to improve the Orchid nomination processing, and to institute procedural changes designed to catch any errors that might occur despite the software improvements and thereby avoid future problems.

We are deeply committed to making this right, and appreciate your understanding as we take steps to do so.

Arlene Borock-Balczo
Amanda Emmons-Shumate
Fred Hunt
Dan Maloney
Dennis Murphy
John Wesseling
Ray Persing, Chair
ACT Cincinnati Long-Range Judging Committee