ITA Finley Award Winners - 2009

John Milson gave his time, energy and expertise to the show he directed, purely for the love of doing it, just like everyone else involved in the production. That he gets paid for work that he does elsewhere is entirely irrelevant. That he gets paid for work he does elsewhere does not necessarily mean his shows will be better than any other show nominated for a Finley as your comment seems to suggest. I imagine it is his skill not his fee that make his shows good. I also suspect that he is paid as a director because he is good at it, not the other way round. It is certainly true that John has a formidable body of work from which to draw when approaching a production and perhaps in any competition such as the Finley Awards his work would have certain advantages. However when I cast my eye over the list of winners I see a few names that also have some fairly impressive skills to bring to any production they are involved in. I may be mistaken but isn't Gemma Northover a NIDA trained actor? Doesn't this give her unfair advantage over the other actors who have not had the benefit of such training? Jenny McCann has an extraordinary wealth of experience acquired from some 20 years (sorry Jen) of theatrical pursuits (some of which she was actually paid for) and I doubt you could meet a more professional actor. I would certainly say she has an advantage. But if you're getting hung up over who gets paid and what's not fair I think you are missing the point of community theatre. It is a forum for ANYBODY of ANY skill level and a celebration of the love, love, love of the art. That people of Jenny and Johns calibre are out there doing community theatre can only be good thing so don't begrudge them some acknowledgement. And if you get a chance to work with them or any of the other extraordinarily talented people there are out there doing their thing, you will only benefit by it. And who knows maybe one day when you have built up your skill base someone may even want to pay you. And if they do I hope you are so inclined to share some of your skill and expertise - just for the love of it.