Bradford Little Theatre Welcome back to our Great Eighth Season!

The Lester Brauser Theatre Appreciation Award

 The 2004 Brauser Award was presented to The Van Scoy Family

The Bradford Little Theatre Board of Directors has selected Jimmy, Regina, Meredith and Arydth Van Scoy of Limestone, N.Y., as this year's recipients of the Lester Brauser Theatre Appreciation Award. The award was established to honor Brauser's memory and his devotion to theatre. The award is presented in commemoration of National Community Theatre Month in October to an individual or an organization whose work has made theatre possible in our community. "The Van Scoys, in many ways, have been the 'First Family of Theatre' in the area for many years," says BLT President Chris Mackowski. "Sisters Meredith and Arydth have been active as dancers, singers, actors and choreographers on local stages for the better part of two decades, and their parents have been right there along with them, pitching in and helping out behind the scenes." As a family, the Van Scoys have been involved with all aspects of the theatre, from acting to choreographing to costuming to set construction from the time Meredith and Arydth were in elementary school. They have all worked in local theatre, including Kiwanis Kapers, Bradford Little Theatre, Olean Community Theatre (OCT), Peggy Johnson's Dance Studio, Bradford Area High School, and Allegany-Limestone High School. "Between the four of us we have touched many parts of theater and have a good handle on what is involved both on and off the stage with putting on a community theater play," says Regina. "We know the amount of work that is involved and appreciate all that everyone does to make a production like Nunsensecome alive on stage." A master carpenter, Jimmy's skills have been put to use building intricate sets for the productions his daughters appear in. The first set he built was for Steel Magnolias, which was Meredith's thesis for her honor diploma at St. Bonaventure University. The set received a Theater Association of New York State (TANYS) award for set design and building. Since then he has worked on BLT's You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown, Godspell, and Nunsense. Regina is a genius with fabric. She has kept her sewing machine humming for thirty-seven years as she creates, designs and sews costumes for the many productions in which her daughters have acted. "I never thought I'd be sewing costumes for stage productions but since my daughters are so involved in local theater it just came naturally," she says. Initially Regina made the costumes for her daughter's productions but she later made costumes for other performers. She and Meredith costumed the whole show of Gypsy for OCT. Their efforts were awarded with technical and costuming awards from TANYS. Regina worked with Ardyth to costume You're A Good Man Charlie Brown for BLT. Because her daughters are performers, Regina knows the importance of a well-fitting costume. She believes that the more comfortable a performer is the better they can create their character. Therefore, she goes the extra mile to take the time to cut the back of a dress one size larger so that there is room for the performer's body mike, ensuring that the audience does not see a lump when the performer turns around. Meredith's theatrical career spans a broad spectrum of performance, choreography, costuming, dance and technical work. Her stage experience includes performances in local, university and summer stock productions, and her work has garnered several TANYS awards for costuming, performance, and choreography. A versatile actress, Meredith has performed in a variety of roles from Pippin, Little Shop of Horrors, and the BLT original How I Learned to Bellydance to Evita. She has participated in cabaret and dinner theatre as well as appeared in television commercials and documentaries. Behind the scenes, she has designed and constructed many sets including Our Town, The Rocky Horror Show, Steel Magnolias and Fiddler on the Roof. She has also mastered running the sound and light boards. Meredith is attending graduate school for theatre at SUNY-Binghamton, where she has remained active in performance, choreography, and costuming. Arydth, a sophomore at St. Bonaventure, is also a multifaceted actress. Her repertoire includes musicals, drama and comedy. She has acted in a variety of productions, including Pippin, Youíre a Good Man, Charlie Brown!, Little Shop of Horrors, Hello Dolly, Les Miserables and Gypsy. For many of these productions, Ardyth has worked magic as the choreographer or costumer. The recipient of several TANYS awards for acting, choreography, and dance and vocals, she most recently received meritorious recognition for her signing and dancing skills in last seasonís production of Godspell and for her choreography in The Tempest. Her latest dual endeavor is portraying the street-wise Sister Robert Anne as well as choreographer for BLT's season opener, Nunsense. Even the Van Scoy's French bulldog, Irene, has shared the spotlight with an appearance in BLT's production of Pippin and in OCT's Gypsy. "Both girls were raised with music and theatre around them," says Regina. "They were raised on old musicals on video and television. We never took them to movies, except Disney, but whenever there was live theatre that was appropriate for their ages, we took them."

Established in 2001 for BLT's 5th Anniversary Season, the Lester Brauser Theatre Appreciation Award is presented annually to an individual or individuals whose work makes community theatre possible in the Bradford area.