Teens honored at 9th annual TOBY awards

The TOBY Awards didn’t quite have the same element of glamour as the Academy Awards, but it did have all the excitement.

The ninth annual teen theater award show was held at Lindenhurst High School Tuesday night to honor students at nine area high schools for their participation in theatre productions throughout the year.

Sponsored by the Town of Babylon and the Babylon Citizens Council on the Arts, winners were named in 25 categories, like Outstanding Actor and Actress, Best Ensemble Cast and Best Stage Crew. Eight of the schools performed scenes from their plays.

With stage costumes from the school’s plays and musicals locked back in storage or returned to rental stores, most of the hundreds of students in attendance wore their show T-shirts as they sat in the audience together and cheered for their peers.

James McGarrity, treasurer of Babylon Citizens Council on the Arts, said a panel of judges from the council attends every theatre production and selects four or five finalists and the winner in each category. Winners receive a trophy and a medallion at the award ceremony.

“The caliber of the work makes it so hard to be a judge,” he said, adding that the judges would take hours to come to a decision on the final winner in each category. “The musicals and the dramas are done to such an extent, it’s so hard.”

Carlos DeLos Santos, 16, of Lindenhurst, was recognized for being part of a male singing quartet in Lindenhurst High School’s performance of “The Music Man”, which was nominated for eight TOBY awards and received three.

“This was a lot of fun,” he said. “There was a lot of talent. The people that won the awards, they really deserved it. And even the people that didn’t, they were great, too. The performances from the other high schools were great and this was just a really fun time.”

Kevin Crowley, 18, is a senior at North Babylon High School and played the lead role in the school’s musical, “Pippin” and won Lead Actor.

“While it is not necessarily the most important thing to get recognized,” Crowley said, “getting recognized is nice. It’s just icing on the cake because we know we did well and we love knowing that other people enjoyed what we did.”

Here’s a complete list of this year’s winners:

Supporting Actress - Musical
Samantha Martino - Aunt Eller - “Oklahoma” - Babylon High School

Supporting Actor - Musical
Luke Vander Putten - Charles - “Pippin” - North Babylon High School

Supporting Actress - Play
Corrine Valenti - Jenny - “Exit the Body” - Half Hollow Hills High School West

Supporting Actor - Play
Matthew McLean - Doc O’Connor & Others - “The Laramie Project” - Babylon High School

Ensemble - Play
Lindenhurst High School - “Arsenic & Old Lace”

Ensemble - Musical
Lindenhurst High School - “The Music Man”

Featured Actor - Play
Courtland Wood - Monseigneur Myriel - “Les Miserables” - Deer Park High School

Featured Actress - Play
Alexandra David - Snetsky - “Fools” - West Babylon High School

Dance Performance (Two winners)
Lindenhurst High School - “The Music Man”
North Babylon High School - “Pippin”

Featured Actress - Musical
Lexie Martin - Fairy Godmother - “Cinderella” - Half Hollow Hills High School West

Featured Actor - Musical
Nathaniel Kristall - Herald - “Cinderella” - Half Hollow Hills High School West

Production Value - Play
Babylon High School - “The Laramie Project”

Production Value - Musical
West Babylon High School - “Seussical the Musical”

Stage Crew - Musical
West Babylon High School - “Seussical the Musical”

Stage Crew - Play
Half Hollow Hills High School East - “Seidman and Son”

Female Vocal
Dilara Altuner - Christine Daee - “The Phantom of the Opera” - Copiague High School

Male Vocal
Mark Maurice - Leading Player - “Pippin” - North Babylon High School

Lead Actor - Play
Leo Piscioneri - Mortimer Brewster - “Arsenic & Old Lace” - Lindenhurst High School

Lead Actress - Play
Kimberly Dyckman - Crane Hammond - “Exit the Body” - Half Hollow Hills High School West

Lead Actress - Musical
Lis Grueniger - Marion Paroo - “The Music Man” - Lindenhurst High School

Lead Actor - Musical
Kevin Crowley - Pippin - “Pippin” - North Babylon High School

Play
Lindenhurst High School -” Arsenic & Old Lace”

Musical
North Babylon High School - “Pippin”

Special recognition was also given to the following male singing groups:
*Sam Seleznow, Josh Estes and Tim Hottinger of Half Hollow Hills High School East
*Tyler Battale and Trevor Coady of Copiague High School
*John Hamill, Carlos DeLos Santos, Lucien Coppola and Josh Bodah of Lindenhurst High School
*Joseph Doukas, Andrew Kiss, Zachary Russo and William Valenti of West Babylon High School

Middle school students that participated in high school plays were also recognized as “Future TOBY stars”:
*Fiona Buckley - Amaryllis - “The Music Man” - Lindenhurst High School
*Matthew Arevalo - Winthrop - “The Music Man” - Lindenhurst High School
*Halle Woelk - Sandy - “Annie” - Amityville High School
*Aidan McGlone - Orphan - “Annie” - Amityville High School
*Meghan Jacobson - Orphan - “Annie” - Amityville High School
*Madison Daly - Orphan - “Annie” - Amityville High School
*Kylie Monte - Orphan - “Annie” - Amityville High School Kyle Hobson - Ensemble - “Annie” - Amityville High School

Check back later for a video from the TOBY awards.

Photo caption: The cast of North Babylon High Schools Pippin gathers on stage at the TOBY awards to accept the trophy for Best Musical. (May 24, 2011)