Photo By Stefan Alford | Thirteen plays, musicals, family shows and the volunteers who made them happen were...... read more read more
WIESBADEN, Germany – The stars at this military ceremony weren’t just on the uniforms of high-ranking general officers in attendance, but comprised the several hundred performers, cast, directors, artists, crew, and musicians who were recognized at the 64th Tournament of Plays (TOPPERs) Awards Show at the Wiesbaden Fitness Center on Clay Kaserne April 26.
Thirteen plays, musicals, family shows and the volunteers who made them happen were honored at the annual Installation Management Command–Europe ceremony similar to Broadway’s Tony Awards to recognize outstanding theater.
The evening’s three major awards for best Play, Musical and Family Show went to “Orphans” (The Ansbach Terrace Playhouse), “A Gentleman’s Guide to Love & Murder” (The Stuttgart Theater Center), and “High School Musical, Jr.” (Aviano Community and Schools Theater), respectively.
The awards show opened with comments from host Tommy Mize, IMCOM-Europe director. He praised TOPPERs as a premiere Army Family, Morale, Welfare and Recreation event, as well as one of the largest and longest running theater festivals.
Mize thanked all of the Soldiers, civilians and family members who provide thousands of volunteer hours putting on live theater events throughout the overseas military communities.
“These enthusiastic artists serve their garrison and Air Force communities by providing live entertainment events which greatly enhance our communities, and do all this while serving our nation overseas,” said Mize, adding that their volunteer efforts enhance resiliency and readiness. “This volunteerism is an incredibly valuable contribution that improves the quality of life in our Army and Air Force communities.”
One of the evening’s highlights was the presentation of a ceremonial check for $4.3 million, which “represents the 128,971 volunteer hours given to U.S. Army Garrisons and Air Force Community Theaters in Europe from April 2024 to April 2025 by 7,912 military, civilian and family member volunteers,” Winters said.
“These hours were devoted to putting on live music and theater programs in their communities, which were attended by over 19,122 audience members at 571 theatrical events,” he added.
Adjudicators watched 13 shows in person at nine military communities, represented by theaters at seven Army garrisons across Germany, Belgium and Italy, and Ramstein and Aviano air bases, said Dane Winters, Army Entertainment Program Manager for IMCOM-Europe. There were 18 technical awards and 27 performance awards presented at the ceremony, which also included several live performances.
Some of the winners were announced via celebrity presentations on video, including from Chris Pine, David Hyde Pierce, Harvey Feirstein, Lin-Manuel Miranda, and Stephen Flaherty. A number of past military community theater performers have gone on to star on stages across the world, with the most recent examples being Tony award winner Nina Arianda who was a member of the Heidelberg Roadside Theater and Jacob Dickey from the Stuttgart Theater Center who played Aladdin on Broadway and is currently in the Steven Sondheim Broadway production “Old Friends.”
A complete list of nominations and awards is available at 2025 US Army IMCOM Europe Entertainment Tournament of Plays: https://www.armymwr.com/programs-and-services/entertainment/europe-entertai/2025-us-army-imcom-europe-entertainment-tournament-plays-toppers
| Date Taken: | 04.29.2025 |
| Date Posted: | 04.29.2025 07:38 |
| Story ID: | 496420 |
| Location: | DE |
| Web Views: | 31 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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