06/14/2024
Part 1 of 2: Here are Lake Braddock Theatre’s six individual acting nominees for Romeo and Juliet at the Cappies Gala.
From L to R: Murphy Finnegan (nominated for Leading Actor in a Female Role), Holland Hasle (nominated for Supporting Actor in a Female Role), Alex Perry (nominated for Leading Actor in a Male Role), Jonathan Barnard (nominated for Supporting Actor in a Male Role), Claire Copes (nominated for Comic Actor in a Female Role), and Aidan Chomicki (nominated for Featured Actor in a Male Role).
Claire’s other accomplishments this season are numerous: she also served as the department’s Scenic Director, and was the Makeup Designer for Romeo and Juliet, creating both beautiful and horrifying images. Claire was this season’s producer of LBT’s Unplugged. She played Glory in Almost, Maine and Robin Starveling in Something Rotten for which she was a Dance Captain. She went on with a week’s notice in the leading role of Grace for Radium Girls and received a Top Three Acting Commendation from the judges across six schools. She was named the winner of the Joseph Gabriel Leotta Memorial Scholarship at the LBT Awards, a scholarship that recognizes mentorship, leadership and kindness in the theatre. Claire is a graduating senior.
Claire’s nomination honors her performance as the Nurse, in turns hysterically funny and openly devastating, and at all times precise, warm, intelligently understood, unabashed and un self conscious. From long rambling monologues chock full of humor to tender heartbreak over the child she raised, Claire didn’t miss a beat in this role. Her articulate, specific choices and open hearted vulnerability were beautiful to witness, and having the audience in stitches in a tragedy is no mean feat.
Aidan never stopped achieving highly this season: he played East in Almost, Maine, Roeder in Radium Girls, Will Shakespeare in Something Rotten, and assistant directed the middle school musical Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer. He was the Head Fight Captain for Romeo and Juliet. He received a Top Three Acting Commendation at VHSL and was named All Star Cast at Virginia Thespian Festival for his Roeder performance, and for his Will Shakespeare and a season of highlight success, received the department’s Director’s Point Award at the LBT Awards. He was also honored at the Cappies Gala as a departmental Commendee (see earlier post for details). He had a reputation for kindness and welcome, for staying above the fray, and for collaboration, coachability, and respect for others. Aidan is a graduating senior.
His nomination honors his searing performance as Tybalt, demonstrating immense range from the tender love for his young cousin to fear of his dominant uncle, to vengeful joy in fights and the flirtation with danger, to rage, fury, violence, and ultimately terror and sorrow in the face of his own doom. The role required the most stage combat of any role in the play, and the most difficult of that choreography, and multiple nuanced relationships expressed in tricky text and entirely silent acting beats alike. He played humor and love, brutal fights, a devastating death scene that will not be forgotten, and even in the afterlife haunting moments from beyond the veil. His performance was nuanced, brave, entertaining, mature, and ultimately heartbreaking. His work exceeded expectations in every way and left every audience jaw agape, gasping and often in tears by intermission.
Holland also played Jeanette in Almost, Maine, was a Bard Boy/Renaissance Writer, Chef, soloist, Featured Dancer, Puritan, and member of the Tap Ensemble for Something Rotten, in which she also understudied the role of Bea and served as Dance Captain. She went on for Sob Sister in Radium Girls at VHSL with a week of notice never having read the play. She is the inaugural incoming Artistic Associate on the theatre’s board and was Associate Fight Captain on Romeo and Juliet.
Holland’s nomination honors her wild performance as a gender flipped Mercutio, a young fighter with a chip on her shoulder fighting gender conventions and definitions with a blade and a smirk. Her performance encompassed a stunning rendition of the iconic Queen Mab soliloquy, a flirtatious and dynamic rivalry with her counterpart, Tybalt, beautiful use of her movement capabilities from social dance to extremely tricky flashy swordplay in the climactic duel, vivid relationship building with Romeo and the Montague boys, and a devastating death scene that captured the shock and hurt of her wound at the hands of a man she was drawn to, devastating let down and betrayal of a best friend, and the sorrow of a life cut short. Holland’s work was nothing short of captivating.
Congratulations to these extraordinary artists on their stunning performances and well deserved recognition! It was an honor to witness this work and then to celebrate its recognition with you all.
