Community theater people and their fans are in for a treat as Mercer County Community College’s (MCCC’s) Kelsey Theatre presents an evening of entertainment and awards on Saturday, August 19 starting at 7 p.m. The 2017 Kelsey Awards is a unique event that celebrates and recognizes the best theatrical productions and performers from Kelsey Theatre’s 2016-17 season. The theater is located on MCCC’s West Windsor Campus, 1200 Old Trenton Road. 

The awards show will feature special performances from the past season’s top productions, including Miss Saigon, In The Heights, Anything Goes, The Boy From Oz, and The Little Mermaid, as well as this summer’s 42nd Street. As a preview to the 2017-18 season, numbers from Memphis and The Hunchback of Notre Dame will be performed. Memphis opens the Kelsey season for two weekends from September 8 to 17; The Hunchback runs from October 20 to 29.

Now in its eighth year, the 2017 Kelsey Awards is modeled after the Tony Awards. According to Kyrus Keenan Westcott, the show’s producer and director, gathering some of the best talent from around the region to reprise great moments from the past year has been a wonderful theater event. “Having our actors all perform on one stage in one night has proven to be a thrilling experience for both the actors and their fans. Plus, we have the opportunity to recognize the considerable achievements of our community theater companies, which deliver high quality productions at Kelsey Theatre year after year,” Mr. Westcott said.

Nominees and winners are selected by Kelsey Theatre fans through an online voting process. Among the major awards categories are best performances, best technical achievements, best direction, and best choreography. The ceremony will also honor the late Dottie Farina and the late Walter W. Smyth with the 2017 John Shanken-Kaye Lifetime Achievement Award.

More about the Kelsey Awards is available at www.KelseyAwards.com. The Kelsey Awards are presented by K2KEntertainment and the Kelsey Theatre Advisory Board, which have jointly administered the Kelsey Awards since 2009.

Tickets are $17 for all (plus a small processing fee) and are available online at www.kelseytheatre.net or by calling the Kelsey Theatre box office at (609) 570-3333.