A couple of grains of SALT!

SALT Awards • SALTY Awards

In 2003, Art Zimmer, publisher of The Syracuse New Times established the Syracuse Area Live Theater (SALT) Awards to "bestow a high level of recognition and appreciation upon persons involved in Syracuse-area live theatre, thus creating a wider appreciation and awareness of live theatre among the general public." These awards, Syracuse’s version of Broadway’s Tony Awards, were created as a way to celebrate the theatre community of Onondaga County and Cazenovia, plus the companies in the CNY area that produce professional shows, touring shows, and summer-only shows.

Appleseed Productions was honored by the inaugural SALT Awards with four nominations: The Dining Room, The Foreigner, and A Shayna Maidel for Play of the Year and Jon Wilson for Director of the Year. We were elated when The Foreigner was announced as the winner in that category.

At the 2004 SALT Awards, Appleseed was once again honored when its production of Children of a Lesser God won the award for Play of the Year! Plus, the winners of the Director of the Year (Sharee Lemos), Non-Performer of the Year (Shannon Tompkins), and People’s Choice Actor of the Year (Bill Molesky) awards worked closely with us during 2004.

In addition, Appleseed's production of Moreau was also nominated for Play of the Year, and we had our finger in seven other individual nominations: three for Actress of the Year, two for Actor of the Year, one for Music Director of the Year, and one for People’s Choice Actress of the Year.

For the 2005 calendar year, while not honored with any awards, Appleseed once again had a piece of seven SALT nominations: two for Actress of the Year in a Play, three for Actor of the Year in a Play, and two for Director of the Year of a Play.

At the 2007 awards ceremony, which was for the 2006 calendar year, Appleseed garnered 10 nominations and got its name back on the winners list with the presenting of the Director of the Year of a Musical award to Sharee Lemos, who directed The Spitfire Grill for Appleseed (as well as Hello, Dolly! for The Talent Co.). The Spitfire Grill also received a nomination for Musical of the Year and Whose Life Is It Anyway? received a nomination for People's Choice Production of the Year.

The other seven individual nominations: one for Leading Actress of the Year in a Musical, two for Supporting Actress of the Year in a Musical, one for Leading Actress of the Year in a Play, one for for Supporting Actress of the Year in a Play, one for for Supporting Actor of the Year in a Play, and one for People's Choice Actor of the Year.

And now the 2008 SALT Awards nominations (which are for the 2007 calendar year) have been announced and Appleseed has a piece of 16 nominations! The ones specific to Appleseed were: 1776 for Musical of the Year, Jon Wilson for Director of the Year of a Play for The Diviners and Sorry! Wrong Chimney!, Dustin M. Czarny for Director of the Year of a Musical for 1776, John Poorman for Costumer of the Year for The Octette Bridge Club, Paul Gundersen for Supporting Actor of the Year in a Musical for 1776, 1776 for People's Choice Production of the Year, and Patricia Elise Catchouny for People's Choice Actress of the Year for 1776, and the other nine other nominations for individuals who worked closely with Appleseed during 2007 were: one for Music Director of the Year, two for Non-Performing Person of the Year, one for People's Choice Actress of the Year, two for People's Choice Actor of the Year, and three for the Sandra C. Haase Memorial Award. This year's awards ceremony is on April 27th, so check back after then to see how thing went for Appleseed.

To see more specifics on the above nominations and award winners, go to our Awards page.

In 2005, the Syracuse Area Live Theater Youth (SALTY) Awards were established as a spin-off of the SALT Awards as the answer to the much-asked question, "Why doesn't SALT have a youth category?"

Now SALTY will offer much, much more. A variety of categories means that Onondaga County high school productions, theatre educators, performers ages 18 and below, and community theatre companies that produce youth theatre and/or feature child/teen actors are eligible for SALTY Awards. Every high school has been invited to register for SALTY consideration, and in deference to each district's own decision, no schools will be considered that do not wish to participate. For the 2005-2006 season, ten Onondaga County high schools chose to participate in SALTY.

At the first annual awards, which encompassed the 2005-06 season, Appleseed was honored to win the Best Play and Best Actress in a Play (Jane Garlow) awards in the Community Theater category for its production of Spider's Web.

At the award ceremony for the 2006-07 season, Appleseed’s production of The Diviners was honored to win the awards for Best Play, Best Actor in a Play (Navzad N. Dabu), Best Actress in a Play (Katelyn Remington), and Best Supporting Actress in a Play (Jane Garlow). The show also received nominations for the Best Supporting Actor in a Play and Best Ensemble awards. In addition, Appleseed's artistic director, Jon Wilson, was nominated for (though did not win) the SALTY's Lifetime Achievement Award.

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