finley nominations for musicals.

...someone has something of VALUE to offer in the first place. Personally I'd vote your post up - I think it's poor form it's been moderated down. But, having said that, I'll address your points. You say you don't think it was a rant in regards to the injustice of the awards. Let's cast a critical eye on some of those inspired comments; "From what I hear the judging can be quite biased and the criteria in which the judges should assess is often averted or ignored. Better luck next time to the cast of Fiddler on the Roof. However congratulations to all nominees, whether those decisions be biased or not. It does help being friends with the judges!" - Walt Disney "Then that's something the adjudicator should be taken to task over and highlights their inadequacy in the role (which was filling in for someone else)." - Simon Barclay "You can also boycott the Finley Awards and not enter them, like Harbour Theatre." - Tilly Grant We're one step away here from hunting down the judges and lynching them from the nearest street post! Post away about who you felt was overlooked by all means but for Buddha's sake, do it without the emotive language of a spoilt child. It's not that difficult. Personally I thought the guy who played Jimmy in Reefer was excellent - he didn't get nominated. I heard Julia Hern was excellent in Into the Woods - she didn't get nominated. Cry me a river. You mention that certain productions had sold out seasons, solid feedback and standout performances and didn't get nominated. Yep, no surprise there. Many of the musicals in particular sell out, there are always people who have nice things to say, and there is usually at least one great performance. Whaddya do? Have Ryan and Kerri read a list of 30 odd nominees so no one gets the irrits? Or read a list of those the adjudicators truly believe WERE the standouts of the standouts? You suggest that the only fair way to avoid such ommissions may be to NOT have the awards at all. I totally agree. Now, YOU go and sell that to the clubs 'cos I don't want the job. THEY want the awards. Judging by the noise last year during every musical theatre category, so do the musical theatre crowd. Perhaps a simpler solution would be to provide all and sundry a good hard cup of Shut the F**k Up during the month of January. How about people just take it on the chin, swallow the disappointment, or come back next year and try again? The point of my post dear Temper is that theatre is NOT about awards and if anyone does it for that I hope they NEVER get a Finley because you've relegated the audience to second consideration right away. Why not just be happy that your production entertained its audience? That's your reward. I'd exchange all the awards I've been given for a chance to relive some of the cast parties I've had when it's said and done, or to catch up with some of the long-lost friends I made in theatre. Awards are the LEAST important thing and if you need one to be happy with your contribution or validation thereof, you've got a serious problem with your personal ego. I appeared in one production this year. I was so excited to be a part of it. I had great visions of how this would be me showing I could take a lead role in a serious play and make it my own. I sucked. I was so disappointed that I couldn't translate what was in my head to what appeared on stage. It made me think about giving theatre a miss altogether because I didn't want to let people down like I felt I had again. But even if I hadn't felt that way, even if I had been magnificent, transcendant, incandescent on stage - who knows if I would have made that connection with the adjuidicators? I can only do what I can do in terms of performance and hope that the audience connects. If I do that, then I feel I personally succeeded. I can't worry about adjudicators and awards - I'll be focussing on that and not the performance and I refuse to worry about things I can not effect and are extraneous to the reason for being onstage in the first place. For those not nominated - sorry. Here is your acting challenge for this month. Act humble, act generously, act graciously, emote hubris, embrace celebration. If you're caught acting, perhaps you aren't as good a performer or human being as you thought you were.